“When you think about American fashion and branding, JCPenney is one of those names there on the list,” Ra’mon-Lawrence Radeke declares proudly. The design director recently welcomed Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) graduate Cagla Ertan to the company’s Manhattan SoHo office, where JCPenney designers use Lectra’s Kaledo software to create prints and textiles for its private-label brands. Cagla came in first in the FIT Lectra-JCPenney competition, winning a design internship with the iconic American retailer.
Challenge
JCPenney has approximately 150 designers who work together collaboratively to make their private-label collections come together. The design team needs to react quickly to market trends, communicate clearly and effectively across different offices, and maintain color consistency in their prints and textiles when they deal with mills and other suppliers.
Solution
JCPenney uses Kaledo design software to visualize what prints and textiles will look like in different colorways and textures, so that their design team can make fast decisions and work at the pace of today’s marketplace. The company also uses Kaledo as a color management tool, ensuring that colors remain consistent when data is shared with other offices or suppliers. “I think Kaledo is one of the best tools out there to help execute ideas,” says Roy Gutierrez, CAD Manager at JCPenney.
