From ready-to-wear knits manufactured instantly to customised dresses
produced on inkjet printers, Japan’s apparel industry is turning to
state-of-the-art technology in a bold bid to cut labour costs and secure
its future.
At manufacturing giant Shima Seiki’s factory in western Japan, garments
materialise in minutes, thanks to digitally-programmed automated machines
that
can turn out a sample seam-free pullover in half an hour with a push of a
button.
The WholeGarment system patented by the Japanese manufacturer and sold to
knitwear companies like Italian luxury brand Max Mara includes a digital
design system that allows users to choose patterns, colours and cuts.
Originally known for glove-making machinery, Shima Seiki took a
technological leap in the 1990s in an effort to revive the flagging fortunes
of Japanese apparel manufacturers.
“Everyone was going overseas to cheaper destinations for manufacturing and
we wanted to stop that from happening,” said Kenji Iwamoto of Shima Seiki.
The WholeGarment system allows one worker to operate 10 machines — thereby
lowering labour costs — and uses limited raw material to create seam-free
garments that generate no waste, since they require no cutting or sewing.
After a slow start that saw around a dozen brands from Japan and Italy sign
up the first year, today some 800 companies — nearly half of them Japanese
—
have jumped on board, contributing to Shima Seiki’s 60 percent share of the
global market for knitting machines.
The initiative is part of a push by Japan’s knitwear industry to capitalise
on its technical know-how to create garments that cannot be replicated
elsewhere at a lower cost.
For young knitwear designers like Motohiro Tanji and Ken Oe, manufacturing
outside of Japan isn’t an option.
“It’s easier for me to work with Japanese manufacturers,” Tanji told AFP
after his show at Tokyo Fashion Week.
“My designs are complicated and demand a high level of technical skill
which I can find here,” said Tanji, who relies on Japanese factories to
produce his sculptural, sophisticated knits.
Designer Oe’s label Coohem emerged out of a push to save his
grandfather’s
textile company, Yonetomi, which had been in the throes of a decline since
the
1990s recession.
Oe joined the company six years ago and introduced an emphasis on using
digital tools to create intricate high-fashion tweed suits that are now
stocked at leading stores, including New York-based Jeffrey and Harvey
Nichols
in Hong Kong.
“We use about five yarns at a time to design original textiles… (which)
other brands cannot copy,” Oe told AFP.
The focus on technique and technology has already paid off, with Japan’s
knitwear sector registering a 40 percent increase in exports over a 10-year
period beginning in 2006, a rare bright spot in an otherwise dismal picture
for textile and apparel exports from the country.
Recognising the need for reinvention in the apparel sector, Japanese
textile company Seiren, known more for manufacturing curtains and car
interiors, is now fusing fashion and digital know-how to launch a customised
clothing line for the masses.
The Viscotecs brand, available to customers at Tokyo’s Takashimaya
department stores since September, invites customers to try on a sample
outfit
in a dressing room specially fitted with a camera that downloads their image
onto a hand-held device.
They can then choose from a dizzying array of options — including
patterns, fabrics, colours and lengths — displayed on the tablet to create
a
one-of-a-kind dress.
The design data is digitally transmitted to Seiren’s factory in central
Japan where the garment is brought to life via pattern-cutting machines and
inkjet printers before being delivered to the store in three weeks.
The process has the potential to transform the fashion industry by
cutting
down on unsold inventory, which either ends up in the bargain bin or as
landfill.
In addition, the use of inkjet printers slashes the amount of water and
energy utilised in conventional dyeing methods by at least 80 percent, Nami
Yoshida, a spokeswoman for Seiren, told AFP.
However, buying into the brand comes at a cost, with dresses priced
between
65,000 to 80,000 yen (600 to 700 US dollars).
“It may take time but we are confident that once customers know the
brand,
sales will follow,” said Mayumi Yamakawa, a spokeswoman for Takashimaya.
For Oe, whose label derives its name from a Japanese word, “kouhen”, a
reference to knitting specialists, the revival of his industry is
inseparable
from an investment in technique and technology alike.
“It’s difficult to explain in words what makes our products special…
our
products explain it better,” he said.
“My grandfather’s company was established 64 years ago… and all their
technique and our technology is reflected in the items we make.” (AFP)
Photos: AFP