Gap acquires 3D fitting room startup Drapr

In theory, it works to bridge the gap between an in-person visit to a clothes store and an online shopping experience like Amazon.

When you buy clothes online, you can only see images of the clothes and see them on other people. You can't really tell how they'd look and fit on you.

When you buy clothes in a store, you can try them on but you're left with the selection of a physical store (e.g. it might not have your size, you might want a different colour).

With a virtual fitting room, you can, at least in theory, get the best of both worlds: a large selection of items and the ability to see how they fit on you.

After going shopping with my wife recently, I came up with a dream for how the experience of clothes shopping would be in the future and a virtual fitting room fits into that vision:

- You digitize your body (e.g. by visiting a store with a body scanner)

- You browse a catalog, on a computer or phone at home or perhaps on some kind of AR mirror in a store (this is where the virtual fitting room fits in)

- You have the items you like the most delivered either to your home or to the store

- You try them on for a final check

- You keep the ones you like and return the ones you don't (either by post if you're at home or just hand them back if you're in-store)

Depending on the specifications available to the retailer, the virtual fitting could also do analysis of the garment and your body to tell you how good a fit it is. The CAD packages available for patternmaking have stress analysis which can show where the garment is too tight or too loose and that could be displayed to the customer based on their own measurements.

The same concept could also be used to eliminate sizes from the customer's mind. The store could use the customer's measurements and the technical details of the garment to automatically supply the best-fitting size.

I've no idea. I've never bought clothing online and don't trust these services either (yet).

This is especially true for Gap. Their sizing is bonkers compared to the norm. I stopped shopping there a long time ago because it was too much of a hassle to go and try things on in person. Instead, I order online from retailers that have consistent sizing and that I know fit me well.

Even sizing can be 'odd' sometimes. I can many times grab 2 different items the only difference supposedly is color. One will fit the other will have weird spots that dont. I basically have to try everything on before I buy it. Otherwise I am just going to have to return it immediately. That is currently easier in a store than playing the mail it back game.

If I were ordering custom sized cloths then maybe this would be useful. Neat for sure. But I am not seeing the usefulness because of the wild inconsistencies in most cloths.

Body types vary widely though. If you’re athletic you may have a strong shoulder to hip drop, getting shirts that are blousy in the midsection. Conversely, if you’re heavy set or short you may get garments that are overly long.

Some companies do try to address this to a degree with slim or athletic cuts, and yes a tailor could take you the rest of the way ‘mostly’ there, but the future of clothing is 3D scanning and printing.