Underlines got the opportunity to speak with Simon Kim, CEO of CLO, the multinational virtual fashion technology company founded in 2009. The company’s vision is “To be the beginning and the end of every garment on earth”.
When was CLO developed?
Jaden Oh, co-founder and inventor of CLO’s cloth simulation algorithm, made his first prototype and tested it out with his students while he was on his PhD journey. The joy the students felt in using the technology immediately transmitted to him leading him to set up a company in 2009 and make the program public so that more people can enjoy using it to their advantage.
What are the key advantages of CLO over other 3D solutions?
Our development philosophy for CLO is consistent. We always strive to make the software faster, easier, more accurate and limitless so that users can unleash their creativity to their fullest extent.
Our unique selling points align with our development philosophy, CLO’s easy to use interface allows for a gentler learning curve and is the fastest 3D design software on the market – not just in the speed of cloth simulation, but also in the way designers can work on both 2D and 3D windows allowing for real-time design changes which is essential to any fast paced design development process.
We pride ourselves on how detailed and accurate our software is to designers. Each and every detailed designing feature – from comprehensive pattern-making features to applying design details such as pleats, pin-tucks, folds and steam (ironing) effects – all work in tandem seamlessly and interactively inside CLO.
Simon Kim. CEO
Last but not least, our business model to empower individual designers/ateliers as well as enterprise clients which led us to create a powerful extended user community that collaborates and helps each other for the good of the industry.
What exactly are some of the special features?
Some stand out features are:
- Auto Sewing: sewing has never been easier
- Modular mode: having a block library always at your disposal
- Style line tool: you can now combine the ease of sketching with draping and instantly adjust and change your styles within the 3D window
- Auto Grading: change an adult garment to kids with one button
- Parametric Pattern: you now don’t need to have patterning skills to create a pattern.
All the features are special in their own way but what makes our features impressive is how we strive to make them work together seamlessly which in turn makes CLO one of a kind.
How did the pandemic affect your business?
Back in 2018 at the height of the retail apocalypse, there was already a consensus among the leading fashion community that 3D design was no longer a choice.
Then in 2022 along came the pandemic which forced designers to work remotely and made the physical sampling/reviewing process difficult. It certainly raised the awareness to another notch and expedited the digitalisation evolution.
It paved the way for the 3D design process to be confidently extended within the industry as companies became more tolerant to introducing new technology and developed a higher threshold for change management involved with digitalisation.
And for the intimate apparel and swimwear sectors?
We work with every type of apparel category from luxury couture to ready-to-wear categories which includes intimate apparel and swimwear.
Brands such as Grupo Soma in Brazil, Van de Velde in Belgium and Etam in France are just a few of the many brands developing collections with CLO and innovating their design development process.
We also work with countless other suppliers of intimate apparel and swimwear in Asia such as HopLun and Crystal Martin as seamless collaboration is key to the 3D-based digital design development process.
We vow to empower everything related to garments and there are no limits to 3D design workflow.
It is not confined by categories or whether you are a brand or a supplier, 3D brings immeasurable benefits to all including maximised efficiency, cost reduction, increased accuracy, faster time-to-market, data organisation, etc.….
What is CLO’s great challenge going forward?
Our vision is “To be the beginning and the end of every garment on earth” and one of our Core Mindsets is to “Be user focussed.”
In our journey, we will face many growing pains with the ever-changing market conditions, but one thing we must maintain is to keep our eyes fixed on our vision and keep our user focussed mindset.
As our reach and user community widens with multiple connected service offerings, we would like to be recognised as a company with the utmost consistency when it comes to holding onto the vision and the core mindset we set 13 years ago – we firmly believe this is the reason for our leaderships and, at the same time, the most difficult thing to sustain.
What is next in terms of development for CLO?
Up until now, we have been putting our focus on mastering the technology on how to create accurate virtual garments effectively and efficiently – we have done so and are doing so with CLO3D and Marvelous Designer.
Now our focus is to provide a platform where users can collaborate and maximise the value and utility of virtual garments they create – we are doing so with CLO-SET and Connect Marketplace.
