The end of July will see Human Solutions and its subsidiary in Italy, Sistemi Assyst, start a representative serial measurement survey, "SizeITALY". During the course of the survey, around 6,000 men, women and children will be measured by ultra-modern 3D bodyscanning technology. The role model in this case is the successful SizeGERMANY serial measurement survey which took place between 2007 and 2009.
The main reason for carrying out the "SizeITALY" survey is that the Italians have changed since the last serial measurement took place 20 years ago. But how much have they changed? No one knows for sure. The aim of the project partners is to establish the time-related changes in the dimensions and proportions of male, female and children's bodies in Italy.
This will enable the partners to deliver current market share tables and body dimension statistics to the industry, based on the results of the survey. As a starting point for creating apparel with optimal size & fit, new sizes tables will also be developed and made available to the companies participating in SizeITALY.
"We know the customers who come into our stores, but not the ones who don't correspond to the size & fit of our models. We are participating in the SizeITALY project, because we're convinced that we will obtain better information for our future sizing & fitting in the Italian market," says Maurizio Malagosti of Max Mara. Additional evaluation of the data material in line with the guidelines of the European Norm EN 13402 will also simplify the introduction of the European sizes system in Italy.
Divided into two geographic regions — north and south — ten to twelve countrywide measurement sites are envisaged. By the end of 2013, the measurements of around 6,000 men, women, girls and boys will have been acquired by means of bodyscanners in a contact-free procedure.
The test persons will be divided into nine different age classes, between the ages of 6 and 75. An additional survey of the test persons to obtain socio-demographic data, as well as relevant apparel aspects, such as purchase behavior, size finding and brand loyalty will supplement the acquisition of body measurements, which will be performed in several standing and seated postures.
As in the case of SizeGERMANY, the results will then be made available online on the iSize body dimensions portal, where they can be used interactively and directly integrated into the development processes of the participating companies, or compared with the data of other countries. This will enable companies to select their target groups by region, age or garment size, to optimize their sizes tables and to import the adjusted tables directly into their CAD programs.
In addition to the body scanner installed in the offices of Sistemi Assyst in Lainate (this location will function as an in-house measurement site from late July on), the first scanner installation will take place in early August on Rome's Ostia beach, in the Kursaal Village Hotel.
