Reducing Physical Samples by 60% with 3D Design at White House Black Market

I turned Clo3D from a color-check tool into the standard way our team develops products. By replacing physical prototypes with 3D samples, we cut sample turnaround from up to a month to about a week and made 60% fewer physical samples.

Project Overview

Prototypes and sales samples are critical to the design process, but they’re expensive and can take up to a month to arrive. I built a workflow that replaced physical prototypes with 3D samples. It cut sample turnaround to about a week and got product to market faster.

Role: Designer
Team: Design Director, Jackets & Bottoms Designer (me), and 2 other designers
Tools: CLO3D
Outcome:

  • 60% fewer physical samples.

  • Sample turnaround cut from 1 month to 1 week.

  • Physical sampling eliminated for jackets, woven and knit tops, dresses, and bottoms.

 

The Problem

It’s Summer 2022, and a new development cycle is starting. Our team at White House Black Market Outlet is the pilot team for Clo3D, but so far we’ve only used it to check color and print on repeat styles. Eager to expand the program, I propose using Clo3D for prototype samples as well.

Prototypes are the natural next step. They’re imperfect by design and used only for testing. That makes them low-risk and the ideal place to prove 3D can do more.

 

The Sampling Process

We set an initial goal of making 25% of prototype samples 3D. We deliberately chose simpler styles so the team could build confidence reviewing samples on screen. Once the styles were selected, we asked our vendors to create 3D renderings for the prototype stage.

The first renderings came back disorganized and hard to read. Every vendor used its own pose, avatar, and presentation format.

 

Refining the 3D Process

We created a template every vendor had to follow, standardizing the avatar, size, pose, and garment color. Reviews became much easier. Because every style was presented the same way, we could also build outfits and merchandise the collection internally.

The physical samples came in at the next stage. They looked just as good as styles developed the traditional way, and they arrived much sooner. With the pilot working, we raised the goal to 50% the following season and eventually expanded to every eligible style.

 

Presenting to Leadership

Leadership was skeptical at first. Fashion is physical, so they believed every sample had to be physical too. But the faster 3D turnaround let us hold our line review ahead of schedule, and that got their attention. For every style developed in 3D, we showed the 3D render and the physical sample side by side.

Complicated styles and novelty fabrics stayed physical. For everything else, leadership was bought in, and we eventually stopped needing physical prototypes and salesman samples in those categories.

 

Outcome

Over the next few seasons, 3D became the standard way of working for the WHBM Outlet team.

  • 60% fewer physical samples

  • Sample turnaround cut from up to a month to about a week

  • Physical prototypes and salesman samples eliminated for jackets, woven and knit tops, dresses, and bottoms

 

Learnings

  • Start where the risk is lowest. Prototypes let us prove the process without putting the business on the line.

  • Standardize before you scale. The tool wasn’t the bottleneck. Inconsistent vendor outputs were, and a clear template fixed that.

  • Let the work make the argument. Seeing 3D and physical samples side by side did more to convince leadership than any pitch.