Paris and London, April 3, 2012 – Lectra, the world leader in integrated technology solutions dedicated to industries using soft materials—textiles, leather, industrial fabrics and composite materials— and WGSN— the world’s leading trend forecaster—are pleased to announce a new global partnership.

Several events to unveil the partnership are planned over the next few months, starting with London in May.

For many apparel and fashion companies, trend research and design development often don’t work together as closely as they should, nor are they fully integrated with the rest of the product development process. A process gap occurs as a result, meaning teams can’t leverage coherent creative, technical, and production knowledge across the development cycle.

Lectra and WGSN stress that the best way to bridge this gap is with more open and efficient information sharing made possible by a strong foundation of technology and expertise. Together, the two companies will offer best practices to build a more streamlined and collaborative workflow between trends, design, and development.

“As market-leading brands in our respective sectors, WGSN and Lectra are natural partners. As the many customers we share know, WGSN and Lectra have a common mission—to improve efficiency through innovative technology systems and inspiration—right across the product development cycle. But this partnership isn’t just about shared values. Together it will enable WGSN and Lectra to deliver uniquely powerful and exclusive new content and technology tools that will add value for current and future customers of both businesses worldwide,” says Julie Harris, WGSN Global Managing Director.

Engaging the production knowledge found within most teams to tighten concept and design development means leaner design, fewer production issues, and an overall faster time to market.

Lectra-WGSN Starter Pack: straight from trend to actionable design

WGSN and Lectra customers can look forward to a Spring Summer 2013/2014 Womenswear Starter Pack to be released in July. WGSN will edit macro trends from their SS 13/14 selection to use as the basis for key looks.

Lectra will develop WGSN’s color and textile inspirations into a complete design package, including mood and presentation boards; printed, woven, and knitted fabrics; colorway suggestions; seasonal palettes and production-ready spec information. To really give designers an advantage, Lectra will also develop flat pattern blocks and 3D prototypes for key looks.

“Design and development have to be efficient from step one,” says Anastasia Charbin, Marketing Director, Fashion at Lectra. “A production-ready trend and design pack, complete with patterns and virtual 3D prototypes, gives designers and product developers an enormous advantage. The ability to visualize style, patterns, color, and texture in 3D cuts their workload enormously. Having all the technical information behind the creative work means fewer errors when it comes to production,” she adds.

Starter packs will be a combination of anything from jackets to trousers to dresses.

WGSN subscribers and Lectra customers will then have access to the style-packs, which are ready for use in Lectra Solutions right away. All designs and 3D virtual prototypes can then be adapted to express a unique brand identity. With these essentials in hand, design and trend teams will be able to hit the ground running immediately.

Womenswear trend packs are already available, with a menswear pack in development, and subsequent seasons as the calendar rolls on.
After the London event on May 2, a second event will take place in New York in July, followed by Shanghai in the autumn to reveal new trends and their corresponding WGSN/Lectra Starter Packs. The partnership events are by invitation only.

About WGSN
WGSN is the world’s leading trend forecaster. The company enables over 38,000 subscribers to make brilliant design decisions every day by identifying and analyzing the trends that will shape commercially successful products and services in the future. WGSN’s inspiration and insight are available through online subscriptions to a variety of state-of-the-art digital tools and through bespoke consultancy services. WGSN employs over 500 people, is head quartered in London and has offices in all 23 countries worldwide including Milan, New York, Hong Kong, Seoul, Los Angeles, Melbourne, Tokyo and Shanghai.
For more information, visit www.wgsn.com. Follow WGSN on Twitter: @wgsn

WGSN is a 4C Service, www.4C-Group.com.

About Lectra
Lectra is the world leader in integrated technology solutions that automate, streamline, and accelerate product design, development, and manufacturing processes for industries using soft materials. Lectra develops the most advanced specialized software and cutting systems and provides associated services to a broad array of markets including fashion (apparel, accessories, footwear), automotive (car seats and interiors, airbags), and furniture, as well as a wide variety of other market sectors, such as the aeronautical and marine industries, wind power, and personal protective equipment. Lectra serves 23,000 customers in more than 100 countries with 1,350 employees and $287 million in 2011 revenues. The company is listed on NYSE Euronext.

For more information, please visit www.lectra.com.