TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — NunoX is using AI to model fabric behavior, reducing wasteful sampling and helping fashion brands build more sustainable supply chains.

Inside the company’s Fuxing North Road office, engineers use AI to replicate how fabrics drape and move, allowing designers to test material behavior virtually, per CNA. The simulations, hosted on a cloud-based platform, eliminate the need for dozens of physical samples, saving time and material.

Founder Hsieh Ho-hsiang (謝賀祥), a veteran of Acer and Silicon Valley, said the goal is simple: “We want every step, from material selection to sampling, development, and production, to be sustainable.”

Hsieh’s journey began in hardware and smart homes, but it was a pivot to 3D body scanning that brought him closer to his roots. 

“My grandparents were tailors,” he said. “With tech, I saw a chance to solve the challenges they once faced in the garment trade.” That vision evolved into NunoX, which targets not custom tailoring, but large-scale fashion production.

Recognizing the environmental toll of textile sampling, NunoX developed its “Smart Fabric Simulation Process” in partnership with Taiwan’s Textile Research Institute. By creating digital twins, or virtual representations, to simulate fabric behavior, the company has won patents and a 2023 Edison Gold Award.

The company’s breakthrough led to a partnership with Under Armour, which tapped NunoX as a digital sampling partner for its supply chain in Asia. It also joined Nvidia’s Inception program and was selected as one of 12 standout AI startups for Computer this year.

Between client meetings and trade shows, Hsieh said he remains focused on the mission: transforming the fashion supply chain with AI. “It’s tough starting a brand,” he said, “but we’re building tools for a better way to design and produce clothes for a more sustainable planet.”