100% Digital Fashion Development
- Reduce physical samples
- Develop quality, fit, and react to trends
- Accelerate time-to-market
- Implement sustainability concepts
- Reliable support and training
- Reliable fit
For bonprix, ensuring consistent fit and quality across suppliers is crucial. The company prioritizes fit consistency and quality, but flexibility, reduced time-to-market, and active supply chain management are equally important. Therefore, by 2026, bonprix plans to fully embrace digital development.
Early on, the Hamburg-based company embraced 3D technology, and instantly realized the importance of 2D patterns to ensure successful 3D work. Today, 35 employees use Assyst.CAD to create style patterns for bonprix clothing, ensuring a consistent fit across all markets. The Assyst.CAD system effectively integrates into bonprix’s new digital processes, further driving digitization efforts.
2D patterns and fit drive e-commerce innovation
About bonprix
- successful fashion and e-commerce company
- 16+ million active customers in 25 markets
- 1.76 billion revenue
- 5 brands with 12 collections per year
- 2900 employees worldwide
- top 4 online fashion store in Germany
bonprix initially implemented Virtual Fitting to start its digitization efforts. The idea: 3D visualization of suppliers’ samples to save time and physical samples. However, transitioning patterns to simulations proved complex. And, the quality impact was negligible. “2D is key to 3D visualization success,” says Torben Böhm, Manager Technical Product Development and Digital Innovation at bonprix.
The bonprix team realizes that for Virtual Fitting to provide consistent fit across all products and production countries, bonprix needs to define and standardize basic patterns itself. Therefore, the company introduces Assyst.CAD and sets new, more ambitious goals: bonprix aims to work fully digitally from style concept to production release for the supplier. A significant transformation began.
It's the team's competence that drives success
From the outset, a team from Germany and Poland has been working on the process in cooperation with Otto International in Turkey, Bangladesh, and China. bonprix builds all expertise internally: technical product development employees are trained in Assyst.CAD and develop standard patterns, which are then modified into style patterns for respective collections. “Learning is a fundamental part of change for us. We train our employees for new roles and ensure that we continuously expand our knowledge,” say Torben Böhm [Manager of Technical Product Development and Digital Innovation] and Pattima Bähr [2D/3D Specialist].
bonprix consistently strengthens the competence of its own employees through training and standardized processes: The team is trained not only in system usage but also in pattern-making skills. Colleagues who initially had little CAD experience at the beginning of the project are now capable of adjusting bonprix patterns and implementing grading. These fundamental pattern-making skills and specialized grading training form the basis of the process and ensure that bonprix operates in a new framework today. As part of the digitization process, a new job profile has emerged at the Hamburg-based e-commerce company, one that did not exist at bonprix before: the Technical Product Developer.
Consistent fit in a global process
International collaboration requires structured processes. Pattern expert Pattima Bähr harmonizes and standardizes pattern development: CAD requirements, criteria, and consistent naming of patterns, grading tables, attributes, and styles ensure that everyone in the team can quickly take over projects and build upon existing work. This supports bonprix’s goal of achieving high fit consistency across all sizes.
In use at bonprix
- Assyst.CAD
- Assyst.Training: CAD basic training, Grading training, Makro training, Follow-Up training, advanced training
Assyst’s Macro Library alleviates routine tasks in pattern-making but also aids in adhering to standards and prevents naming errors. Various contexts within the CAD system, utilized by the Technical Product Developers, enable a clear structure and transparent data storage. The master context assists in centralizing basic patterns and protects them from unintentional editing, changing collaboration dynamics.
The collaboration within the team and with suppliers is evolving
With style patterns now internally managed, bonprix’s workflow has shifted significantly.
Previously, a style was discussed with product management, technical requirements were documented, and a tech pack was sent to the supplier. The supplier then created the pattern and produced a sample. At bonprix, the sample was checked for accuracy, processing, and fit. If necessary, the supplier received modification instructions. This process was repeated until production approval.
Today, bonprix operates differently: Technical Product Developers take on one of the product ideas from the product managers and select a suitable basic or style pattern from the growing pattern library. This pattern is adjusted and refined until it fits perfectly, and the styling is approved by product management based on a 3D simulation. Then, the pattern data is sent to the supplier.
Digital products ensure global product quality
The major advantage of the new workflow with Assyst.CAD is that everyone internally can work with the original files, including all size adjustment rules. This saves time and avoids errors.
The process change is taking effect: In the beginning, four patterns were constructed annually; today, there are over 30 standard patterns and more than 1,000 style patterns per year.
Experiences and successes in the digital fashion process
The results of the project:
- Consistent fit for customers
- Workflow standardization and harmonization
- Team skill enhancement
- Set the ground for new technologies like AI and virtual showrooms
- Emergence of new job roles like technical product designer
During the development of pattern-making expertise, steps have been brought back into the company. Compared to analog processes, the digital approach saves time in communication and reduces the number of sample iterations.
Thanks to accurate patterns and fits, product managers approve digital products that can ideally be produced without further modifications. bonprix can now also forgo many samples, especially for products created based on existing patterns or style patterns.
The Technical Product Developers only request samples as needed for learning purposes, such as comparing digital and physical products or checking specific physical processing.
The development team is very satisfied and appreciates the new way of collaborating. The focus on learning with new technologies has also sparked communication and constructive exchange.
"Fashion Made Smarter"
The focus on pattern development has driven bonprix’s digital transformation, facilitating the adoption of sustainable materials and expanding digital development across product groups. Under the motto “Fashion Made Smarter,” bonprix is poised to operate entirely digitally, from concept to webshop presentation.
bonprix draws a fully positive conclusion: Engaging with patterns has propelled digitization at bonprix and significantly impacts daily work. For instance, the transition to sustainable fabrics with partly different characteristics can be more easily and quickly traced digitally than with physical samples.
The bonprix team is now expanding digitization within their domain. Additional product groups will be integrated into digital development processes. This allows bonprix to consistently pursue its path. Under the motto “Fashion Made Smarter,” the company will soon operate entirely digitally—from idea/concept to presentation in the webshop for customers.
