California Apparel News

Fashion companies entered the new year ready to move forward and strengthen their businesses by leveraging the investments they have made in cutting-edge technology. Apparel businesses are no longer thinking about the technology they might implement. Those moments have passed, giving way to new methods of conducting business more efficiently and affordably.

AI has been integrated into the many processes that are integral to operating a fashion business, and 2026 is the year the industry will leverage these tools to grow now and secure their place in the future. From PLM and forecasting to sales and monitoring sustainability commitments, AI has now become central to progress in the fashion industry as businesses examine and decide how they want to grow during the latter half of the decade with 2030 just around the corner.

California Apparel News asked fashion-technology experts: How will fashion companies apply technology to lower costs and increase productivity in 2026?

Shahrooz Shawn Kohan

Chief Executive Officer

AIMS360

 Fashion companies will lean heavily on automation, real-time data and AI-driven decision-making to reduce costs and increase productivity across the entire supply chain. The biggest shift will be eliminating duplicate manual work—especially across purchasing, production, inventory and order fulfillment—by connecting systems into one unified workflow.

Brands will use AI to forecast demand more accurately, reduce overproduction and optimize reorders based on sell-through, open orders and vendor lead times. At the operational level, warehouse productivity will improve through smarter picking, barcode scanning, mobile workflows and fulfillment automation tailored to apparel’s complexity of colors, sizes and multi-location inventory.

On the sales side, companies will focus on omni-channel execution: keeping inventory accurate across retail, wholesale and e-commerce while automating order routing and fulfillment decisions to ship from the best location. This reduces split shipments, shipping costs and late deliveries while improving customer experience and reducing returns.

The most productive brands will also treat costing as a real-time discipline: tracking landed cost, labor and material changes instantly to protect margins. When brands can see profitability by style, channel and customer in real time—and take action quickly—they gain a major advantage.

Ultimately, technology in 2026 will be about faster execution with fewer people, fewer mistakes and greater control over cash flow, inventory and margin.

    Alain Tessier

    Director of Product Management

    Aptean

 Fashion companies will operate in a world where AI is as essential as fabric. Technology will no longer be an add-on—it will be the backbone of every process, from design to delivery. The real transformation won’t come from experimental projects but from embedding AI into everyday workflows, eliminating friction and accelerating decisions.

When AI is contextualized for fashion and integrated into purpose-built applications, it becomes a catalyst for creativity and efficiency. Teams will spend less time chasing data or fixing errors and more time shaping collections, building supplier partnerships and elevating customer experiences.

This is the future we’re enabling with our AppCentral platform. By bringing context-aware chat and agent-led workflows into fashion solutions, we help automate routine tasks and move from insight to action instantly. The result: shorter cycle times, fewer mistakes and more output per person—powered by technology that understands the apparel industry.

Paul F. Magel

President

Computer Generated Solutions, Inc.

 In 2026, the fashion companies that lower costs and improve productivity won’t be the ones chasing the next shiny technology headline. They’ll be the ones doing the unfashionable work of getting prepared.

There’s a lot of talk about AI in our industry—but AI only delivers value if the foundation beneath it is strong. That starts with data governance: cleaning up fragmented data; replacing aging, disconnected systems; and creating a single, trusted operational backbone across design, sourcing, production and finance. Without that foundation, automation only accelerates inefficiency.

Productivity gains will also come from giving teams modern, intuitive tools that help them do their jobs. That includes tools like Copilot that surface the right information at the right time—to reduce manual work, speed decisions and allow experienced teams to focus on higher-value tasks instead of chasing spreadsheets.

Equally important is learning from each other. Fashion has always been a relationship-driven business, and that matters more than ever. The brands that move faster in 2026 will be those actively networking, sharing best practices and exchanging real-world lessons with peers and partners.

Looking ahead, we’re focused on building on the partnerships we’ve developed through the BlueCherry community and continuing to work side by side with brands and partners across the industry. By combining modern, connected software with the real-world experience of teams who understand how fashion operates, we can help companies drive meaningful productivity gains and operational efficiency—not in theory but in practice.

    Roy Avidor

    Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer

    Cymbio

 Fashion companies will transform productivity by adopting agentic commerce. This technology empowers AI agents to discover, recommend and sell products autonomously. It turns every digital conversation into a direct revenue stream.

Here is how this shifts the industry:

1. Becoming agent ready. Brands will lower operational costs by automating data preparation. Instead of optimizing for traditional search engines, technology will structure product data specifically for large language models. This ensures AI agents like ChatGPT or Gemini can accurately read and promote inventory without manual human intervention.

2. Zero-click transactions. Efficiency will soar as sales funnels become instantaneous. Fashion companies will enable zero-click purchasing. Consumers will buy products directly within an AI conversation. This frictionless approach drastically reduces customer acquisition costs and creates a faster path to purchase.

3. The agentic backbone. Cymbio acts as the essential bridge for this new economy. By automating the flow of inventory and orders between brands and AI platforms, we remove technical barriers. This allows fashion leaders to scale their presence on these new channels effortlessly.

Ultimately, technology in 2026 will evolve AI from a passive tool into an active seller. Brands that build this infrastructure will reduce overhead, maximize reach and maintain a competitive advantage in a market driven by intelligence.

Colin Marks

Chief Executive Officer

DeSL

 Businesses within fashion will increasingly utilize technology in more- targeted, practical ways to lower costs and improve productivity, with AI embedded directly into everyday workflows rather than layered on as stand-alone tools.

Design smarter by using generative AI for image creation, 3D prototyping and digital fabric libraries. These tools allow teams to ideate faster and explore more options early in the design phase without relying on repeated physical samples. By visualizing products digitally and linking 3D assets to bill of materials data, brands can reduce material waste, shorten development timelines and eliminate costly rework before production begins.

Automate compliance by using AI document reading to automatically process supplier certifications, test reports and audit documents, extract key data, and update PLM records in real time. This reduces manual data entry, minimizes errors and strengthens traceability, helping brands prepare for evolving sustainability regulations and digital product-passport requirements.

Optimize workflows with built-in co-
pilots. AI copilots embedded within PLM systems can summarize design feedback, draft specification sheets, flag anomalies in costings and respond to natural-language questions using trusted product data. By handling routine administrative tasks, copilots save time, improve data quality and allow teams to focus on higher-value work such as design, sourcing strategy and innovation.

Together these technologies enable fashion companies to work faster, operate more efficiently and scale responsibly in an increasingly complex global market.

    Petersen Zhu

    President and Chief Executive Officer

    DigitBridge

 Inventory risk, volatile demand, rising expenses and shrinking margins are forcing brands and retailers to fundamentally rethink how work gets done across merchandising, operations and distribution.

With so many factors at hand, incorporating technology can feel like a challenge that adds complexity. This isn’t true, however, as fashion companies should increasingly apply technology not to add complexity but to remove it.

When incorporating technology, it’s important to “see the forest through the trees.” It’s easy to adopt point solutions to address specific challenges, but leading companies employ a wiser approach, consolidating fragmented workflows into unified operating systems that connect inventory, orders, vendors and customers in real time. This reduces manual reconciliation, eliminates duplicated efforts and allows smaller teams to manage higher volumes with greater accuracy. These cost savings have significant impact on the bottom line.

The right use of technology unlocks another key benefit: automation. Routine tasks such as order routing, replenishment decisions, vendor communication and content creation are handled by intelligent systems that respond dynamically to demand signals, allowing fashion operators to use live data to adapt pricing, allocation and fulfillment strategies as conditions change.

Productivity gains also expand beyond just newfound operational efficiencies. Digital sales operations across B2B, B2C and drop-ship can also be enhanced, as well as making marketplace, consignment and 3PL partnerships possible without adding operational head count.

The companies that excel in 2026 won’t be those with the most technology but those with the most integrated technology, driving simplicity, automation, lower costs and higher productivity.

Tim Check

Senior Product Manager, Professional Imaging

Epson America, Inc.

 As the apparel industry continues to shift, fashion companies can turn to digital workflows to stay efficient, flexible and competitive. Today’s textile printers—whether direct-to-garment or transfer-based, such as dye-sublimation and direct-to-film printing—help create custom textile pieces on demand such as T-shirts, sweatshirts, socks and more efficiently and cost effectively.

Digital textile printing enables made-to-order production, eliminating excess inventory and reducing the risk of overproduction. It therefore reduces storage costs and avoids profits being tied up in products that may never sell. This approach minimizes waste, supports a healthier cash flow and ensures every product created already has a buyer.

Dye sublimation introduces a new dimension by allowing designers to precisely align patterns across panels and seams. This capability reduces fabric waste, eliminates manual alignment during cutting and sewing and ensures premium-quality garments such as dresses, activewear and uniforms. The result is a streamlined process that saves labor, minimizes errors and delivers visually stunning products.

By removing manual steps and setup time, digital workflows accelerate production from design to finished product, enabling businesses to fulfill more orders faster while maintaining consistent quality. With minimal equipment, companies can expand into new markets—such as home décor or promotional products—and capitalize on seasonal trends, driving profitability and growth.

    Tirsa Parrish

    Co-founder and Managing Partner

    Fashion Index

 The technology that will lower costs in 2026 isn’t new—it’s finally integrated. And it’s agentic AI.

Most brands are utilizing AI for isolated tasks: enhancing searches, generating individual designs or drafting copy. The real shift is from generative to agentic AI—systems that execute complete workflows across platforms without human handoffs.

This means supplier matching based on real capacity and compliance history, not self-reported claims. Inventory allocation is driven by actual demand signals, not seasonal forecasts. All of the data are pulled from previously siloed systems—PLM, ERP, supplier databases, logistics platforms—that used to require days of manual reconciliation.

Fashion has been using specialized department-specific technology for years. Agentic AI is how the whole company finally connects into production workflows.

The productivity gains come from eliminating friction, not adding features. The brands that lower costs in 2026 won’t be chasing the flashiest tools. They’ll be the ones letting technology handle the workflows humans were never efficient at in the first place and redirecting that time toward the strategic decisions only humans can make.

Integration isn’t the future. It’s the unlock.

Ulla Hald

Founder and Chief Executive Officer

FAVES

 In 2026, fashion companies will use technology to eliminate inefficiencies, not chase experimentation. With margins under pressure and teams stretched thin, the focus will be on tools that deliver immediate operational clarity.

Companies are moving away from disconnected systems and manual processes toward centralized visibility across buying, inventory and order management. When teams can see what they’ve ordered, what’s arriving and what’s selling in real time, they reduce overbuying, avoid costly mistakes and respond faster to demand.

Automation will further increase productivity by replacing spreadsheets, email chains and manual data entry with streamlined workflows. This allows lean teams to spend less time managing information and more time making strategic decisions that drive revenue.

Usability will be a key driver of adoption. Fashion companies are prioritizing intuitive, easy-to-implement solutions over complex enterprise systems that require heavy training or IT support.

Ultimately, the brands and retailers that win in 2026 will be those that use technology to simplify operations, improve decision-making and build more-efficient, resilient businesses.

    Ana Friedlander

    Industry and Solution Strategy Director for North America Fashion Retail

    Infor

 Modern retailers need to strategize against today’s market volatility, from rapid customer taste swings to global supply interruptions, more than ever before—and, often, more than their current tech stacks were built to handle.

The era of waiting is over, as technology innovation becomes a profitability strategy and means for cost-reduction in 2026. Brands looking to make a fast, meaningful impact on costs and productivity this year should prioritize their production and people.

Fashion companies must transition their generative AI technology outside of pilots or innovation labs: Industry-specific agents and processing mining tools are capable of so much more when embedded directly into business-critical systems. PLM, ERP and planning workflows imbued with advanced technology will automate decisions around material choices, replenishment and demand sensing that once required large teams. That kind of cross-organization automation means less labor per product and fewer manual handoffs, allowing you to increase your speed to market while decreasing error-driven production lags.

True advantage, however, comes from your people. Legacy systems and fragmented digital landscapes create cross-organization inefficiencies, especially when paired with fashion’s shrinking, highly specialized workforce. The industry’s talent spends disproportionate time on manual processes: Eliminate costly information siloes by migrating your workforce to a unified, cloud-based platform and, in parallel, explore agentic AI solutions to automate time-draining routine tasks that steal employee attention away from value-driving projects.

The fashion industry’s pace isn’t slowing down. But by deploying technology, your business can have the insight-backed capability to turn 2025’s challenges into 2026’s opportunities.

Scott Pearson

Vice President of Sales and Marketing

Jesta I.S.

 By 2026, after years of experimentation and occasional hype, AI and digital tools are finally delivering tangible, practical value in fashion retail—moving beyond pilots to core operations that drive real cost savings and productivity gains amid ongoing supply-chain volatility. The focus is on precise demand alignment, efficient inventory management and reduced waste through two proven trends: in-store mobility with unified commerce and mature AI-driven supply-chain optimization.

The first trend equips store associates with mobile devices fully integrated into unified commerce platforms, delivering a real-time, single view of inventory and orders across all channels. This empowers seamless tasks such as mobile checkout, instant inventory checks and omni-channel fulfillment directly on the sales floor. Real-time updates on fulfillment requests and order status ensure complete visibility for associates and customers alike. Tools like RFID-enabled mobile scanning accelerate inventory counts and receiving by up to 10 times with near-perfect accuracy, dramatically boosting labor productivity in stock management. By eliminating inventory silos, unified commerce prevents duplications, imbalances, stockouts—and associated lost sales—and excess holdings that inflate carrying costs while significantly improving sell-through rates.

The second trend harnesses mature AI and machine learning for superior demand forecasting, automated purchase orders, precise allocation and dynamic replenishment—both pre-season and in-season. Pre-season, AI integrates historical sales, trend data and external signals, for example, weather and market trends to determine accurate initial buy quantities and channel-location allocations. In-season, agentic AI continuously refines forecasts, automates replenishment triggers and—keeping a human in the middle—prescribes adjustments to delivery timings to mitigate disruptions while optimizing stock transfers for hyper-local demand. The result: leaner inventories, lower holding costs, fewer markdowns, faster decision cycles and proactive, data-driven agility that enhances margins.

Through these proven technologies, fashion companies align supply precisely with demand, unlocking substantial efficiency gains and strengthened profitability in a highly competitive landscape.

    Alison Bringé

    Chief Marketing Officer

    Launchmetrics

 In a challenging economic climate, marketing investment is often one of the first areas put under intense scrutiny. Brands are reassessing how they allocate campaign spend by scaling back on broad ambassador strategies and large-scale activations in favor of more-targeted, performance-driven approaches.

What’s critical in this moment is access to the right data technologies. Decision-makers need clear visibility into which channels, voices and tactics are truly driving impact so they can confidently double down where it matters and pull back where it doesn’t. At Launchmetrics, we focus on equipping brands with actionable insights that bring clarity to marketing performance—empowering teams to optimize processes, make smarter investments and maximize results in an increasingly competitive landscape.

John Brearley

President of the Americas

Lectra

 In 2026, fashion companies will use technology to lower costs and boost productivity in two major ways.

First, they need to embed digital tools and AI across their entire value chain as these have become non-negotiables to remain competitive. From design and production to collaboration, traceability and marketing, AI is streamlining workflows through automated data collection, categorization and content generation, reducing the reliance on manual efforts and enabling brands to operate more efficiently, productively and with greater agility.

By giving technology greater access to data across the organization, brands can produce better, not more. With technology able to identify trends earlier in the process and surface clearer insights, companies can better avoid overstock, refine their assortments and optimize their omni-channel distribution. Not only does this directly lower costs but it also reduces the amount of wasted goods and the need to rely on markdowns.

Second, using technology to reconfigure a brand’s supply chain will deliver significant productivity gains. As brands work to diversify production hubs and respond to geopolitical and regulatory pressures, AI can be used to help manage complex environments, improve flexibility and traceability, and reduce operational risks. These tools allow companies to better anticipate disruptions, optimize sourcing decisions and operate closer to end markets.

Ultimately, productivity gains and cost reductions will come from producing smarter rather than producing more, reducing excess inventory and optimizing distribution. Brands that invest early in digitalization strategies, traceability and AI to optimize their value chains will be best positioned to succeed.

    Frank Maeder

    President

    NedGraphics and Optitex

 In 2026, fashion companies have a tremendous opportunity to significantly reduce costs and increase productivity by rethinking how technology connects the entire product-development process across the full value chain. For too long, textile design, pattern development and production have operated in silos, creating inefficiencies, reworks and unnecessary expenses.

At NedGraphics and Optitex, we see clear momentum toward fully integrated, end-to-end workflows that unlock both operational and creative value. By seamlessly connecting production-ready textile design with advanced 2D pattern development and 3D simulation, brands and their suppliers can ensure that accurate data flows from concept to manufacturing, eliminating duplication, reducing errors and accelerating development.

This connected approach also makes sustainability actionable. Digital sampling and virtual prototyping significantly reduce physical samples, material waste and transportation, allowing brands to deliver high-quality, creative collections with a smaller environmental footprint. Real-time data shared through the NedGraphics and Optitex cloud solution delivers greater visibility and enables faster, smarter decision-making.

Just as importantly, globally integrated workflows empower people. Designers, patternmakers and manufacturers can collaborate more easily, experiment freely and bring ideas to life faster. Creativity thrives when barriers are removed. Cloud-based solutions such as licensing, nesting or asset sharing enable greater flexibility and efficiency where speed to market is critical.

The real productivity gains in 2026 will come from breaking down silos and adopting connected digital ecosystems. An integrated NedGraphics and Optitex workflow empowers fashion and apparel companies to work smarter, scale efficiently and respond faster to market demands while lowering costs and improving overall product quality.

Preston Plowman

Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer

Onbrand

 For years most fashion-technology investment has gone toward sales, marketing and commerce. Design and product development teams, where the majority of cost and complexity originate, have been left largely untouched. In 2026, that imbalance is finally being corrected, and it represents one of the biggest opportunities to lower costs and increase productivity across the industry.

The combination of AI and modern product-life-cycle management is transforming how products move from idea to production. AI is dramatically accelerating design ideation and iteration, allowing teams to explore more concepts, refine details faster and make decisions earlier.

When those AI outputs connect directly into PLM—feeding tech packs, materials, costing and timelines—brands eliminate manual work, reduce errors and collapse long development cycles.

The most tangible savings are coming from fewer physical samples and fewer sample rounds. Better digital visualization, clearer data and real-time collaboration across design, development and sourcing enable teams to align earlier and get closer to right-first-time execution. That reduces material waste, air freight and weeks of calendar time per style. Brands investing in AI-enabled PLM are empowering smaller teams to manage more products with greater confidence, speed and control.

    Paul Bentham

    Chief Product and Technology Officer

    Oritain

Fashion companies will increasingly rely on technology to lower cost and increase productivity by creating supply chains that are more transparent, reliable and data driven. What we’re seeing is a shift toward tools that turn complex information into practical intelligence. At Oritain, our forensic origin verification and advanced data science help leading brands and manufacturers streamline decision-making, reduce uncertainty and strengthen confidence in their sourcing. The ability to verify raw materials and finished goods with forensic accuracy means fewer delays, fewer disputes and greater trust across supplier networks, ultimately reducing operational friction and cost.

To support this, we’ve introduced the Oritain Membership Program, creating a trusted network of origin-verified buyers and suppliers with a shared commitment to transparency. Each member receives a tailored verification program, with samples collected, tracked and analyzed under consistent forensic standards. Results are delivered in real time through a secure digital platform, giving members immediate clarity and enabling them to act faster and more efficiently.

Oritain uses AI models and advanced statistical techniques to efficiently evaluate large amounts of data, streamline decision-making and balance the need to catch anomalies without disrupting genuine supply chains, supporting faster and more informed risk assessments. Importantly, AI strengthens, not replaces, the scientific expertise that underpins our methodology. By combining analytical testing with AI-driven modeling, we enable scalable, efficient origin verification that supports both responsible sourcing and operational productivity.

This ability to pair science with intelligent technology and data systems is becoming central to driving cost-effective, resilient performance in apparel manufacturing.

Responses have been edited for clarity and space.