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, Michelle Greenhouse, a digital materials specialist with a background spanning textile design, color, fabric development and 3D product creation, shares why the biggest barrier to digital transformation isn't the technology, it's the mindset behind it.
From the importance of connected workflows and manufacturable design, to why experimentation beats perfection, Greenhouse explains why the future of digital product creation depends on bringing people, processes and data together around a shared vision.
1. What's the most meaningful shift you've seen in digital product creation this past year?
The biggest shift has been the speed at which designers can communicate ideas. Digital tools now allow teams to visualize concepts, evaluate materials, and align on intent long before a physical sample exists. That means faster conversations, better decisions, and more time spent refining the product rather than waiting for it.
2. What's the biggest friction point still slowing down digital workflows?
Time remains the biggest constraint. Designers are balancing demanding workloads, so adopting new ways of working can feel like additional effort. Successful digital transformation isn't really a technology challenge, it is a mindset shift challenge. Teams need the time, support, and confidence to build new habits and explore the new tools.
3. What new skills or mindsets do you think teams need to build today?
Creative vision alone isn't enough anymore. Teams need to understand whether an idea can actually be manufactured. The future designer combines creativity with material knowledge, technical product understanding, and digital fluency. Digital product creation is most valuable when beautiful concepts are also scalable and manufacturable.
4. What does truly seamless collaboration between design, tech, and manufacturing look like to you?
It means everyone is working from the same digital product definition with fewer disconnected tools. Design intent, material data, engineering requirements, and manufacturing feasibility should all live within connected workflows, allowing every function to make decisions from the same source of truth.
5. What's one lesson about digital transformation you wish you'd learned earlier?
Create space to experiment. The organizations that move fastest aren't afraid to test, learn, and iterate. Progress comes from curiosity, not perfection.
6. Will AI become a creative partner—or a creative disruptor—for apparel designers?
Both. AI will absolutely disrupt traditional ways of working, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. The value comes when it's used as a creative partner rather than a replacement. The quality of the output still depends on the quality of the inputs; clear prompts, accurate product data, and strong material libraries make all the difference.
7. What's the best example you've seen of digital tools enhancing creativity rather than constraining it?
Material visualization has been a game changer. When designers can quickly explore different fabrics, colors, and constructions digitally, they spend less time waiting on samples and more time refining ideas. Digital expands creative possibilities when it removes friction rather than adds it.
8. What advice would you give to a brand taking its first big step into DPC?
Align the entire organization around a shared vision. Leadership needs to champion the strategy, managers need to reinforce new ways of working, and practitioners need the tools and time to build new capabilities. Digital transformation succeeds when every level of the organization moves together.
One word that sums up where DPC will be next year?
Connected.
The most inspiring person or project you've worked with recently?
I'm inspired by teams that are willing to challenge traditional workflows and embrace experimentation. The most successful projects aren't necessarily the ones with the newest technology. They're the ones where cross-functional teams come together around a shared vision and learn quickly.
Finish this sentence: In 2026, digital product creation will...
...move beyond creating digital assets and become the foundation for how products are designed, validated, and brought to market, with materials, data, AI, and human creativity working together from concept through manufacturing.
Michelle will be leveraging her deep knowledge and experience at the Fashion Tech Show NYC (28-29th July) to co-lead a session on 'AI Is Coming: Standardizing 3D Fabric Physics'.
