Internet of Things in Apparel Industry : A Case Study of OVS, Italian S.p.A. Brand

The purpose of this study is to examine the actual influences of IoT on apparel industry as IoT has been in the limelight among entire industry since the millennium and it is recently flourishing along with a boom in the Fourth Industrial Revolution. To fit into the new era, this study investigates into both the fast fashion industry and the Internet of Things applied to an Italian S.p.A. brand, OVS, carrying practical examples and comparisons between several well known fast fashion companies in Europe and two apparel companies in Korea. The Korean apparel companies which adopt IoT technology into their business mostly focus on wearables and mobile applications while European fashion companies utilize smart fitting room in their stores. The next main part is constituted by the case of the Italian S.p.A. brand called OVS. Analyzing its key successful aspects of proper brand positioning, marketing strategy, IoT in their customer services, outsourcing of SCM, and a future strategy for a possible spread out the OVS products together with its technology and skills in the Korean fast fashion market. Finally, the social recognition was suggested as the essential strategy for OVS when they expand their business in Korean market at the end of the paper.