Gucci, Louis Vuitton and Sergio Rossi use made-to-order technology to craft personalised fashion – but why no Chinese characters?

Spaced apart and masked up, eager shoppers lined up in front of glittering luxury stores in Paris as the city eased its lockdown restrictions. Similar scenes occurred across fashion capitals, including Shanghai and Seoul, as luxury fans fervently sought their next investment piece.

As we move towards a post-Covid-19 world, where luxury consumers are undoubtedly purchasing with a more discerning eye, brands are racing to re-establish relevance and enhance value, most notably through personalisation. Once an option only for those willing to pay megabucks, the ability to put a defining stamp on luxury is entering a new era. Next-gen made-for-me products are not only providing consumers with a world of choice and new opportunities for expression – thanks to innovative made-to-order (MTO) technology, they are progressing luxury fashion’s transformation and transition towards a more sustainable and ultimately waste-free world.

For well-heeled Chinese consumers, personalisation speaks to their growing affinity with self-expression and unabashed individualism. “Chinese consumers are on the hunt for something special and they increasingly purchase high-end luxury to reflect their taste,” says Gao Ming, Ruder Finn’s senior vice-president, managing director luxury practice Greater China, about the stark mindset difference from a mere decade ago – when purchases were made to reflect social status, the joining of a particular elevated set in society.

Riccardo Sciutto, group CEO of Sergio Rossi agrees. “The more they [Chinese consumers] grow up with luxury, the more they will seek out something unique. People are using the gift of personalisation as a means to convey love and endearment to their significant others,” he explains of buyers in China, one of the brand’s most important markets. Sciutto references the success of #YourOwnSergioRossi, an online service that invites shoe addicts to customise the brand’s iconic SR1 by choosing from a range of materials, colours and accessories and topping it off with their initials.

To create the experience, Sciutto turned to PlatformE, who make software to power at-scale customisation and personalisation across industries. “Today, providing something that is fine-tuned to customers’ taste is a must-have. We register a 42 per cent lift on average order value, compared to a product that is just sitting on the shelf,” their co-Founder and group CEO Ben Demiri says. PlatformE has launched MTO experiences with over 25 top global luxury brands – including Dior, Fendi and Zegna – providing them with more than 750 digital product designs, in more than 500 physical stores.

Their services encourage luxury brands to celebrate their legacy through technology. “Our solution allows brands to leverage their IP and use their signature to cement those iconic pieces that consumers are always compelled by, yet still offer a twist around them that’s perennial,” Demiri says.

Sciutto applauds this successful blend of heritage and innovation. “As I always tell my team – think heritage, play digital,” says Sciutto, who explains that though there are no short-cuts in creating their upscale items in terms of timing and know-how, PlatformE’s technology has enabled their handmade shoes to be valued in a much more engaged way. “Today, heritage without technology or vice versa cannot survive, so we need find the best balance.”

But as MTO technology propels heritage to new heights online, the workaday nature of e-commerce still leaves luxury brands with a big challenge to demonstrate exclusivity and offer white-glove service. In the hopes of revolutionising the fashion industry’s feeble systems, PlatformE has created an ecosystem linking stakeholders throughout the product journey. Not only does this speed up the MTO process, it also lets brands entice consumers with impactful content – showcasing the craft of its skilled artisans, drawing inspiration from its archives, and all the other behind-the-scenes elements that bring emotional connection. The Sergio Rossi shoes, which require 120 steps and 14 hours of work, can suddenly be celebrated during the agonising post-purchase wait.