UpFront with FABRIC, Part 1: A Fashion Incubator

UpFront with FABRIC, Part 1: A Fashion Incubator

By Dave Gardner, Editor/Publisher of The NEEDLE'S EYE

FABRIC — A phygital fashion incubator uses the latest technology to democratize fashion and enable digitally native fashion brands of any size to meet the needs of today’s consumer-driven marketplace. Large and small e-commerce brands selling both wholesale and DTC can test the market and make and sell personalized, customized, unique garments in a batched on-demand model. 

Angela Johnson and Sherri Barry together launched FABRIC in 2016 combining their 20-plus years of experience in fashion and business strategy to help move the needle for the industry toward a more sustainable, inclusive, personalized, tech-driven, domestic, on-demand model based in the “Valley of the Sun”. 

(L-R) Angela Johnson, Dave Gardner, and Sherri Barry on The NEEDLE’S EYE 
visit to FABRIC in Tempe, Arizona

FABRIC (Fashion And Business Resource Innovation Center), an Arizona 501(c)(3) nonprofit incubator, is an advanced micro-factory that uses state-of-the-art technology to manufacture customized sewn products in a batched on-demand model as well as a business accelerator for emerging fashion entrepreneurs. 

FABRIC provides apparel entrepreneurs with training, guidance, innovative industry resources, and access to no-minimum manufacturing, so they can build sustainable fashion businesses domestically. Long-term, the organization aims to build upon this work in a way that establishes Arizona as a modern fashion industry capital by creating a tech-based, sustainable, closed-loop ecosystem that attracts and supports direct-to-consumer apparel brands.
 FABRIC offers free and discounted programs and services to the community in exchange for the use of the city’s 11,000-square-foot building located at 117 East 5th Street in Tempe, Arizona which is adjacent to both Arizona State University and Tempe City Hall Plaza. The new facility features two levels: the ground floor is a manufacturing area with cutting, sewing, the Kornit Presto digital printer, and a pop-up showroom; while the second-floor, loft-like space is set up for digital product creation as well as events and includes coworking desks, meeting nooks, and classrooms — all equipped with everything a fashion entrepreneur needs. 

FABRIC provides scholarships that are offered annually to disadvantaged entrepreneurs including those who are minorities, veterans, differently enabled, and economically challenged. 

Their partnership with the city of Tempe also helps provide BIPOC entrepreneurship opportunities (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color), supporting arts and culture, and the economic development benefits from growing a whole new industry in the “Valley of the Sun”. 

The term "Valley of the Sun" typically refers to the metropolitan area surrounding Phoenix, Arizona in the United States. Phoenix is the capital and largest city of Arizona and is located in the Sonoran Desert. The region is known for its abundant sunshine, hence the nickname "Valley of the Sun."

The Valley of the Sun encompasses not only Phoenix but also several other cities and towns in Maricopa County, including Tempe, Scottsdale, Mesa, Chandler, Glendale, and Peoria. Together, these cities form a sprawling urban area with a vibrant cultural scene, diverse population, and a wide range of recreational and entertainment options.

Overall, the Valley of the Sun is a dynamic and thriving metropolitan area known for its sunshine, outdoor activities, cultural offerings, desert landscapes, and now fashion.

Those entrepreneurial business owners have free and discounted access to FABRIC’s “Roadmap” package which contains over US$70,000 in resources, guidance, contracts, video tutorials, lessons, and referrals for starting an apparel brand and manufacturing sewn products.

Read UpFront with FAbric, Part 2: Co-Founders Angela Johnson and Sherri Barry

FABRIC’s Mission FABRIC’s mission is to provide apparel entrepreneurs with training, guidance, innovative industry resources, and access to no-minimum and on-demand manufacturing, so they can build sustainable fashion businesses domestically and reduce overproduction that results from high minimums overseas. This allows brands of any size to test the designs before they commit to large production runs. On-Demand Manufacturing enables customers to customize their orders.

FABRIC embraces the latest technology to enable digitally native fashion brands of any size to meet the needs of today's consumer-driven marketplace. Large and small e-commerce brands selling both wholesale and Direct-To-Customer can test the market and make and sell personalized, customized, unique garments in a batched on-demand model.

Phygital Fashion TechnologyFABRIC’s new facility is affectionately called the “Phygital Fashion Innovation Incubator” because it offers both physical and digital design processes. 

FABRIC embraces the latest technologies including:1.	Design     a.     FABRIC Apparel Entrepreneur Roadmap     b.     Adobe Creative Suite     c.     CLo3D2.	Pattern Making, Grading, Markers     a.     Lectra/Gerber v.14.0 PDS-3D, Accumark, GMS & Yunique PLM     b.     Lectra/Gerber Plotter     c.     Lectra/Gerber Digitizer3.	Batched, On-Demand Printing     a.     Kornit Presto Direct-to-Fabric printer4.	Cut & Sew     a.     Movable pod sewing stations & automated sewing machines5.	Sales & Marketing     a.     Integrated e-commerce, PLM, an MRP system used to drive ODM     b.     NFT and NFC creation and authentication
These technologies enable apparel entrepreneurs and brands of any size to virtually design unique, niche products and then physically print, cut, and sew them in just-in-time limited drops online. Using the 3D assets also allows these entrepreneurs/brands to expand their sales channels and break out of the limitations of physical retail into Web3 opportunities with digital twins of their designs. 

Web3 refers to the next generation of the internet, characterized by integrating blockchain technology and decentralized protocols. It aims to transform the current centralized web (Web 2.0) into a more open, secure, and user-centric ecosystem.

Arizona Fashion Source and Fabric Tempe combined forces to unite national fashion professionals by providing resources in Arizona where they can create, test, play, collaborate, learn, source, manufacture, market, and celebrate fashion. They are there to support and grow a more sustainable domestic fashion industry by scaffolding its entrepreneurs and attracting fashion brands and resources to the state. They utilize sustainable and state-of-the-art manufacturing processes and are passionate about leading innovation in 21st-century apparel design and wearable tech.

“We’re one of the only micro-factories in the U.S. that can do on-demand print and cut/sew/pack/ship using the phygital model that is open to brands of any size,” says Angela Johnson. “When you can actually develop something digitally, virtually stitch it up, see what it’s going to look like, perfect the fit, embed an engineered print all before putting your scissors to your cloth and paying for that sample, it just saved you multiple samples and the costs that go into that.”

“Sustainability is a core challenge to the industry,” said Don Whaley, VP of sales and marketing Americas, at the Rosh Haayin, Israel-based Kornit Digital. Kornit develops and sells large digital-printing solutions, workflow ink, and actual print technology. “It’s all about sustainability and printing what you need when you need it and where you need it,” said Whaley.

FABRIC helps apparel entrepreneurs fill a void in the market. It's where a brand owner can come to find all of the resources they need at any stage of their business. No experience is necessary.

The problem is that the apparel manufacturing industry is set up for larger brands that have large budgets and make large quantities in overseas factories. Unrealistic consumer price expectations force these brands to over-produce overseas, using unsustainable methods, and questionable labor practices.

This traditional apparel manufacturing process is flawed and isn’t set up to meet the needs of modern apparel entrepreneurs or larger brands that care about sustainability that want to make smaller quantities of niche-sewn products domestically. So most new apparel entrepreneurs struggle to overcome these obstacles:

     ●	High minimums (MOQ’s) required = Unsustainable overproduction.     ●	Large capital investment is needed.     ●	Requires a full-time, knowledgeable, and experienced team who understands technical design, sourcing, production management, and quality control.     ●	High probability of damages and unusable inventory due to a lack of understanding of the brand’s role and responsibilities in Quality Control.     ●	The physical proximity of resources. Lack of local resources. Most domestic resources are in LA or NY. The majority of factories are overseas. Overseas manufacturing comes with…     ●	Language barrier     ●	Long lead times for shipping and customs     ●	High tariffs on imports     ●	Loss of intellectual property     ●	Lack of communication     ●	Lack of quality control     ●	Unsustainable practices that have made the fashion industry one of the most polluting industries on the planet

Is FABRIC for you?
FABRIC was created for the modern apparel entrepreneur. No prior experience is necessary. Almost any sewn product is possible.