CHENNAI : IIT Madras and NASSCOM-incubated Startup ‘TRI3D’ is bringing 3D technology to the traditional Indian Garments Sector to help small and medium businesses survive the economic challenges brought about by COVID-19.

Since the onset of the pandemic, e-commerce has become almost an essential tool for survival of businesses with most customers opting to shop online. But, one of the main barriers for this channel is to generate images of garments to be uploaded to e-commerce websites.

TRI3D’s unique apparel visualization technology converts flat images of garments such as sarees into beautiful photo-realistic 3D images on models, mannequins and creative representations. The Startup has developed a software substitute for conventional model photoshoots, convenient for even the small boutique designers and weavers who cannot afford photoshoots. The images generated by TRI3D are acceptable on most of the popular e-commerce websites.

Explaining the advantages of this technology, Mr. Krishna Sumanth Alwala, Co-founder, TRI3D Startup, and an IIT Madras Alumnus, said, “The painstaking task of arranging a day-long photoshoot with models having to constantly change in and out of sarees, is easily bypassed. The desired image is generated in a matter of minutes, without any compromise. The quality of the generated image is on par if not superior to the images taken by a photoshoot.”

As many as 80,000 garments have been digitized and sold using TRI3D’s Technology in India, Sri Lanka and Abu Dhabi in the last one year. More than 100 new generation entrepreneurs from across 50 locations in India have already deployed this technology.

This digital technology will go a long way in ensuring the smaller and medium businesses do not get behind in the digital revolution and are able to re-invent themselves for the pandemic era.

Elaborating on their technology, Mr. Nitish Reddy Parvatham, Co-founder, TRI3D Startup, and an IIT Bombay Alumnus, said, “A simple picture of a flat piece of a saree is automatically draped onto a model with unchallenged realism, by the power of technology. The photo could also be one of an unstitched dress material and our software will not only ‘stitch’ the fabric but also visualise it as a finished garment draped onto a model, in a variety of poses.”

Further, Mr. Nitish Reddy Parvatham said, “Many top retail companies have encouraged us and helped us shape the product and its realism. We worked closely with one of the biggest fashion e-commerce players in India besides a major brand in South India, a couple of the largest saree retailers in Chennai.”

TRI3D is now attracting customers from all over India, ranging from individual weavers to big retail brands and e-commerce platforms besides two Government-backed cooperative societies from the South Indian States

TRI3D is currently being used not just by retailers but also wholesalers and manufacturers, B2B distributors and even handloom weavers directly in some cases. It is suitable for anybody who has a saree or a fabric to sell. They currently have more than 150 active customers from all over India. A lot of them are from remote towns such as Kanjeevaram, Tirupur, Salem, Coimbatore, Mangalagiri, Chirala, Pochapally, Ilkal, Mysore, Nasik, Banaras, and Chanderi, among other places, apart from the Metro cities.

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Sharing his experiences in using this technology, Mr. Prem Vemuluri, Head of Operations, Kalanikethan (one of the largest retail brands in South India), said, “TRI3D made our work easy when we decided to launch our online store. The cataloging process was so simple we could finish one week of work in a single day”

Mrs. Anita Pradeep, Proprietor of www.anivartee.com, an online brand based out of Bangalore said, “Prior to TRI3D software, we were draping the sarees to mannequin and sometimes few of our friends used to model for our sarees. This was taking a lot of time in terms of draping and also editing. Now with this software, it saves time and money, and also has an option of a wide range of images to choose from. Above all, it enhances the beauty of our products and which in turn promote our brand.”

“TRI3D is making cataloguing process faster and easier. Our team is working efficiently at the same time the images are coming out well. The colors are perfect too,” said Mr. Anand Krishnamoorthy, Managing Director of www.prashantisarees.com

“Visually the product has to be shown appropriately with clarity and well draped. TRI3D came to us as a blessing. Their software did everything we wanted and also reduced the photography costs to a great extent,” said Mr. CS Dwarkesh, Director, Hayagrivas Silk House, Chennai.

“TRI3D draping software is awesome and has helped generate beautiful model images without actually doing photoshoots. I would suggest this software for other saree retailers”, said Mr. Madhan Kumar, Director, Ghatz Technologies, a manufacturer based out of Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu.