STEELE × COTONAI
CUSTOMER STORY · PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT + CREATIVE
Steele brought product exploration, CAD review, team feedback and creative production into one shared CotonAI workspace. Over four weeks, the team reviewed more than 140 CADs, worked through 188 contextual comments and carried approved product directions into more than 600 images and 100 videos.
CADs reviewed
140+
First pass CAD acceptance
71%
Revision cycles
1–2
IT STARTED WITH A FAMILIAR FASHION PROBLEM
Imagine a designer beginning the morning with a new product direction. The idea is clear. The CAD exists. The references are ready. But then the real work begins: exporting the CAD, building a presentation, collecting feedback, creating another version and rebuilding the context again for the next stage. For Steele, the opportunity wasn’t simply to create faster. It was to remove the repeated work between creative decisions.
WHAT IF THE PRODUCT NEVER HAD TO LEAVE THE CONVERSATION?
The CAD could sit beside references, alternatives and feedback. Approved directions could remain available when the team moved into creative production.
The workflow stopped being a sequence of isolated files. It became a living product context.
01
Bring the product onto the board.
CADs, garment references, color directions, print ideas, creative references and collection concepts came together in one shared visual workspace. The board became the starting point—not another empty prompt box.
02
Explore without multiplying the work
Color, styling and creative directions could be explored around the same product. The original remained visible, the alternatives stayed comparable and the evolution of the idea remained in view.
03
Put feedback where the decision happens
During the workflow, Steele recorded 188 contextual comments. Feedback stayed next to the product so designers and stakeholders could understand what changed, why it changed and what had already been approved.
04
Move approved products forward
The same product context continued into editorial, campaign, ecommerce, wholesale, social and motion creative—without starting again from a disconnected brief.
FROM ITERATION TO DECISION
First pass CAD acceptance
71%
Previous workflow
3–5
With CotonAI
1–2 rounds
The team could explore more before committing, giving reviewers clearer options earlier in the process. Fewer loops formed between idea and approval.
WHY THAT HAPPENED
BEFORE COTONAI
Create the CAD → Export it → Build a presentation → Send for review → Collect feedback → Interpret feedback → Update the CAD → Export again → Get approval → Prepare a creative brief → Collect references again → Create campaign direction → Produce assets
WITH COTONAI
Bring in the product → Explore → Compare → Comment → Approve → Create
Same product context. Fewer resets.
THE COMMENT STAYED WITH THE GARMENT
Contextual comments
188
The garment, references, alternatives and comments could live together. Instead of asking “Which version are we talking about?”, the team could point to the work and decide in place. Less archaeology. More designing.
ONE APPROVED GARMENT. MANY COMMERCIAL CONTEXTS.
Once product directions were established, Steele could use those products to explore how they might appear across editorial, campaign, ecommerce, wholesale, social and video contexts.
Creative images
600+
Videos
100+
THE BIGGER IDEA
Designers could explore without creating another disconnected workflow. Reviewers could respond to something visible. Feedback could stay connected to the product. Approved work could retain its context. CotonAI became less about generating an individual asset and more about keeping the product moving.
Keep the garment in context
Every exploration starts from the actual item the team is developing.
Compare rather than regenerate
Alternatives live beside each other so teams can make visual decisions faster.
Feedback stays attached
Comments and creative direction remain connected to the product.
Reuse approved work
The same direction can continue from design into commercial creative.
FOUR WEEKS OF WORK
What changed when the workflow became continuous.
CADs reviewed
140+
Contextual comments
188
Collection stories
8
Images + videos
600+ / 100+
IMPORTANT CONTEXT
CotonAI does not replace fit reviews, construction validation, material testing or physical production samples. The Steele workflow focused on moving visual exploration, review, decision making and creative development earlier and faster. Physical validation still happens where physical validation matters.
YOUR PRODUCT ALREADY HAS A STORY.
Bring design exploration, feedback and creative production into one continuous visual workspace.