Virtual Try-on: Current State and Future Uses | PVH | PI Apparel

All right. Ooh, microphone works now. Great. Welcome, everyone. I'm glad you all made it. I know there was a strike going on at the airport, so happy to see you made it. Hopefully, you were able to come in a little bit early, like I was able to, and enjoy some aperitivos and gelatos in this beautiful city. Yeah, let's get started. So my name is Lisa Eriksson. I am a digital production developer with PVH. And I've been solely focused on digital and 3D for the past 5 years of my career. And before that, I was a traditional apparel product developer. Feels a little silly saying traditional product developer, but 3D and digital is still quite new for fashion. I feel very lucky to be part of a team at PVH that is focused on 3D and bringing 3D experience to the consumer. And 3D experience— —digital assets at PVH and recognizing a necessity to build a true end-to-end pipeline that would ensure usability of these digital assets from concept all the way through to consumer-facing experience. And PVH is a family of two iconic heritage brands, Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger. And we are committed to being at the forefront of fashion and pop culture. The world of fashion is increasingly digital, which is the true essence of modern pop culture. So who remembers when Pokémon Go first hit the streets and seemingly everyone's front yards and in front of where you were trying to walk, or the dog Snapchat filters were everywhere on social media? And all of the selfies in our feed. This was the first era of virtual reality merging with our real-life environment. And the latest iteration of virtual reality as it pertains to consumer goods is virtual try-on. So what is virtual try-on? Virtual try before you buy is a technology that's been around for some time now, allowing us to— visualize a coffee machine for our countertop before we buy it, or the right shade of blue to paint our living rooms with. But it's not only limited to furniture and paint color. We can also try on eyeglasses, different shades of lipstick and eyeshadow, and of course clothing as well, which is very exciting news for the world of fashion. Virtual try-on in fashion is allowing us to imagine and create clothing beyond physical possibilities and physical reality. And we're still figuring out how to best use this, this application. The push to bring a more engaging and enhancing online shopping experience was really accelerated during the pandemic, of course, when Brick-and-mortar stores were closed to the public, and we needed to bring some newness to that space. And it's an experience that consumers are more and more expecting, and it's here to stay. If we're allowing the consumer to try on more and get a closer, more intimate interaction with online product, they are more likely to shop. The more we try, the more we buy. And recent studies done by Shopify found that conversion rates are up by up to 250% when online product is supported by augmented reality and virtual try-on, which is good news for the industry. Now, what might be next? What does the future of virtual try-on hold? So virtual sizing and virtual— Body scanning is a technology that's been around for some time now and has been evolving. I see the next practical application of virtual try-on in fashion being this. Hopefully, and hypothetically here, body scanning technology services will begin to be offered in retail spaces, for example, to empower the customer with their very own virtual twin for the purpose of being able to fit the garment more accurately. Virtual try-on right now allows us to visualize the garment in the real space that we are in with the cameras of our smartphone devices. But it's not quite yet at the point where we're trying it on for fit accuracy. Ideally— and again, hopefully here— this will be a universally recognized avatar form that can be used across various websites and for all of our online shopping. Interactions. Here's hoping for interoperability, right? So with this, I think that we can really eliminate and remove the touch crutch, as I like to call it, where we are so reliant on being able to touch the product. By bringing the product closer to the consumer and removing barriers, we can really do this. Not only can this be a technology that excites and engages our young and tech-savvy consumers, I think that this can really be a key technology to unlock true accessibility and inclusivity for all customers. Because if we are bringing the product closer to the consumer, this can be a real game changer for anyone challenged by mobility or dexterity issues as well. Now, if we are allowing the consumer to try more, as I mentioned— whew— our metaverse avatars are not going to have to worry about being hot on stage if they're overdressed. But we do still in the real world. If we're allowing the consumer to try on more and have a more closer interaction with the product, we're going to see higher customer satisfaction. Higher customer satisfaction leads to higher retention rates, which can lead to lower product returns. And product returns are a real problem, an $800 million problem annually, we find. With online sales reaching $2 trillion and only set to increase from there, but a staggering 30 to 40% of that product is being returned. Anecdotal data from Western developed countries also finds that 5% of online shoppers admit— these are the ones that admit— to shop only for photographing for their social media presence, only to return the product. So I really think virtual try-on can be a key to solving this issue that we should be focused on. So if we continue to speculate broadly here, with hundreds of data points being collected on us daily, through our consent, through our fitness trackers and smartwatches, why not link this data with fashion trends and essentially virtual lifestyle coaching? After all, our watches do know better how many hours of sleep we actually got last night or when we last laced up those running shoes. And matching this data with trends and tips and suggestions only makes sense when it's based on our own personal data instead of population averages. I see this segment and this technology really only sharpening and enhancing and becoming more and more relevant to us personally and can really be the new way that we are influenced to do our shopping. So as I mentioned, digital avatars have been around for some time. Anyone play Sims Create Some Worlds there? Yes, I see some hands. Nice. Me too. So that's been around for some time. And unsurprisingly, the avatar creation tools and the outputs we can get from them have drastically improved since then, with avatars now frighteningly similar to real humans. But I won't go there. With all of these possibilities, it begs the question, who will we choose to be in the metaverse? I'm very curious. Who are you going to be in the metaverse? Or what identity or identities will you have in the metaverse? Or more importantly, what are you going to be wearing? As someone who loves fashion and shopping and following trends, I'm thrilled that not only can I dress myself in the real world, but now also have an identity in the metaverse where I can be dressing and collecting expecting fashion to be wearing there as well, just like Mark Zuckerberg. So with this look now at the current landscape and where it might be headed, what's happening in fashion? And this is how we have interpreted it at PVH. And I'm really excited to get to share this part with you because we have been busy creating 3D experiences that we are bringing to the consumer. And they're all quite fresh off the press. So excited to be able to share this with you. The Tommy Hilfiger collaboration with UK fashion designer Richard Quinn is a fantastic example of how we asked ourselves, how can we bring newness to fashion and 3D experience to the consumer when we already had these 3D assets created in 3D for development purposes at PVH. And we wanted to challenge ourselves to not use physical samples and prototypes. So through augmented reality, we brought this collection to life and invited users to interact with the looks in beautiful environments only made up in our imaginations. And on the runways of New York Fashion Week, we saw this collection finally come to life in a real way. While simultaneously streaming, first time ever for us, this collection in a fully digital runway fashion show in the metaverse via Roblox. This was such an exciting endeavor for us, and we were blown away by the interaction and the excitement that our consumers brought to us as well, allowing us to reach completely new users in the gaming world and solidifying our place in the metaverse as well. So successful was this launch that French Printemps wanted to reenact and bring this experience to their space as well, which they did in a larger-than-life takeover of the department store in Paris with 3D mannequins that could be seen across the whole department store. This was really the point that we knew that we were moving in the right direction with virtual in fashion. Another collection that is really fresh off the press, the Shawn Mendes and Tommy Hilfiger collection. And if you do get a chance, I do invite you to go check out the Tommy Hilfiger store here in Milan, where you can experience this collection with the AR mirrors there. So in this collection where classics were reimagined, we again invited our customers to let their own self-expression shine with virtual try-on. We recognize that a strong partnership can really be the key to a successful execution. And we've worked with various vendors to bring this technology to our retail spaces across Europe as well as our showrooms. One of the partners that we worked with for this collection was Zero10, a virtual try-on technology company. As you can see here, we were so thrilled and again blown away by our consumers' excitement in our retail spaces as they got to try on this collection. As I mentioned, virtual try-on isn't quite there for the fit accuracy bit, but we loved seeing here in this adorable video that it is size inclusive, not only for for the adults to play with it, but also the little kids as well. So super fun way to engage with our consumers with this technology. From there, we had also the Tommy Hilfiger entering the metaverse again. And we were so thrilled and honored to be part of the first of its kind metaverse fashion week, where key destinations in the metaverse were brought together. Hope some of you got the chance to spend some time there across Decentraland, Roblox, Spatial, DressX, and Ready Player Me. It was so much fun. I wouldn't call myself a gamer, but I had a lot of fun in the metaverse roaming different environments, dimensions, worlds. I'm not sure what to call it yet. And seeing other users interacting with our brand. All while wearing this iconic Tommy Hilfiger Letterman varsity jacket, which I feel very lucky to have this one 'cause it was a hot item in the metaverse. So this was just a really fun way for us to reach new users and for them to get to know our brand and for us to get to know them and how they wanted to interact with our brand. And in the Metaverse Fashion Week, they could collect different digital wearables, artwork, all kinds of things. And this is what we do. We test and learn. And we're inviting anyone who is curious and adventure-seeking to come along with us on this journey as we discover the metaverse and we shape and contribute to it because we're still figuring out what it is. And we all need to be part of shaping it. The virtual try-on technology has really— let's make sure I don't mess up my mic here— has really allowed us to bring this experience to a whole new space of fashion. It is a virtual experience, but we're bringing it into the real life. And we're trying to bring it to everyone. At PVH, we believe in dreaming big, and by bringing fashion to everyone. One way we are doing that is with 3D and 3D experience. As we see on here, we have a lot— this technology has also allowed us to work with new creatives and art creators to bring their looks into more users and giving them more exposure. This one is with Vinnie Hager, where we created some digital avatars again for the Metaverse Fashion Week, this time working with DressX to bring the technology to the consumer. So this is no longer future tech. This is now tech with incredible possibilities and really proven successes. And I can't wait to see what you all are going to be in the metaverse and, more importantly, what you're going to be wearing there. As I said, we want to offer a less daunting entryway into the metaverse. And we're inviting anyone who is curious to come along with us. Us. So with that, thank you so much for all coming to listen to this. And I really can't wait to meet you all and, more importantly, see what you are wearing in the metaverse. Thank you. And if there's any questions, I think we will have the Slido. But we can also go low tech, and you can just raise your hand. Happy to answer questions. I'll take it back here. Yes. I don't know whether I need a microphone or whether it's going like that. I think maybe there's one coming here.

I think he's— ah, now it's working. So hi, I'm Verena. Thanks a lot for your presentation. So what I'm thinking of is just last week, there was a Metaverse Fashion Week for this year. So how consistent is really the use of Metaverse already? And do you see it as special events, or is it something which is really now starting up?

That's a very, very relevant question for sure. And I think— I'm no expert to answer that. But I think that, as I said, the metaverse is evolving as we speak. We're at the doorstep of it. And we are all contributing and creating it with AI and generative AI, too, entering the scene very quickly. I think we're just shaping it right now. So this is the iteration of the metaverse right now in the Metaverse Fashion Week. We were thrilled to see the response, and we're certainly going to continue to be in that space and creating together with our consumers. But where it's headed, I have no idea. But that's why I really want to emphasize that I think that everyone should be involved in this process and try to contribute to it, because it's whatever we make it to be. But fashion is definitely going to be a part of it, I think.

Thank you. Yes. What kind of metrics do you look— so you listed a whole bunch of integrations for the metaverses. What type of metrics do you look at to define success?

The smiles on our customers' faces. No. Yeah.

Sorry, I'll repeat it again. So you showed us a whole bunch of metaverses you integrated with. What kind of metrics do you look at to define whether it's successful or not?

Yeah, no, well, and I jokingly said we look for the smiles on our consumers', customers' faces, but that is certainly one of them. I mean, we want to see how our customers are responding to this, and this is why we are trying to bring this technology across various spaces. We're bringing it to our retail spaces. We're bringing it into the metaverse. We're bringing it to gaming through Roblox. To really gauge and see how our customers are choosing to respond to this. We focus on the customer and we're trying to build community through this. So we're taking their responses and letting that guide us where we go. Of course, hard metrics are always the sales then of that too. We want to see what kind of a response we are getting when we are allowing our customers to try on these key looks from collections. What is the response then of the sell-through as well there? But like I said, this is still so new. We're just kind of letting the consumer guide us where to go with this and creating with us. I see there's a question here. Which programs do you use to create the 3D clothes? Haha. Various, various programs. No, there's fantastic technology out there to be able to create 3D garments. And as I mentioned, we really value strong partnerships with vendors. That's the key to a successful execution. So yeah, we're going to be working with whichever technology that allows us to bring us the best experience there. Anyone else? Is anyone— first of all, did anyone attend and play around in the metaverse during Metaverse Fashion Week? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Nice. Well, next year maybe more of us will be there 'cause it was certainly very fun. All right, how do you plan to teach your customers Web3 basics? Interesting question. I like that question because that kind of also challenges where does the responsibility lie? We're trying to, inspire curiosity with our consumers to want to learn about this and inviting them to these new spaces in the metaverse. And really, I don't think there is any handbook in how Web3 and the metaverse works. Again, I keep coming back to this. We're creating it right now in real time. So yeah, by inspiring curiosity is how we're teaching people, I think. "What is the feedback in regard to fit after virtual try-on? Do customers still want garment to try before purchase?" I think we're just kind of at the start of this where the virtual try-on, as you saw there in our retail spaces with the AR mirrors, it's bringing excitement to the collection. I think that we are getting the feedback, and it's still so fresh. We're still collecting the feedback, so I can't really give the full answer there. But we're seeing that it is still giving them a more intimate and closer immersive interaction with the product. As I said, and having my background in apparel development, I know that fit accuracy is really important. So I do know that that technology is going to have to back up the virtual try-on as well. Why did you experiment with— oh. Where'd it go? OK, we'll come back to that one. How do you see the timeline for future of fit accuracy? I'm eagerly following it. And I think that with us as a company, we're working— or it's a need that we have. So I think that we're probably contributing to the advancement of that. But yeah, can't really give you a timeline answer there. But it's definitely coming because it's necessary. How do you apply the virtual try-on technology in your wholesale showrooms? If I'm understanding that question correctly, so we have— we've been using this technology in our showrooms for quite some time now, which has been a great way to— again, I mentioned the touch crutch. Not only is that from the customers, it's largely also from merchandising and buyers. We've become so reliant on being able to touch and feel the product before committing to buying it. And so one way we're trying to really get away from that and push new experiences with virtual try-on. So yeah, we've been using it in our showrooms too. And this kind of ties it back to the education bit of how we're teaching people to embrace this. Is just by letting them try it and experience it for themselves. So yeah, that's how we're bringing it to the showroom. How long did it take to create the 3D collection with Richard Quinn, and how many people are working on it? A fantastic team of designers, 3D creators, 3D production developers. Myself, I was part of that collection. Yeah, we had a lot of people on board with that one because it was such an exciting collection and we were using all new technology and working in a very new way. So, but as far as timeline, it was the same timeline as any of our other collections for bringing collections to life. So, we didn't have to customize and bring any new timeline or build any new space into our calendars because we were challenging ourselves to work with the timelines that we had to bring this new experience. Let's see. Consumers usually make avatars that don't correlate with their body measurements. How do you overcome this? That is an interesting question. I think that this is a little bit twofold because in the metaverse, if we're talking about the metaverse, as I mentioned, you can have whichever identity you choose to have. If we go back to that slide, where if we're thinking about The Sims, you can have that type of avatar, or you could have the MetaHuman, more realistic avatars, or you could have this version of avatars, or these different versions of avatar. So it depends on what purpose you're looking for. Again, it comes back to partly the education bit if we're talking about body scanning. And avatars, virtual twins for fit purposes, we are going to need to guide and help the consumer to get fit-accurate virtual twins. Again, I'm hoping for interoperability and that we get a standardized form there where we can provide body scanning services for our customers, because otherwise it is challenging. The technologies that's out there now where you're scanning with your phone, it's a little bit hard to get it accurate and so that everyone is having the same universal size. So I think I lost the questions now. Sorry. I put my slides back up. There we go. Thank you. Are you applying virtual try-on in your website already? Do you use it for all your products or subset or product categories? We don't have virtual try-on yet on our website. If you're referring to our e-commerce websites, it is in our retail spaces in those augmented reality mirrors like I showed you. We have it through DressX and Zero10. We had it in the metaverse. So that's how we've been engaging our customers with it. I think that was all. That was a rapid fire of questions. If I miss any, please shout or raise your hand. Yes.

Is it correct that all those beautiful experiences was a matter of fully digital garments? Are you planning to implement it to the real-life garments, existing ones, maybe by digitizing them?

Let me make sure that I understand your question correctly. You were asking if the digital virtual try-on garments are always linked to a real product in the collection? [SPEAKING RUSSIAN] Yeah, I hope I understand here. So with the Richard Quinn collection and the Shawn Mendes collection, all of the virtual garments there were linked to real garments from the collection. Specifically for the Shawn Mendes collection, we brought the key looks to life in virtual reality. And then those could also be purchased. Some others, like in the Metaverse Fashion Week, we created some digital product and accessories that was more just as collectible wearable items. So we're experimenting with both. But mainly, we do believe in the see now, buy now, wear now. So we want to make the fashion accessible by being able to virtually try it on and then also purchase and wear it in the real life. Did that answer your question? OK, good. All right. How have you overcome the touch crutch internally with buying, merchandising, et cetera teams? With a smiling face and telling them that 3D is awesome. That's how we do it. It's one day at a time. It is challenging. It's new technology. It's change. We're all change adverse, but we have to embrace it. As I said, it's not future tech anymore. It's now tech. It's happening. Virtual is here to stay. Digital is here to stay. And yeah, there's no magic. There's no magic button. It's just inspiring to be curious. Do you believe in the gamey look of the Zuckerberg avatar? From our experience, this is digital Stone Age. Wow, he chose that look, not me. Personally, I wouldn't choose that one. No, we can choose our own interpretation of digital avatar. And when I say virtual twin, I'm more referring to this fit accuracy, which would really just be a body scan of us. It would be those just gray blobs, but they are accurate to our bodies so that we can try on garments. When I'm talking about digital avatars, you can be whatever you want. Zuckerberg chose to be the digital Stone Age version. I would personally probably have some pink here, probably a purple dress. I don't know. You can be whatever you want in the metaverse. And some people choose to have that more Roblox look, which is a gaming environment, or some want to have a very hyper-realistic and be a true copy of themselves in the metaverse. I think that's why this can really be inclusive and accessible because it is your virtual version, however you choose to express that in the metaverse. So it's— you're choosing it. You're making it. Yeah. All right. If that was all, thank you all for coming and learning about metaverse and Virtual Try-On.