ESG Outlook: Julie DeLoca of SEDDI on the ‘Leap of Faith’ to Digital Product Creation
ESG Outlook is Sourcing Journal’s discussion series with industry executives to get their take on their company’s latest environmental, social and governance initiatives and their own personal efforts toward sustainability. Here, Julie DeLoca, chief marketing officer of 3D software provider SEDDI, discusses moving past “the touch crutch.”
Name: Julie DeLoca
Title: Chief Marketing Officer
Company: SEDDI
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What do you consider to be your company’s best ESG-related achievement over the past five years?
As a software provider of science-backed, cloud-native solutions for digital product creation, SEDDI’s best ESG-related achievement is the invention of accurate 3D CAD and simulation of textiles and garments. Without accurate 3D CAD and simulation of products, the industry will never reap the hard benefits of digitalization enjoyed by every other industry for decades.
We invested in years of research to bring this to market with 33 papers published and 11 patents filed. We are bullish about the positive impact digitization will have on the ESG goals of brands and manufacturers.
Our first product, SEDDI Textura, makes it easy for mills and factories to digitize fabrics at the source—rather than shipping physical swatches—reducing not only carbon footprints, but also reliance on physical supply chains in the conceptual and iteration stages of apparel design.
Our upcoming product, SEDDI Author, is a collaborative, cloud-native 3D garment engineering software that generates accurate digital twins. This can alleviate reliance on physical garment samples and can be used up and down the supply chain to communicate the look, fit and engineering detail of the product. Accurate cloud-native 3D CAD and simulation is key to achieving ESG goals through reduction of physical sampling, overproduction, excess inventory and product returns, all of which contribute to the extensive waste that plagues our industry.
What is your personal philosophy on shopping and caring for your clothes?
I have a teenage daughter who almost exclusively shops vintage and secondhand. I have helped her understand the value of investing in quality, classic pieces rather than cheap, trendy items. She has guided me toward circularity in my own wardrobe, and we both sort our closets seasonally, sell or give away what we can, and incorporate as few new pieces as possible. She also pretty regularly shops my closet for looks from the ’90s and my treasured concert T-shirts.
How much do you look into a brand’s social or environmental practices before shopping?
I wish I had more time to research social responsibility across all of my spending, but unfortunately that’s not feasible for me. I do try to shop locally and seasonally for food, and support local small businesses as much as possible. I don’t shop fast fashion or buy cheap imported products. I invest in items that I know I will use over and over, won’t go out of style and will hold up because of quality construction.
Anything new you are doing to boost sustainability beyond the fashion industry?
I’m a big gardener and try to grow vegetables and herbs as much as possible. I recently signed up for a composting service that picks up a bucket of food scraps weekly and delivers a bag of “black gold” for my garden in the spring.
What would you say is the biggest misconception consumers have about sustainability in fashion/accessories? Do they not understand how digitization can be more sustainable?
Consumers are quite removed from the digitization process. It’s all behind the scenes, and most people probably have little understanding of how many physical samples are wasted every year to make a garment. As digitization becomes more front and center in the discourse and in their lives as consumers, with the advent of technology such as virtual try on, I believe they will begin to see what a true virtual twin means to assess fit, and better understand the need for it.
What was your company’s biggest takeaway from the Covid crisis?
Fashion has always been hung up on what I call “the touch crutch” thinking that you can’t make design, fit or purchasing decisions without touching the finished garment. Covid showed everyone that design, production and manufacturing could go on when we couldn’t get things IRL. We trusted the image on the screen and forged ahead. A move to 3D requires a bit of a leap of faith for an industry that is not known for embracing change.
What is your company’s latest ESG-related initiative?
We currently have a working prototype for a virtual try-on solution that will dramatically change how consumers shop online and in-store. This technology, when widely adopted, will radically reduce the returns problem that costs retailers over $400 billion annually, and is responsible for a significant portion of the industry’s carbon footprint and contribution to landfills.
SEDDI employs over a dozen PhDs in the fields of optical, mechanical and computer science working with fashion industry veterans. This meeting of the minds means our solutions are designed to be accurate, intuitive and built for designers. Cloud-native software results in a reduced carbon footprint and the ability to create anywhere, anytime. We think that’s good for people and the planet.
As consumers become more aware of worker conditions and how clothing is produced, how can the industry best spread the word on progress?
There are some amazing organizations, activists and influencers out there talking about worker welfare, regenerative agriculture and the plight of farmers dependent on pesticides, as well as other sustainability initiatives. Big brands need to embrace and support these fearless champion’s grass roots efforts and work with them to make our own business and products more values driven.
What do you consider to be the apparel industry’s biggest missed opportunity related to securing meaningful change, especially as it relates to technology?
The most successful technology companies have thrived by embracing the theory that innovation is the result of science + creativity. Designers, patternmakers and manufacturers have been resistant to adopting tech to streamline their processes, believing that they would have to give up creativity. The reality is actually the opposite. If Steve Jobs had launched an apparel brand it would have been just as successful as the iPhone.
