Hong Kong garment manufacturers are more focused on merchandising than on spending wisely on innovative technology that would upgrade their products, according to a garment technology consultant.
Professor Alexander Kung, who owns worldwide patents for three-dimensional (3D) garment technology and has long been involved in research and development with a number of universities in Hong Kong, was talking at the opening of the Lingerie Technology Centre, part of International Underwear City (IUC) in Yanbu, Nanhai.
Mr Kung is a technical consultant to IUC, China's largest underwear trade centre. It is home to nearly 100 manufacturers, employing 15,000 people, and has an annual production which amounts to 1.3 billion yuan (about HK$1.12 billion).
Mr Kung's 3D body data system has been adopted by the lingerie research centre to create underwear that is more attractive and a better fit for Chinese people.
The 30 million yuan Lingerie Technology Centre is equipped with the German-made TechMath Vitus smart laser system, billed as the world's most accurate body scanner. The software allows garments to be put on a three-dimensional virtual body, scanned to real-life dimensions and sizes that can be adjusted to the customer's target market at the pre-production stage.
To establish Yanbu as an underwear centre in China, the town government spent 500 million yuan.
