Man Caves, Menswear, and Reality Computing

Guest Author: Stephanie Wells, Autodesk Community Marketing Manager

Bespoke suiting outfitter Alton Lane’s new showroom in San Francisco’s Battery district feels like an elegant 'man cave'. Between the natty mannequins and crisp dress shirts are a fully-stocked bar, overstuffed leather sofas, and a flat screen TV. Then, in a corner and cloaked in gray wool, stands the key difference between Alton Lane and its competition: a full-body scanning booth. Alton Lane employs a body scanning booth as an essential part of their business model in their New York, D.C., Chicago and now San Francisco showrooms.

Alton Lane’s sumptuous showroom. Photo credit Alton Lane.

So, how do luxury tailoring, 3D modeling, and body scanning work together? The scanning booth allows for greater time efficiency and client comfort. The process is as follows: after a one-on-one appointment with a showroom associate, the client is ushered into the dressing room area of the scanning booth.

He strips down to his skivvies and hops inside. In just 30 seconds, the Size Stream Body Scanner detects over 100 landmark points and takes more than 400 body measurements, including circumferences, heights, lengths, volumes and surface area.

(LR) Eric Gavrilov (Showroom Director) and
Ryan Devens (Showroom Manager)
in Alton Lane’s San Francisco location.
Photo credit Stephanie Wells.

The scanner uses infrared depth sensor technology similar to the devices used with home interactive video game systems, to map the surface of the client. The sensors are positioned at six angles and seven different heights around the body to get full coverage in seconds. The resulting data points are fed into open-source CAD software developed by Size Stream that creates a highly accurate 3D model of the client. 

The 3D model is then sent to Alton Lane’s factory where, using a Gerber system, the garment pattern is laser-cut for ultimate precision. It is sewn by hand and presented to the client at the showroom where few, if any, final alterations are made. This process saves time and money for both Alton Lane and their factory by maximizing accuracy and minimizing error & waste.

Size Stream technology uses infrared depth sensors and CAD software to create 3D models of clients’ measurements.
Photo credit Stephanie Wells.

Using infrared depth sensor technology addresses unpleasant issues encountered in traditional tailoring. Typically, the suit measuring process takes around 25-30 minutes when done by hand, and many guys find it to be an uncomfortable experience. As CEO and Co-founder Colin Hunter explains, “Body scanning instead of hand measuring means that if you’re busy, you can get in and out faster. If clients have the time, most guys would rather have a drink at our bar, watch the game, or look at fabrics than spend 30 minutes getting measured. It’s really about convenience.”

What inspired this blast of Reality Computing technology into such a time-honored trade?

Hunter used to travel frequently as a business consultant. The light bulb moment happened in a TSA body scanner at yet another airport security line. He thought, “There must be something like this for the (menswear) industry.” While he knew that body scanning was being used in apparel research, it had yet to be brought to the mainstream in a business model.

Hunter sees longer stream implications of Reality Computing for Alton Lane. “We now have...hundreds of thousands of data points of our customers, geographically-based," says Hunter. "So I can actually say, ‘Alright, I want to do an off-rack shirting line of flannels.’ I can redefine sizing by city. We have the ability to do more small-batch collections using our data to say, ‘This is the Chicago medium. This is the New York medium.’ That would be really cool in the implications that it could have…and the more data points we have the more we can do that.”

Colin Hunter, CEO and Co-founder, Alton Lane. 
Photo credit Alton Lane.

Hunter’s line of thinking is a good illustration of the business value of Reality Computing. Alton Lane has succeeded in differentiating themselves from their competitors by leveraging Reality Computing’s Capture > Compute > Create concept. They capture body measurement information in an efficient way, compute the reality data, and create highly accurate 3D models that save everyone in the supply chain time and money. Importantly, it allows Alton Lane’s showroom staff to build deeper relationships with their clients in the time that guys would traditionally spend with a tape measure wrapped around them.

Alton Lane brings to the custom suiting arena the disruptive spirit of a Silicon Valley startup with the panache of James Bond. This kind of forward thinking forecasts future blending of the apparel industry, 3D technology, and Reality Computing. Now, who feels like a trip to the body scanning booth and a martini?