Welcome to this forum.
I am Nicole Chan, the Chairperson of the Taiwan Advancement Association for Digital Textile (AADT) which is the organizer of the World Digital Textile Forum, and I am also the moderator of today’s event.
AADT is a non-profit organization that aims to promote the digital upgrade of the textile industry, assist in the integration of the textile with the technology, raise the textile industry to a new cultural level through the power of digitization, and digitize the design, production and sales processes of fashionable textiles to realize the vision of the textile metaverse.
Not long ago, Facebook was officially renamed Meta — representing a new era of global digital technology. Today’s forum — which will be followed by three days of keynote speeches — will focus on topics related to how the fashion textile industry is moving into the metaverse. The textile industry led the world into Industry 1.0, and now, in the new era of Industry 4.0, we fully expect the textile industry to lead the world yet again.
Taiwan is a leading country in semiconductors, electronics, and information and communication technologies and has a comprehensive technology manufacturing and technology cluster. Taiwan is also the kingdom of textile manufacturing. In addition to assisting famous brands in making exquisite fabrics and apparel, Taiwan has also successfully developed world-leading functional fabrics, eco-friendly fabrics, and technology-sensitive apparel in recent years. Furthermore, Taiwan has supported and cooperated with famous sportswear brands, fashion and leisure, and fashionable apparel in Europe and America — which are widely loved by consumers.
Through organizing this Forum, AADT hopes to integrate Taiwan’s textile industry knowledge and ICT innovation technology together. The theme of today’s is “The Big Bang of the Digital Textile Industry,” tomorrows’ is “3D Design Innovation Jump-Start“, the theme of the third day is “Fashion’s digital transformation: Now or Never,” and the fourth and final day’s theme is “Digitization in Fashion.”
The distinguished speakers we invited are from UK, Demark, Germany, America, Singapore, HK, and Taipei, and included experts and industry players in apparel brands, e-commerce channels, AR/VR simulation, 3D design, digital fabrics, PLM, and automation in the textile industry — covering the entire digital ecosystem from fashion brands and channels to the manufacturing supply chain. The ultimate aim was to invite global digital fashion and textile experts to share their insights, viewpoints, and knowledge and wish to outline the blueprint of global fashion textile industry and accelerate the speed of digitization.
Please allow me to ask three “what if” about the future, and let’s think about the meaning and value of this event today.
- What kind of production process will be needed if a garment is sold first and then digitally produced?
- What kind of business model is needed if a garment can be custom designed, produced, and sold according to the consumer’s body shape, dressing taste, and needs?
- What would it be like if consumers could design, cut, and produce their own hand-made, unique clothes according to their individual personalities and interests?
We hope that this four-day digital textile forum will promote the entire industry from a clothing-oriented production mindset towards a people-oriented digital economy and make a better future for all human beings and our environment.
It’s great to see such an international panel of speakers this year. I genuinely hope you enjoy the forum. May you have a great success and prospective future!
Thank you for the attention!