Look closely at the latest runway reports, or even the chatter on your favourite fashion-business podcast, and you will hear the same refrain: technology in fashion is no longer just an add-on. In short, the worlds of fashion and tech have merged into a single, fast-moving ecosystem.
That acceleration brings remarkable opportunities. Digital tools cut weeks from sampling calendars, fold sustainability into everyday decision-making and give brands, no matter their size, the power to run truly global operations. Among those tools, fashion-specific Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) platforms such as Zedonk stand out for one simple reason: they keep every sketch, cost sheet and stock count in sync without drowning teams in spreadsheets.
From Design to Delivery: PLM Meets ERP
PLM: A Foundational Tool for Fashion Brands
Ask anyone who has wrestled with a critical-path spreadsheet and they will tell you: product development is a juggling act. Design sketches, fabric cards, Bills of Materials (BOMs) and fit comments pile up faster than a sample rack before Paris Fashion Week. That is precisely why Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) software has become the new studio essential. Think of PLM as a digital project manager that stores every version of a garment, from first doodle to factory-ready tech pack, in one tidy workspace.
Tracking Raw Materials, Costings and Timelines
Zedonk’s new PLM module takes the concept further by sitting natively beside its ERP suite. Raw-material costs, sample status and grade-rule adjustments flow directly into production costings without manual re-typing. A designer who tweaks a neckline in London sees that change reflected instantly in the costing sheet viewed by a production manager in Porto. Deadlines tighten, margins stay visible and no-one has to reconcile conflicting versions of “Final_Final_V3”.
Bridging Design and Operations with Integration
A real-world example? London-based bodywear brand Opaak rolled out Zedonk and saw its sample approval cycle shrink by nearly two weeks, enough time to secure an earlier slot at a key wholesale show. That speed also protected cashflow: fewer last-minute courier fees and a clearer view of landed costs meant healthier margins when the collection finally shipped.
Why PLM + ERP Matters for Every Size of Label
Why it matters: in an era where collections drop monthly, bridging PLM and ERP ensures that creativity travels a friction-free road all the way to the consumer. And because Zedonk’s platform is cloud-based, even a two-person start-up can enjoy the same seamless workflow once reserved for corporate giants.
Change-Management Tips
Rolling out PLM can feel daunting, so many brands start small: digitise one product category, train a pilot team, then expand once workflows feel natural. Clear naming conventions, version-control rules and “single source of truth” habits baked in early will pay dividends when your range balloons from 40 styles to 400.
Smarter Production and Inventory Management
Streamlining Production Planning with ERP
A beautiful design is only half the story; it must also be produced on time, in budget and in exactly the right quantities. Here, ERP systems earn their keep. Zedonk’s production and inventory tools display raw-material liabilities, factory work-in-progress and finished-goods stock in real time, empowering planners to spot red flags before they derail a season.
Real-Time Data Cuts Waste and Boosts Agility
That transparency cuts waste on several fronts. First, planners place fabric orders based on real demand rather than hopeful guesses, limiting dead stock. Second, excess trims or leftover rolls are flagged early enough to be repurposed for capsules or re-orders, a simple yet powerful step towards circularity. Accessories label Marques’Almeida credits Zedonk with an 80 percent reduction in admin workload once endless Excel sheets were replaced with live dashboards.
Linking Raw Materials to Wholesale and Production
These dashboards also feed tomorrow’s analytics engines. While AI technology in fashion is still finding its feet in production planning, the core requirement is crystal clear: clean, structured data. By housing BOMs, purchase orders and historical sell-through in one place, Zedonk provides that data backbone. The result? Brands can utilise Zedonk alongside third-party platforms to predict low stock, flag slow movers or simulate the impact of a new colourway, without weeks of painful data cleansing.
EXTRA INSIGHT – Sustainability Win
Lean inventory planning doesn’t just save cash; it slashes carbon. One European outerwear brand cut air-freight spend by 30 percent after it was revealed that raw-material buffers were wildly inflated. Those savings funded recycled linings the following season, proof that eco-logic and profit can coexist happily.
Expanding Reach with Digital Showrooms
Defining Digital Showrooms in Modern Wholesale
If the pandemic proved anything, it is that buyers crave flexibility. Digital showrooms answer that call by recreating the feel of a physical rack online. Through Zedonk’s B2B digital showroom, brands upload high-resolution images, catwalk clips and detailed product specs. Buyers log in at their convenience, add favourites into a shortlist and generate ready-to-sign order proposals.
Showcasing Collections to Global Buyers Online
For emerging labels, this levels the playing field. A boutique in Seoul can explore a London designer’s pre-collection without waiting for a sales tour; a New York concept store can curate a drop at 2 a.m. when inspiration strikes. And because the showroom talks directly to the ERP, every digital order triggers the same allocation and fulfilment routines as a traditional PO. Humans stay creative; software handles the admin.
Flexibility, Professional Presentation and Accessibility
From a sustainability angle, fewer physical samples and less inter-continental travel add up to measurable carbon savings. With industry leaders under pressure to prove environmental credentials, such efficiencies are more than a bonus, they are fast becoming a prerequisite for partnership. Little wonder that forward-thinking buyers now ask tech questions before transport details.
ERP Integration Keeps Orders Flowing Smoothly
Every click inside the showroom is captured: colour preferences, sizing notes, sell-through feedback. When that behavioural data syncs back to the ERP, it becomes fuel for future merchandising tweaks, rounding out the cycle that starts with digital imagination and ends with real-world sales.
Wholesale Selling Reimagined
Tablet-Based Ordering with B2B Sales Apps
The energy of a buzzing showroom is hard to beat, yet buyers increasingly mix virtual research with those in-person appointments. Zedonk’s B2B sales app was built for that hybrid world. On an iPad, a sales rep can build an order line by line, swipe through high-resolution look-book images and access live ATS figures, without hunting for Wi-Fi. The moment the device reconnects, orders sync to the ERP, raising pick tickets and pro-formas automatically.
Offline Functionality and Real-Time Sync
That offline functionality is a lifesaver at crowded trade fairs where connectivity is patchy. It also reduces the dreaded post-show paperwork marathon; the rep who once spent Sunday night deciphering hastily scribbled notes now heads to dinner knowing the numbers are already in the system. For the buyer, tablet-based ordering brings confidence. Sizes, costs and delivery windows are crystal clear at the moment of commitment, turning hesitation into signed POs.
Interactive Digital Line Sheets Build Confidence
Digital line sheets, complete with video loops and 360-degree spins, are part of the same playbook. They present collections in a consistent, brand-led format and update instantly when a style sells out or receives a price adjustment. Gone are the days of resending PDFs marked “Latest Version”. In short, technology for fashion is smoothing the wholesale handshake without replacing the human relationships at its core.
Less Admin, More Relationship-Building
By stripping away manual currency conversions and price recalculations, the app frees sales staff to do what they do best: nurture relationships, share trend insights and close those tricky top-up orders that can make or break a season.
Leveraging Data & AI to Make Informed Decisions
Turning Sales Data into Creative Direction
Behind every best-selling dress or cult sneaker sits a mountain of data, sell-through rates, size-curve anomalies, and regional colour preferences. Brands that mine these insights gain an undeniable edge. Zedonk’s analytic dashboards turn raw tables into easy-to-read charts, surfacing prompts such as “re-order in XS and XL” or “raise the price of Style 214; margin allows”.
Using AI Tools to Spot Trends and Buying Patterns
Some labels take a step further, feeding those datasets into external AI engines to spot emerging silhouettes or even to propose new fabrics. Imagine an algorithm noticing that fluid tailoring is trending in two regions and suggesting a lilac colour-way that matches both social-media buzz and remaining fabric inventory. It sounds like science fiction, but several high-street giants already experiment with scenario-planning models that do exactly that.
ERP & PLM: The Data Foundation for Intelligence
Yet such intelligence means nothing without a solid data foundation. Disconnected spreadsheets littered with gaps will only confuse an algorithm. Integrated ERP and PLM systems, on the other hand, provide complete SKU histories and real-time costings, fuel for smarter decisions. The moral is clear: before chasing AI dreams, build a clean data backbone. Luckily, most of that groundwork happens automatically once a brand embraces an all-in-one platform.
EXTRA INSIGHT – Democratising Data Literacy
Data shouldn’t live in an ivory tower. The most successful brands roll out basic dashboard training to design, sales and finance staff alike, ensuring everyone can slice the numbers without waiting for an analyst. Those shared insights spark cross-department ideas, like design reducing colour options after seeing that 80 percent of sales come from three shades.
AR and the Future of Fashion Engagement
Exploring AR Digital Try-Ons and Virtual Merchandising
The idea of trying on a jacket in your living room using a phone camera still sounds like a party trick, until you see returns drop and conversion spike. AR technology in fashion now powers virtual fitting rooms where customers spin a lifelike avatar, test different sizes and even experiment with styling suggestions. Some firms go further, hosting virtual catwalks where buyers “walk” through a digital venue, clicking on garments for close-ups and ordering straight from the feed.
Industry Examples: Fitting Rooms & Virtual Catwalks
This isn’t yet a built-in Zedonk feature, but platforms like Zedonk make those experiences possible by supplying the accurate product data, images, dimensions, stock levels, that AR front-ends require. In other words, AR may be glamorous, but it still needs a reliable backstage crew. As mixed-reality hardware becomes more affordable, brands with a robust ERP pipeline will plug into these trends with minimal friction.
Digital Infrastructure Enables Agile Strategies
Looking ahead, we may see wholesale buyers attending virtual showroom appointments via headsets, complete with real-time chat, holographic garment draping and automated MOQ calculations. That might sound futuristic today, yet the infrastructure is taking shape rapidly. Brands that invest in flexible, API-friendly systems now will find themselves ready, not scrambling, when these experiences hit the mainstream.
EXTRA INSIGHT – Preparing Your Assets
High-quality, consistently lit imagery and accurate 3-D files are prerequisites for convincing AR. Forward-thinking labels now photograph every sample on turntables and create CLO3D versions during design reviews, building a library that can plug into tomorrow’s immersive platforms with zero last-minute panic.
A Digitally Confident Fashion Industry
Step back and a pattern emerges: brands that marry creativity with the right digital tools move faster, waste less and build stronger customer relationships. Integrated PLM-to-ERP workflows replace chaos with clarity; tablet-ready sales apps and digital showrooms unlock global wholesale without the carbon overload; data dashboards and emerging AI turn raw numbers into ready insights; and forward-looking AR experiments hint at an even more immersive future. These aren’t abstract trends, they are practical solutions already at work across indie labels and luxury houses alike.
Ready to discover how technology trends in fashion can work for you? Book a demo with the team at Zedonk and explore how our ERP and PLM platform can carry your collection from concept to customer with confidence and clarity.
A New Sampling & Tech Pack Solution from Zedonk.