LONDON, 16 APRIL 2020: With businesses across the country largely working from home as a result of COVID-19, technology and team management tools are now vital in order to maintain some level of ‘business as usual’. That’s why SupplyCompass has launched a moodboard tool for collating and sharing collection inspiration that’s a first-of-its-kind and free to use during COVID-19, in the bid to help fashion brands collaborate around the globe. 

SupplyCompass is the design and production platform for fast-growing fashion brands. The new SupplyCompass Moodboard Tool is unique for two key reasons: firstly, it solves the issue of disjointed teams and clunky existing design processes, by creating a centralized place for design teams to build new collections. Secondly, the moodboard tool allows brands to share ideas with their factory partners as well as their team, thus bringing the supply chain into the ideation phase. Both of these aspects will help to drive efficiencies in the fashion supply chain and help all parties design better, together.

All fashion brands need to do is sign up to supplycompass.com, create moodboards and upload images, share with their team, annotate and comment, and then share and collaborate with their factories. And it’s all free-to-use during COVID-19, for at least the next six months.* 

Moodboard colour picker and material image

Autumn/Winter Moodboard

Annotation and comment from team members

Storing multiple moodboards and linking them to collections

Single source of truth 

SupplyCompass Co-Founder, Flora Davidson, says: “In this unusual time where teams are having to work from home, we realized fashion brands were using all sorts of collaboration tools and video conferencing software for some parts of the business (like Slack and Google Drive) – but not tools specifically designed for the unique needs of fashion brands. It’s hard pulling ideas together for next season when you’re not all in the same place; ideas tend to live in multiple places, including different documents and individual desktops. 

“It’s likely we’re on the cusp of huge behavioural change in the industry. This presents an opportunity for real change and transformation of the fashion industry – something which can only happen with the right combination of technology and collaboration.” 

Brands & factories collaborating 

SupplyCompass Co-Founder, Flora Davidson, says: “Currently, brands often start designing collections in a variety of tools such as PowerPoint, rather than using cloud-based software. This means people save images and documents in different places, and the process is disjointed. What’s more, information doesn’t get shared in the right way with factories. For example, it’s not always clear which parts are most relevant in the moodboard or the latest version is missed in an email, causing factories to work off the wrong designs. 

“This lack of cohesion led us to believe there had to be a new way of ideating. In creating the SupplyCompass Moodboard Tool, fashion brands can create tech packs in minutes, get instant costs, receive quality samples the first time, manage all production and ultimately have supply chain transparency and traceability – all from one dashboard, wherever they’re working from. 

“Most importantly, brands can now share ideas with their team and their factory partners. This is crucial in driving efficiency in the supply chain. Not only are changes never overlooked and factories can ensure they’re working on the correct version, but it actually brings the supply chain into the ideation phase. Allowing factories to feed into the design will speed up the whole process and save time and money for everyone involved.” 

*The SupplyCompass Moodboard Tool will be free to use for the first six months, until mid-October. From then on, it will be available as part of a subscription to the SupplyCompass platform (price varies).

About SupplyCompass 

SupplyCompass is a product development and production management platform that enables fashion brands and manufacturers to produce better, together. The cloud-based software is transforming the fashion industry, by digitalizing global supply chains and making sustainable sourcing easy and cost-effective for brands and every player in the supply chain. The platform enables brands to manage the entire product development, sourcing, and production process from design right through to delivery, all in one place. 

SupplyCompass has also built a network of over 200 supply chain partners, visiting, vetting, and handpicking only the best manufacturers, mills, and suppliers to join. The majority of their network is in India, with some strategically placed partners in Portugal, Nepal, China, and Spain.