Atlanta, GA, September 14, 2006 – Lectra will participate at the Sizing Seminar sponsored by the American Apparel & Footwear Association (AAFA) and the Fashion Institute of Technology’s Center for Professional Studies (FIT). The seminar, to be held at FIT in New York City on October 11, will assemble apparel industry professionals to discuss the latest technology applications and developments for design and product development.

Entitled “A Fitting Experience from Design to Retail”, the program will feature a series of best-practice case studies presented by university educators and apparel company executives. These industry experts will discuss topics related to resolving sizing and fit issues in apparel design and product development.
 
Lectra will present a case study featuring Susan Ashdown, Professor of Textile and Apparel at Cornell University, and Janet Moss, Director of Operations for Women’s Sport Performance at Nike, Inc. Ms. Ashdown and Ms. Moss will reveal the results of a collaborative project executed to resolve garment sizing concerns within Nike’s sportswear brand.  The team will describe the project in which student researchers studied numerous body types and custom patterns generated with Lectra’s FitNet, a mass customization software application, and body scanning technology to technically resolve sizing issues. The results of the analysis led Nike to implement design and product development modifications to its sportswear line to enhance garment fit. Ashdown and Moss will also outline the steps taken to implement the results into Nike’s development processes. Additionally, they will discuss the future direction of mass customization technology and its potential impact on apparel design.

Lectra will also showcase its world-renowned design and product development applications specifically suited for the fashion industry. Lectra solutions enable customers to meet today’s strategic challenges of shortening time to market, reducing costs, improving productivity and globalization.

“We are pleased to support the educational programs of the AAFA and FIT,” commented David Rode, President of Lectra North America. “This seminar presents an important opportunity for Lectra to demonstrate the added-value that our innovative technologies bring to the apparel industry in all aspects of design and product development.”
 
A member of the AAFA, Lectra offers innovative, apparel-dedicated solutions that span the entire product lifecycle, covering design, product development, prototyping, manufacturing and retailing. The company offers the apparel industry’s most highly integrated technologies, all backed by more than 30 years of multi-sector experience and an unrivaled international service network.