The Fabricant and London College of Fashion partner to digitise garment production

Amsterdam-based digital fashion platform The Fabricant and London College of Fashion, a constituent college of University of the Arts London, have launched Image-to-Pattern, an 18-month research and development project supported by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology Cultural and Creative sectors and industries, according to a press release shared by the organizations. The initiative addresses the structural gap between digital fashion design and physical garment manufacturing, targeting the workflow step where approved renders are converted into factory production specifications. The collaboration aims to replace manual tech packs, unstandardized spreadsheets, and iterative sampling processes with artificial intelligence tools designed to streamline factory handoffs and minimize pre-production material waste.

The program's initial output is Tech Pack, an artificial intelligence tool available on The Fabricant's platform that generates structured manufacturing briefs directly from design files. To ensure functional alignment with supply chain requirements, the tool was tested alongside garment manufacturers Becri, United Textiles Group, and Padma. A second tool, Sewing Pattern, is currently in development and slated for release in the first quarter of 2027. Designed to convert technical sketches or photographs into 2D production patterns, the tool incorporates institutional pattern-making knowledge to help bridge technical expertise gaps within European apparel supply chains.

From an educational and structural perspective, the partnership highlights how fashion curricula must adapt to integrate digital production standards alongside traditional craftsmanship. European textile manufacturing employment has decreased from over 1.5 million to under 1.2 million workers over the past decade, with more than a third of the remaining workforce over 50 years old, according to data cited from Euratex. By capturing specialist technical knowledge within scalable software tools, institutions like London College of Fashion demonstrate how academic partnerships can preserve technical craft, modernize curriculum standards, and equip students with competencies suited for an increasingly automated design and manufacturing environment.