Speakers’ Corner gives you a preview of the voices you’ll hear at upcoming PI events, straight from the people shaping fashion and footwear.
In this edition, Alexander Zar, CEO of Lalaland Production and Design, reflects on how digital product creation is converging with manufacturing, and why eliminating the gap between digital approval and factory execution will determine how fast the industry can move next.
What's the most meaningful shift you've seen in digital product creation this past year?
The biggest shift has been the convergence of design and manufacturing. Digital product creation is no longer just about making better renderings. It's becoming a tool for making real production decisions earlier in the process. We're seeing digital assets drive material selection, costing, tooling, and manufacturing planning long before a physical sample exists.
How is 3D changing the way your teams design, iterate, and make decisions?
3D allows us to validate ideas before we commit factory time and resources. Instead of waiting weeks for physical samples, we can collaborate with designers, engineers, and manufacturing teams in real time. That means faster decisions, fewer iterations, and a much clearer understanding of manufacturability from day one.
What's the biggest friction point still slowing down digital workflows?
The technology isn't the problem anymore. The biggest challenge is data continuity. Too many organizations still have disconnected systems between design, development, sourcing, and manufacturing. Information gets recreated multiple times instead of flowing through a single digital thread.
Which emerging technology do you think will define the next phase of DPC?
AI combined with manufacturing intelligence. AI can already generate concepts, but the next phase is AI understanding how products can actually be made. When AI can incorporate factory constraints, materials, costing, and production capabilities into design decisions, that's when we'll see a real transformation.
What new skills or mindsets do you think teams need to build today?
Teams need to think beyond their functional silos. Designers need to understand manufacturing realities, and manufacturers need to understand the creative process. The future belongs to people who can bridge design, technology, and production rather than specialize in only one area.
If you could instantly fix one bottleneck in the digital product pipeline, what would it be?
I would eliminate the gap between digital approval and factory execution. Too often, a product is approved digitally but still requires significant translation before production begins. A truly connected workflow would allow approved digital assets to flow directly into manufacturing systems.
What's the most persistent misconception you encounter about 3D or digital design?
That 3D replaces craftsmanship. In reality, it enhances it. The best digital workflows don't remove human expertise; they allow creative and technical teams to spend less time on repetitive tasks and more time solving meaningful problems.
How has sustainability influenced the way you use digital tools in product development?
Sustainability starts with reducing waste before production begins. Every unnecessary sample, material shipment, and development iteration carries a cost. Digital tools allow us to make smarter decisions earlier, reducing physical waste while improving speed and accuracy.
What does truly seamless collaboration between design, tech, and manufacturing look like to you?
Everyone is looking at the same data and working from the same digital product. Design intent, material specifications, costing, tooling, and manufacturing requirements are connected from concept through production. There are no handoffs, only collaboration.
What's one lesson about digital transformation you wish you'd learned earlier?
Technology alone doesn't create transformation. People and process do. The most successful digital initiatives we've implemented weren't necessarily the most advanced technologies; they were the ones that people actually adopted.
Will AI become a creative partner or a creative disruptor for fashion designers?
A creative partner. AI can accelerate exploration and eliminate repetitive work, but creativity still comes from human experience, intuition, and understanding of culture. The best designers will use AI as a multiplier, not a replacement.
Do you think the future of product creation will be more human-driven or machine-driven?
Human-led, machine-enabled. Machines will handle more data, analysis, and automation, but people will continue making the decisions that require vision, judgment, and creativity.
What's currently overhyped in the digital fashion technology space?
The belief that technology alone can solve supply chain challenges. Digital tools are powerful, but if you don't have strong manufacturing partnerships and operational discipline behind them, the results will always be limited.
What's the best example you've seen of digital tools enhancing creativity rather than constraining it?
The ability to explore dozens of concepts, colors, materials, and construction methods virtually in a matter of hours. What used to take weeks and come with significant development costs can now happen during a single collaborative design session.
What advice would you give to a brand taking its first big step into DPC?
Start with a business problem, not a technology. Focus on reducing development time, improving collaboration, or increasing accuracy. If the technology doesn't solve a real problem, adoption will always be difficult.
Favourite digital tool in your stack and why?
3D product visualization tools because they bring designers, engineers, and manufacturers into the same conversation. They help everyone see the same product before it exists physically.
A product you've created or seen that makes you proud of where digital fashion is heading?
I'm particularly excited by projects where digital product creation is directly connected to advanced manufacturing in the United States. Seeing a digital model move efficiently from concept to domestic production shows what's possible when technology and manufacturing work together.
One word that sums up where DPC will be next year?
Connected.
The most inspiring person or project you've worked with recently?
The projects focused on rebuilding domestic manufacturing capabilities through automation, digital workflows, and advanced production technologies. Bringing product creation and manufacturing closer together has the potential to transform the industry.
Finish this sentence: In 2026, digital product creation will...
...move beyond visualization and become the operating system that connects design, sourcing, development, and manufacturing into one continuous workflow.
Alexander Zar will be leveraging his deep knowledge and experience at The Fashion Tech Show Los Angeles (15-16th September), where he will be joining the panel discussion on 'Local Production Needs a New Playbook'.
