Posted October 25, 2017

 

TOLLAND, Conn. USA – Gerber Technology, a world leader in integrated software and automation solutions for the apparel and industrial markets, announced that it has partnered with Global Garment Engineering and 20th Century Fox for an upcoming movie and Fashion Enter/FashionCapital of London to support both their commercial factory and training academy. 

 

20th Century Fox for costume replicas

 

In every aspect of the fashion world, digitalization is driving the demand to bring new styles to market faster. This is also true for the world of film and costume creation. Costume replicas are costly and, in the past, they were all done by hand.

 

But recently Gerber combined forces with Global Garment Engineering and 20th Century Fox to replicate costumes worn by Hugh Jackman, Zac Efron, Michelle Williams, Rebecca Ferguson and Zendaya in the upcoming film The Greatest Showman (in theaters around the world starting Christmas Day). By leveraging Gerber’s integrated digital solutions, they can now be done in a fraction of the time and at a much lower cost.

The challenge 20th Century Fox presented was to produce 50 sets of replicas of beautiful and complicated costumes in a very short time frame to support the film’s release. The product experts at Gerber, working closely with their partner Pat Trautman at Global Garment Engineering, accepted the challenge and leveraged Gerber’s industry leading products and team expertise to digitally deconstruct each costume garment without having to take them apart.

 

The job started by digitizing each garment on the Gerber SilhouetteTM table, where pattern files were instantaneously created in AccuMark® – the industry-leading pattern design, grading, marker making and production planning software. The patterns were simultaneously passed into AccuMark 3D, where they were draped on avatars to validate pattern pieces and review virtual samples. The digital sampling process allowed the team to ensure the patterns would accurately and precisely be sewn together to create perfect replicas.

“Precision as we digitized the original costumes into the patterns was key to achieve the speed and quality we needed to accurately replicate these beautiful garments in such a short time frame,” said Mary McFadden, executive director of CAD at Gerber Technology.
 
Prior to project kickoff, photographs, technical sketches, measurements, component details and assembly instructions were compiled within YuniquePLM® to ensure planning, management and tracking of each essential step was executed properly and timelines were met. 
 
After the patterns were validated in AccuMark 3D, data was passed to AccuNest™ to create markers ensuring the optimum yield was achieved from the beautiful and expensive fabrics needed to produce the costumes. Over 22 diverse fabrics were spread and cut.

 

“By using AccuNest, we were able to achieve a 3 percent to 6 percent improvement on fabric yield which was a substantial cost savings for the project” said McFadden.

 

A cut ticket was then generated for each of the garments to pass data from technical design through to production. The barcode on the cut ticket transfers all the fabric and marker data essential to efficiently spread and cut each costume.
 

In the cut room at Gerber’s headquarters here, product experts loaded the fabric, scanned the cut ticket on the GERBERspreader™ XLs125, where the spread details were automatically transferred without manual re-entry of any of the information. After monitoring the spread, the material was passed on to be cut using the Gerber Paragon® HX. At the Gerber Paragon, the cut ticket was scanned again to pull up the marker for each garment. After carefully managing the process and labeling the bundles of cut parts, they were packed and shipped to New York for assembly.
 
Pat Trautman and her team from Global Garment Engineering brought their expertise and passion to ensure every detail was handled on time and with a constant focus on ensuring the quality of the replicas would match the designer’s vision for each of the original costumes. 
 
“We are honored to have completed this project with 20th Century Fox. It has allowed the team to use its expertise and display their pride in all that they have accomplished with our digital solutions offering,” said Mohit Uberoi, CEO, Gerber Technology. “We are all looking forward to the release of The Greatest Showman.
 
The whole process will be demonstrated at ideation 2017 and conference attendees will be able to see the replica costumes, experience the technology and speak directly with the team members who worked on the project.

Register for ideation to connect the possibilities of technology here.
 
Fashion Enter/FashionCapital

 

Gerber Technology is partnering with Fashion Enter/FashionCapital, London, by supporting both their commercial factory and training academy.

 

“We are very pleased about the integration of our AccuMark® software and digitizing solution into the curriculum of Fashion Enter and look forward to a successful partnership”, said Yvonne Heinen-Foudeh, marketing and communications director, EMEA for Gerber Technology.

Gerber’s mission is to make it easy for any one in the world using textiles, leather, composites or other flexible materials to go from concept to market quickly and seamlessly.

 

“We have been empowering educators with technology to help prepare the next generation of fashion leaders for nearly 50 years,” Heinen-Foudeh added. “The success of the industry relies on students graduating with knowledge of how technologies like PLM, CAD and smart machines used in manufacturing are all connected and essential to the work flow and Fashion Enter/FashionCapital is the ideal partner to support our mission.”

“Over the last six months, we have expanded our Fashion Studio service by 28 new accounts, including Huntsman and Gormley and Gamble,” said Jenny Holloway, founder of the social enterprise Fashion Enter. “The pattern-cutting team headed by Lauren Loftus and supported by an excellent six-person team of pattern queens is flying. The experienced members of our team including Lauren and Debbie Smith have a strong knowledge of Gerber’s AccuMark software. I put my faith in their experience and knew it was best to listen to the experts!  We have therefore invested into the latest Gerber CAD system to ensure that the accuracy of detail is embedded into our pattern and grading services.”

Gerber Technology has developed partnerships with over 1,400 colleges, universities, technical and fashion schools across the world, providing them with solutions and expertise to help the teachers prepare students with the skills they require in today’s competitive fashion workplace.
 

Source: Gerber Technology