The fashion industry, once a trendsetter, now struggles to keep pace with the breakneck speed of fashion innovation. Consumers demand fresh designs that resonate with their values, and traditional design houses find it difficult to adapt. This challenge is amplified by the growing desire for sustainable fashion options. The industry’s dominant model, fast fashion prioritizes rapid production and trend replication, leaving little room for innovation or eco-friendly practices. Enter open innovation, a revolutionary approach shaking up the fashion world.

At Untap, we stand witness to the power of open innovation. As an innovation and talent discovery software, we help organizations plan, manage, and assess hackathons, innovation challenges, and crowdsourcing initiatives.

Our exploration of open innovation has revealed a landscape brimming with disruption. The power of collaboration is reshaping industries, and fashion is no exception. In this article, we explore the power of open innovation in fashion, sharing our experience and why we believe it’s the future of the industry.

The Story of ALOHA’s Footwear Contest

ALOHAS, a forward-thinking company, leveraged Untap’s platform to host a global footwear design contest focusing on sustainability and innovation. Untap’s user-friendly interface streamlined the process, allowing ALOHAS to:

• Attract and inform potential participants with a captivating landing page and clear call to action.
• Design intuitive forms for design submissions using a drag-and-drop interface, ensuring a smooth application process.
• Streamline the judging process with customizable evaluation forms, guaranteeing a fair and efficient selection.
• Facilitate public voting to generate excitement and engagement, leading to transparently chosen winners.
• Centralize all contest data, keeping submissions, evaluations, and everything else organized and accessible within Untap.

This streamlined experience for both ALOHAS and the participating designers is a testament to Untap’s capabilities. It begs the question: why aren’t more fashion brands leveraging this powerful approach?

9 Reasons Why Open Collaboration Boosts Fashion Innovation

The fashion landscape is undergoing a seismic shift. We’re moving away from an era dominated by industry giants dictating trends, and towards a future that celebrates democratized creativity. This means empowering the next generation of fashion pioneers by embracing open innovation. Here’s why all fashion brands should consider opening up their innovation process:

1. Targeted Insights: Crowdsourcing platforms gather real-time customer insights, allowing you to identify specific trends and preferences within your target audience.
2. Sustainable Innovation: Open challenges can unearth novel ideas for eco-friendly materials, production processes, and garment lifecycles.
3. Collaboration with Influencers: Engaging fashion influencers can generate buzz and encourage participation in design contests.
4. Accelerated Innovation: The breakneck pace of fashion trends demands constant new ideas. Open innovation broadens your talent pool, bringing in fresh perspectives and accelerating the ideation process.
5. Diverse & Creative Solutions: By tapping into a global network of designers, students, and enthusiasts, you gain access to a wider range of ideas and skillsets than your internal team might possess. This can lead to more creative and unexpected solutions.
6. Deeper Customer Connection: Crowdsourcing design ideas and incorporating customer feedback allows for direct engagement with your target audience, allowing you to create products that truly resonate with them, and fostering brand affinity and loyalty.
7. Cost-Effectiveness: Open innovation can be a cost-effective way to access talent and expertise. You can leverage external resources for specific design challenges or stages of the design process, reducing in-house development costs.
8. Sustainable Practices: Open innovation challenges can spark ideas for eco-friendly materials, production processes, and garment lifecycles. This can help the fashion industry move towards a more sustainable future.
9. Increased Brand Awareness: Open design contests and collaborations with external designers can generate buzz and excitement around your brand, attracting new customers and media attention.

Collaborative Fashion Innovation in Action

Aloha’s Footwear Contest exemplifies the transformative power of open innovation in fashion. But it’s just the tip of the iceberg! Industry giants like Under Armour, Kering, and H&M are also embracing this approach in unique ways:

• Under Armour’s Lighthouse Innovation Lab brings together global minds to tackle sustainability challenges and develop eco-friendly products. This state-of-the-art facility focuses on 3D design, body scanning, and rapid prototyping to advance product development and manufacturing processes.
• Kering – Open Innovation Program Kering, the luxury group that owns brands like Gucci and Saint Laurent, launched an open innovation program to foster sustainable practices within the fashion industry. This initiative includes partnerships with startups and other innovators to develop eco-friendly materials and production processes. The goal is to integrate sustainability into the core business model of its brands.
• H&M’s decentralized decision-making model empowers creativity at every level, a core principle of open innovation. Through their H&M Foundation Global Change Award, they invite innovators worldwide to develop sustainable fashion solutions, reflecting their commitment to open innovation and environmental stewardship.

Looking ahead, the possibilities are endless. Open innovation allows fashion organizations to leverage crowdsourcing for rapid ideation, prototyping, and iteration across every value chain stage – from trend forecasting to supply chain optimization. By embracing this collaborative approach, brands can not only stay ahead of the curve and delight customers but also drive positive change within the industry.

Ready to embark on your journey of open innovation?

Untap is here to guide you every step of the way. Whether you’re planning a design contest, a hackathon, or an innovation challenge, we have the tools and expertise to bring your vision to life. Book a demo today and discover the endless possibilities of open innovation in your industry.