World of Fashion
z-emotion – Setting off from Seoul into the World: On the Holistic Path to Digitalization
By Yvonne Heinen-Foudeh, Senior International Correspondent
Measures for digitalization develop their power when they form a sum. Each one is a valuable piece in the mosaic. This is particularly true for the fashion world, which is primarily determined by creative processes. For the essential building block of any digitization strategy – 3D technology – again a Korean system developer with a visionary concept for the apparel segment entered the scene back in 2017. z-emotion is the name of the tech brand. From Seoul’s hip Gangnam district, the Korean founders first put out their antennae into the USA in mid-2022.
Andrea Marangoni and Martina Finotti from z-emotion’s Italian team guided us through a live presentation on the design platform with all various tools for 3D fashion design, garment simulation, product development, marketing & merchandising – embedded into an extensive product eco-system for that part. What strikes our attention over the demonstration in the first row is the top-of-the-notch quality of image rendering.
But let’s start from the beginning. Regarding product development from scratch, two options are provided to transfer patterns developed by z-emotion’s 2D software to the next level. Over this process step designers are able also to tweak 2D patterns, thus adjusting them for fit in a 3D simulation. Alternatively – with a third-party 2D design system in place for any user/brand – pattern data can be created from scratch inside the software or be well imported into z-emotion via industry standard file formats.
”Enabling designers to visualize their creations in three dimensions, simulate fabric drapes in speed time and without collision (editor’s note: for that part z-emotion collaborates with Vizoo) and with that virtual prototyping on digital models is our domain”, explains Marangoni the contribution to streamline design processes and drastically reduce the demand for physical samples. “And with that - making more sustainable, cost-efficient and data-driven management decisions possible,” emphasizes z-emotion’s Business Development Manager EMEA Andrea Marangoni further.
So far – so comparable. With its tools for 3D digital transformation, the South Korean start-up equalizes with a few existing platforms offering 3D sampling for internal reviews, 3D images for social media activities, virtual try-ons for e-commerce, and the option to personalize avatars.
Major differentiation As trailblazers in the retail scenario envision a future where shopping experiences become increasingly immersive, sustainable, and inclusive, Z-emotion addresses that game changer with their holistic approach. Analysis of the internal processes and Content Creation Services will include a 3D web configurator, and 3D assets for brand presence in virtual worlds such as the Metaverse for NFT creation, virtual showrooms, and gaming.
The true event does not end at virtual styling and its value in customization. It lies in the power of social shopping. Social shopping is a type of eCommerce that seeks to involve people with similar tastes in an online shopping experience. The online shop is no longer just a selling platform. It is an open and interactive community for users to contribute.
Key Products & plug-ins in a nutshellWith an extended variety of features and applications the “z-emotion product ecosystem” as the company refers to it, exploration undoubtedly requires consultancy by the in-house experts to get a deeper understanding of all options for individual virtual projects.
• z-weave, as the centerpiece for software architecture, is a 3D garment design software for businesses and professionals to transform 2D patterns into 3D garments and from there leverage an unlimited range for design iterations, color variations, and size control. By digitizing fashion assets such as fabric, yarn, and design styles, users can assemble outcomes from the software without any 3rd-party renderers.• z-virtual and z-retail together represent the “Online Commerce Suite”, bringing dressing rooms into e-commerce for a virtual try-on experience and to lift conversion rates. While z-virtual according to company information works as a plug-in to any e-com platform, may it be web-based or an app, z-retail is described as the virtual reality engine that allows fashion brands and retailers to create virtual spaces for showrooms or stores to showcase fashion products and also dynamically refit digital products onto digital twins.
Re-defining the game
On top, the 3D tech player treads innovative paths with the integration of two more game-changing plug-ins, “that will revolutionize the design and content workflow for the entire community of designers.” This is indeed a significant undertaking to maximize the potential of 3D technology, facilitating the seamless transfer of data from their 3D tools z-weave and zeavric into the most common 3D rendering and simulation platforms used by 3D designers and CGI artists.
zeavric, z-maya, and soon-to-be-launched z-unreal together make elements of the “Fashion Gamification Suite” as they transfer the creativity of gamification as well as virtual experiences to the fashion world.
”Matter-of-factly there is no other player in the arena offering anything similar towards major rendering and simulation software like we enable interfacing to Maya and Unreal Engine”, emphasizes Martina Finotti – “At least at this point,” the head of marketing sympathetically smerks.
And what does the name of the digital apparel platform and the company refer to we ask Martina Finotti, who is handling the start-up’s marketing/communication and with that powerful social media presence to also address CGI artists, with special conditions for their non-commercial feature trials: As simple as brave – to Gen Z, consumers by demographic definition born between 1997 and 2012 – without doubt dominantly influencing fashion creation and consumption and with that required transformation processes as the industry will move ahead.
Z-Emotion Co., Ltd.
Besides the Seoul headquarters the maintains an additional Asia office in Hong Kong. The US site is located in San Jose, California, from where the tech company’s Chief Strategy Officer Kenneth Ryu operates, and who is also responsible for the US business.
Founder and CEO Dongsoo Han’s in tech circles is known as a highly creative 3D simulation engineer. His career background results from experience at multinational semiconductor companies – at AMD’s GPU (Graphic Processing Units) Tech Initiatives Group. “Building a new 3D CAD based on the latest technology was and still is advantageous in breaking the traditional barrier of 3D fashion,” he stresses.
Luxury brand Louis Vuitton chose z-emotion for an immersive experience via the digital recreation of their garment collection.
“Our aim is to listen to the customer needs and support them in their end-to-end digital transformation,” Martina Finotti, Head of Marketing.
“Top priority is to ensure best consulting services for individual brand demands that reflect on our project-oriented business model” explains Andrea Marangoni, Business Development Manager EMEA.
Creating the missing link between fashion and gamification: with the “soon to be launched” z-unreal plug-in the gamification suite will get further completed.
Stunning rendering quality strikes our eyes over the presentation with z-emotion Milan. All Visuals: screen captured from z-motion try-out.
Within the design platform for 3D digital transformation zeavric is the 3D tool enabling realistic as well as Metaverse 3D content. Takeaways from the live demo: Simple instructions, compatibility with user assets enhances interoperability, for many cases compatibility with other assets, user-friendly UI interface plus: easy-to-use and learn.