Hugo Boss leverages metaverse capabilities for product design

A specialty menswear brand is creating new, innovative product design workflows with immersive 3D technology.

Germany-based Hugo Boss, which designs and sells menswear products under the Hugo and Boss brands in 128 countries at around 6,800 points of sale and online in 59 countries via hugoboss.com, is deploying the Adobe Substance 3D design platform. The Adobe solution enables the company to design apparel, accessories and footwear with hyper-realistic models and experiment with different fabrics and colors, in an immersive, 3D metaverse environment.

Hugo Boss also leverages 3D metaverse assets to engage suppliers and retail partners to digitally conduct prototyping, reviews and changes. 3D design functionality enables Hugo Boss to explore new customer experiences that blend the digital and physical worlds, especially as interest grows around the metaverse.

The company’s designers have been focused on areas such as digital avatars, virtual fitting rooms and NFTs. Utilizing Adobe Substance 3D Sampler, designers can use reference photos and AI capabilities to replicate complex fabric textures such as knits and embroidery. Hugo Boss is also using other Adobe applications, such as Adobe Substance 3D Painter and Adobe Substance 3D Stager, to help digitally refine colors and lighting.

Investments in 3D design also support the company’s efforts around sustainable fashion. For suppliers and vendors, teams can review designs digitally, bypassing the need to create and ship samples back and forth. Any changes that need to be made for colors, fabric and shapes can also be performed online.

Hugo Boss is also leveraging 3D functionality to cut down on content production, reducing the need for designers to travel to different locations around the world to photograph new collections. According to Adobe, virtual photoshoots can drive a 98% reduction in carbon emissions.

“To support our vision of becoming the leading premium tech-driven fashion platform worldwide, Hugo Boss was one of the early companies to explore the potential of 3D and immersive design in fashion. Now we have over 400 employees working with these innovative tools to produce more inspiring and sustainable products, and to lead our industry in digital,” said Sebastian Berg, VP, business operations excellence at Hugo Boss. “With Adobe Substance 3D as part of our Adobe Creative Cloud stack, we have a powerful tool that provides hyper-realistic renderings of our products. It gives us greater speed in responding to global consumer trends, while helping us experiment with new digital services to drive 3D innovation in fashion.”

“Hugo Boss has shown how 3D design can improve the value chain for the fashion industry, putting more power in the hands of designers while optimizing production and distribution,” said Sebastien Deguy, VP and head of 3D & metaverse at Adobe. “As the company accelerates its efforts in this space, Adobe Substance 3D applications will provide teams with a comprehensive set of tools that boosts creativity and enables its participation in the metaverse.”

[Read more: Exclusive Q&A: Metaverse offers opportunity across retail enterprise]