10 Years On: PHILIPP PLEIN Powers Innovation with Centric PLM

PHILIPP PLEIN adopted Centric PLM™ nearly a decade ago and has transformed product development operations resulting in significant ROI. PLM has bridged the gap between trend forecasting and product development, empowering the consistently high-performing brand to translate insights into action quickly and effectively. They have drastically reduced product development timelines, nurtured hyper personalization of product and customer journey, strengthened internal and supplier collaboration, increased product margins and powered sustainability initiatives.

Before adopting Centric PLM, PHILIPP PLEIN suffered from common fashion industry challenges—information silos, delays caused by manual data entry, version control issues and a lack of real-time visibility into product development timelines. These challenges resulted in compromised product quality, excess costs and disjointed team collaboration.

“Nearly a decade ago, we identified several recurring setbacks that not only affected time-to-market but also introduced risk to product quality,” says Giacomo Viglietta, Head of IT at PHILIPP PLEIN. “Recognizing the need for a more integrated and transparent workflow, we explored solutions that could centralize data, standardize processes and enhance cross-functional collaboration.”

“Centric PLM emerged as the most viable and strategic tool, not just as a technical upgrade, but as a foundation for digital transformation within the product value chain.”

Iconic luxury craftsmanship meets innovation & next-gen tech

Founded in 1998 by German fashion designer Philipp Plein, his eponymous luxury brand      develops menswear, womenswear and childrenswear as well as jewelry, accessories and a home collection. It can be found in the most prestigious boutiques and department stores worldwide. Headquartered in Lugano, today the Swiss Maison counts more than 200 employees worldwide including three showrooms (Milan, New York and Hong Kong) and a significant presence in key markets.

Not only is PHILIPP PLEIN renowned for bold, extravagant designs that blend high fashion with streetwear influences,  it also boasts a      commitment to innovation and sustainability. As a vertically managed brand, PHILIPP PLEIN maintains control over design, production and distribution, allowing for both exclusivity and consistency across its global retail network.

In 2016, PHILIPP PLEIN was rapidly expanding and struggling to manage increasing product development complexity. The brand was outgrowing traditional methods of managing its operations as it scaled.

“Our decision to adopt a PLM did not arise from a desire to adopt technology for its own sake but from a clear recognition that digitalization, through PLM, is essential to maintaining agility, consistency and competitiveness in a fast-paced, design-led industry,” explains Viglietta.

While the initial driver for adopting Centric PLM was to support the infrastructure of a fast-growing business, the team’s entrepreneurial spirit also saw it as a catalyst for innovation—long embedded in PHILIPP PLEIN’s brand DNA—with data playing a critical role in that evolution.

“Innovation should be grounded in clear strategic objectives that align with the brand’s long-term vision and measurable business outcomes. A critical starting point is the effective use of data,” explains Viglietta. “By leveraging customer insights, behavioral analytics and trend forecasting, fashion brands can make informed decisions that reduce uncertainty and enhance the likelihood of successful outcomes.”

From fragmentation to cohesion: trendspotting & data-driven decisions

With a constant focus on delighting its customers with unique designs, PHILIPP PLEIN emphasizes the enormous benefit of PLM in trend forecasting, product development and innovation. Before adopting PLM, teams were using fragmented processes and disparate tools to manage complex design and critical collection decisions.

“Centric PLM has played a pivotal role in bridging the gap between trend forecasting and product development, enabling us to translate insights into action with greater speed and precision,” says Viglietta. “This means that now seasonal themes, color palettes, material directions and style inspirations gathered from market analysis or forecasting tools are no longer isolated information.”

Having all relevant product data stored in a single place and accessible by design, merchandising and product development teams has dramatically improved decision-making, time to market and their bottom line.

“The ability to link trend concepts with historical product performance and cost data allows us to make more informed decisions about which trends to pursue and how to bring them to market efficiently,” says Viglietta. “The lead time between identifying a trend and developing a corresponding product has shortened by approximately 30%. We are able to react faster and with more confidence. This has had a direct impact on assortment relevance, speed-to-market, and ultimately, on product margin performance.”

Drastically Reduced Time-To-Market & Waste for Increased Gross Margins

The dizzying pace of the fashion industry and rapidly changing trends means that brands need to respond with bestselling hits—     at the right time. Centric PLM empowers PHILIPP PLEIN to streamline workflows for impressive results.

“One of the most impactful outcomes has been the streamlining of product development cycles through the integration of end-to-end digital workflows and centralized data management,” says Viglietta. “We have observed a reduction in product development timelines by approximately 20–30% across several key product lines.”

Viglietta emphasizes PLM’s role in strengthening cooperation, collapsing timelines and improving accuracy with external suppliers. By providing access to relevant design data, specifications and compliance documentation within the PLM system, the company has reduced rework, procurement delays and time to market.

By streamlining its product development lifecycle, PHILIPP PLEIN has contained costs and increased margins. The brand has improved sell-through rates, reduced reliance on markdowns or excess inventory disposal and lowered development costs through digital prototyping and sampling—all while maintaining quality.

“One of the most prominent measurable results has been the realization of substantial cost savings stemming from the elimination of redundant tasks, improved versioning control and a close, real-time cooperation between the departments,” shares Viglietta. “By transitioning to 3D prototyping and digital validation within the PLM environment, we have been able to lower material waste and minimize costly late-stage design modifications.”

Better together. Enhanced team collaboration & data-driven decisions

Digitalizing the process from design to sourcing has transformed the way PHILIPP PLEIN departments collaborate. Before Centric PLM, teams were working in silos, with limited visibility and in time-consuming sequential ways. The result—frustration, inefficiencies, redundancies and communication breakdown.

“With PLM we have a single source of truth accessible to all stakeholders as designers, product developers, merchandisers, sourcing teams and supply chain managers,” says Viglietta. “Teams are now able to collaborate concurrently rather than sequentially, significantly reducing lead times and bottlenecks.”

Designers can immediately assess the feasibility of creative choices in PLM with materials inventory and sourcing constraints viewable      with just a few clicks. Merchandisers can see the impact of assortment changes in real time and sourcing teams can rapidly assess supplier options based on live cost comparisons, lead times and historical compliance performance.

“Beyond the operational efficiency PLM delivers, decision-making across teams is more strategic and informed,” says Viglietta. “Centric PLM has empowered teams to be more forward-thinking and synchronized, reducing the friction that arises when they don’t have up-to-date data.”

Strengthening sustainability & transparency

PHILIPP PLEIN is deeply committed to sustainability, eco-conscious practices and social responsibility. Through comprehensive data integration, Centric PLM has significantly contributed to enhance transparency and traceability across materials and processes.

Teams use also PLM to assess the environmental impact of materials and suppliers early in the product development process to make decisions that reduce ecological footprints. Real-time data enables cross-functional teams to collaborate and adopt eco-design principles such as modularity, recyclability and energy efficiency.

“Sustainability is no longer a peripheral consideration in the fashion industry. As PHILIPP PLEIN, we are committed to accountability and partner exclusively with suppliers who share our ethical values and meet rigorous standards for labor rights,” shares Viglietta. “Centric PLM enhances our capability to embed sustainability into every phase of the product lifecycle, aligning technical innovation with ecological responsibility.”

Reflections on a 10-year digital transformation journey

While the results of Centric PLM have been prolific for PHILIPP PLEIN, every digital transformation journey comes with trials and pitfalls. Viglietta reflects on the challenges of user adoption, change management, data consolidation and integration with legacy systems.

“We encountered organizational resistance to change as the introduction of a new system and workflows disrupted established routines,” explains Viglietta. “A second major challenge was data consolidation and standardization. Integration with existing legacy systems also proved technically complex.”

PHILIPP PLEIN conducted a comprehensive data cleansing initiative, supported by the establishment of data governance policies and master data management protocols to ensure a single source of truth across the business. They also aligned Centric PLM with legacy ERP and CRM systems through careful architectural planning. The results speak for themselves and they’re now committed to a long-term, value-driven partnership with Centric Software®.

“The digital transformation journey presented significant challenges, but these efforts laid a resilient foundation for ongoing digital maturity,” says Viglietta. “Centric PLM provides robust scalability and configurability, allowing us to expand without compromising operational efficiency. Advanced AI-driven planning will bring the cooperation to another level, giving our product and merchandising teams more tools to improve forecasting and replenishment strategies. Centric Software is a digital backbone for PHILIPP PLEIN.”