Knit on Demand : mass customisation of knitted fashion products

Today’s fashion market is characterized by short life cycles, low predictability and high impulse purchasing. Many fashion companies are responding to this by constantly introducing new collections. Zara, which is considered to be the leader of fashion are introducing as many as 211 new models per week. One of the drawbacks of Zara’s and others’ methods is the resulting overproduction; many garments have to be sold to reduced price or are thrown away. An average of one third of the collections is considered waste. It costs money for the fashion companies; it reduces the sell-through factor and wastes natural resources. Knit on Demand is a research project at the Swedish School of Textiles that aims to reduce the waste and increase the sell-through factor and service level. A local producer of knitwear and a retailer of tailored fashion in Stockholm also participate in the project. The purpose of the project is to test new methods of supply chain management and to analyse whether mass customization is applicable on knitwear. There are several benefits with mass customised garments: the customer receives a garment that is better suited to his or her needs, the producer does not have to make garments on forecast, and the environment and natural resources are spared because only what is bought by the end consumer is produced and shipped.