Christopher Nathan talks about entrepreneurship and innovation in the local fashion industry.

1. The Importance of Standards
Innovation & Entrepreneurship in
the Fashion Industry
Presented by Christopher Nathan

3. Vision Fashion 2020 was coined in 2005 as part of the
CVI Fashion Industry Development proposal which
was presented to the Ministry of Trade & Industry.
Vision Fashion has three overarching Goals:
 To Establish Port-of-Spain as the region’s fashion
capital by the year 2020
 To develop the Caribbean into a respected, reputable
global fashion centre
 To establish a successful Caribbean Fashion Brand

4. Given the possibility that automation can replace labour
throughout production processes in the global fashion and
garment manufacturing industry
Will Trinidad &Tobago be ready to enjoy these cost & process
efficiencies and be able to manufacture high quality fashion
products at competitive levels? Or are we forced to focus on
small scale customized niche markets only and outsource all
large orders to foreign garment manufacturers in Colombia,
China, Turkey, the D.R. and other high technology
manufacturing zones?
Christopher Anthony Nathan
Chairman TTBS Specifications Committee for Garment Quality/
Fashion Education & Industry Management Consultant

5. Trinidad & Tobago enjoys many competitive
advantages in the region:
 Strategic Location: Gateway to the Americas
 Affordable Energy
 Long Distinguished reputation as a garment
manufacturing centre. Circa 1920
 Vast creative pool
 Skillful Craftsmanship
 Tech-savvy highly educated population

7.  A Standard is a document that provides requirements,
specifications, guideline and characteristics that can be used by
organizations and individuals consistently to ensure that
materials (inputs) finished products(outputs) production
processes and services are fit for their purpose
 The development of Trinidad & Tobago National Standards is
based on internationally accepted guidelines and criteria; to date
over 500 national standards have been declared. The TTBS is a
member of the International Organization for Standardization ISO
 The Geneva based organization is the world’s largest developer
of voluntary international standard, founded in 1947 ISO has
published over 19 000 international standards covering various
aspects of technology, innovation and business activities over a
wide range of industries.

8. Adopting national and ISO int’l standards assures
consumers that an organization’s products are
 Safe
 Reliable
 Durable
 Up to date
 Of good quality
 Kind to the environment

9.  The revised standard will aid in the Standardization
of manufacturing processes in T&T’s fashion sector
 Make sure you buy a copy of the TTS 625: 2013
Standard and adopt its guidelines into your label’s
operations

10.  The specifications committee is now exploring the
feasibility of establishing a National Sizing
Standard for Trinidad & Tobago which we hope will
be adopted by other Caribbean nations who have
fashion industry agendas
 In time to come this Sizing Standard will assist T&T
apparel manufacturers to penetrate regional
markets in the West Indies Central and South
America

11.  The National Training Agency has as part of
its mandate the responsibility to develop
national occupational standards of
competence for various occupations in T&T
 The Occupational Standard specifies what a
person should know and do in order to carry
out the functions of a particular job
effectively

12.  The National Training Agency NTA
established a Lead Body in January to design
an Occupational Standard for the award of a
CVQ Level 2 qualification in Garment
Construction
 This CVQ will allow holders to work in any
Caricom country in the Caribbean region

14.  A World Economic Forum reports that many industry observers
predict that this 4th industrial revolution (the digital era) will be
centred upon developments in previously disjointed fields such as
artificial intelligence AI and machine learning / Nanotechnology - 3D
printing and robotics
 Genetics and biotechnology are all building on and amplifying one
another
 Smart systems in homes, factories, farms and entire cities will help
tackle problems ranging from supply chain management to climate
change and ultimately affect the way we live
 Gone are the days too when fashion designers would spend days
creating fashion designs on sketch pads; recent innovations by Corel
Draw and Adobe Photoshop/Illustrator now enable designers to create
full fashion collections using CAD systems; then seamlessly print 3D
versions with true colour representation for presentation to clients

15. The high-technology based manufacturing wave, which
is expected to span the 4th industrial revolution (2020-
2039) is fast approaching
For the past 65 yrs T&T’s economy has experienced 20
year industrial development cycles:
 1950s – Petroleum
 1970s - Petro-chemical Birth of Pt Lisas Industrial
 1990s Gas fueled by Atlantic LNG’s establishment
 2020 + High Technology Manufacturing Sector
(Robotics / Automated Manufacturing / Nanotechnology
and Ai will revolutionize production processes)

16. 4th Industrial Revolution (your customers)
 Baby Boomers Born 1944 - 1963
 Generation X Born 1964 - 1980
 Generation Y Born 1981 - 2002
 Generation Z Born from 2003 +
The Digital Babies require most focus from fashion brands as they
will be very hard to please. They want individuality; they demand
quality products at affordable prices and lots of variety to choose
from. They are tech-savvy and aware of trends in fashion capitals

17.  Gen Z is the first generation for whom digital
technology is a way of life; unlike Gen Y who used
technology as a medium for communication and
entertainment
 Innovations in digital technology allows Gen Z to
enjoy radical improvements in high technology
design, manufacture and communications
 A fashion business can now be one person and a
computer / mobile device
 Content for fashion businesses can be curated
instantly e.g fashion blogging & eCommerce

18. As the government tries to diversify Trinidad & Tobago’s
economy, fashion has been identified for development:
 There is a great difference between a cottage fashion
industry which currently exists in Trinidad & Tobago
and an industrial fashion sector
 An industrial sector must be globally competitive in
terms of manufacturing processes, cost efficiencies
and the quality of the products created, particularly
fashion products for export
 Fashion Stakeholders need to pay close attention to the
cutting edge and emerging technologies taking place
in the manufacturing sector and get on board the
digital train before we are left behind

20.  Improvements in fashion design and textiles technology
particularly 3D printing have impacted product development
in the fashion sector
 fabric designs can now be replicated in commercial yardage
with the right 3D printing machines and qualified surface
treatment technicians ; however they must be versed in CAD
systems in order to create fabrics in large quantities for the
local fashion industry
SMART FABRICS
Recent Innovations in the Textiles Sector
Nanotextiles Electrotextiles Geotextiles

22.  Innovation may not always be applied to creating new
products; many amazing innovations in manufacturing
processes have taken place in recent years
 Fashion designers may now choose between Corel Draw,
Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator software to create fashion
products
 CAD systems allow these sketches to be transformed into
technical illustrations and Optitex Systems for CAD Pattern
Design will produce accurate pattern drafts for Specification
Packages/Spec Packs which can be E-mailed to your
manufacturer anywhere on the planet.

24.  The use of computer software in apparel
production has opened up remarkable
opportunities for innovative design, improved
productivity and greater efficiency for small
fashion business manufacturing
 Optitex Pattern Design Software allows designers
to digitize existing flat patterns and merge the
pattern design data with their company’s
operations management computer system

25.  Optitex Systems for Pattern Design allows fashion
to get to market faster, at less cost with an
efficient pattern making suite that optimizes
pattern drafting at every step of the product
development cycle
 It eliminates hundreds of manual steps in the
design process
 Simplify Pattern Grading with Optitex Grading
Module. This allows users to adjust pattern sizes to
fit the entire range of company products including
complex size variations and shapes

27.  To design garments and ergonomic products you need to
know the anatomy of people you’re producing for
 Through a deep anthropometric survey in various regions
and markets on men, women and children CAD Modelling
Ergonomics singled out a range of recurring Body Shapes
and the Theory of Body-Shape was developed
(Copyright © SIAE n° 9401846)
Body Scanning technology provides an automated,
anthropometric data collection system that eliminates manual
intervention. From the results of automated landmarking 104
anthropometric data can be obtained. Through just 4 seconds
scanning it assures precision and accuracy, providing useful
data that can be used for several applications such as
Semi-automated garment production

28.  Client meets with designer
 Based on the Brief a fashion sketch is done via CAD systems
 Design is rendered (Colour / Textures / Closures / Notions and
embellishments are added)
 Client is scanned for measurements (Cyberware Scanner)
 Body-Scan data is fed to Optitex program for a pattern draft
 Laser Cutter is used to Measure – Lay up and Cut garment
components
 Sewists assemble garment components
 Garment is fitted on Robotic Dress Form (Sized for Client)
 Garment is adjusted, finished, labeled and packaged for
delivery

30. What is Quality???
 Quality is the characteristics of a product that impact on its
ability to satisfy consumer needs, wants and desires
 There are many other definitions of Quality:
Fitness for Use / Degree of Excellence / Exceeding Customer
Expectation / Conforming to Requirements / Measurement of
Satisfaction

31. There are three main quality functions
 Quality Assurance: This is a planned, systematic, ongoing
monitoring system that provides assurances to users
 Quality Control: A regulatory process through which actual quality
performance is measured and compared with an established standard.
Any disparity is auctioned to regulate quality
 Inspection: An appraisal activity that compares product and processes
with applicable standards. In a Total Quality Management
organization everyone takes responsibility for inspection and the best
inspection takes place at the source when the output is being made in
order to correct defects in a timely manner before more inputs are
applied to the product’s development. The Result – Zero Defects

32. Quality or a lack thereof directly affects the profitability of all businesses
 Modern customers demand high quality products and services, on time and
at affordable prices. They also want new product introduction frequently
 Marketing professionals are charged with the responsibility of ensuring that
they accurately identify customer requirements; define and interpret these
needs then convey them to the relevant departments for product design and
development to begin
 Once customers’ requirements are clearly determined the product must be
designed accordingly however the quality of design, inputs including all
materials and manufacturing processes are vital for the product to be
successful in the marketplace

33. Sharp Fashion Management ®
 A fashion management term coined by Christopher A. Nathan
 It is a cutting-edge management tool for fashion businesses to gain and
retain competitive advantage in the increasingly competitive fashion market
 It requires Sharp businesses to become FRO fast response organizations /
adopt TQM total quality management throughout their organization’s
structure
 All staff from the creative director / designer to the stitcher must practice
quality control and implement of a Zero Defects Policy
 Sharp Fashion Businesses place customers at the top of their organization’s
totem pole both internal and external customers
 Sharp Fashion Businesses are technology innovators not just tech users.
They embrace all the opportunities the 4th Ind. Revolution brings with it

35. Innovations in the Fashion Industry
Recycled wedding dresses
Coco Velvet Caribbean Fashion Company Ltd will
introduce Bespoke Bridal in 2018. Brides will be able to sell
their used bridal gowns to the company. CVCFC factory
will utilize wear2 disassembly technology to recycle the
bridal materials, remove closures, notions and all
embellishments then remodel the gowns to suit the style
aesthetic of new customers

36. Problem Identification
 Tons of used clothing is discarded annually around the
planet; this causes major environmental challenges as
cloth takes years to degrade. No reliable statistics are
available for Trinidad & Tobago but it is estimated
that over 1 M tons of discarded clothing end up in UK
landfills every year
 High cost of raw material for bridalwear production
 Raw material for clothing manufacture will eventually
run out on planet Earth so it’s Time to recycle

37.  The wear2™ technology was developed through the SUSCORP project, a
project co-funded by the UK's Technology Strategy Board. It is envisaged
that wear2™ will become synonymous with sustainability in the textiles sector.
 wear2™ is a new textile processing technology in the United Kingdom which
allows garments to be selectively disassembled at end of life.
 Incorporating wear2™ technology into clothing enables zips, buttons,
fastenings, linings and other similar materials to be easily removed and
recycled without damaging the surrounding fabric. By engineering durable
garments that literally “fall apart” on command, wear2™ provides a unique
means to recover pure fibre, reuse casual and corporate clothing or up cycle
garments.
 wear2™ technology is jointly owned, and is being developed by:
 NIRI Ltd - R&D technical textile engineering (joint IP owner)
 C-Tech Innovation Ltd – R&D process technology (joint IP owner)

39.  Every bespoke suit starts life as a 2D length of superfine suiting cloth, transformed over
time to fit the customer precisely to his requirements. Every suit is unique, made to the
customer’s exact measurements (typically around thirty measures will be taken across
the customer’s body), drafted into an individual paper pattern from which his chosen or
‘bespoken’ cloth is cut
 The suit will then be handmade, with the cloth shrunken, stretched, pressed, stitched and
structured into a perfectly form-fitting three-dimensional garment. Apprentice tailors can
train for up to six years to be considered a specialist in but only in one area of bespoke
tailoring: whether this is cutting a customer’s pattern or trouser making
 A new pattern is created for each individual wearer. No modification or use of base
patterns, as that could lead the tailor to miss some of the small nuances of the wearer’s
body or slight changes over time. More than just measurements are needed to achieve
this (what is the slope of the shoulder, the arch of the back, etc). No two bodies are the
same. The skill sets of several different specialist craftsmen combine into every suit and
an average of fifty man-hours, three intermediate fittings and some three months from
commission to finished garment characterize the Savile Row bespoke process – a
process that has changed little since the seventeenth century

43. Q & A