The fashion industry is embracing AI at all levels. From trend forecasting, design and inventory management to e-commerce, styling apps and smart mirrors, AI is now an integral part of many fashion businesses.
AI can identify and forecast trends (and reduce the margin of error) by analysing a high volume of data that even the sharpest teams of designers, forecasters and stylists could ever realistically achieve. It’s optimising the supply chain and inventory management, helping customers make the right decisions online, and enhancing the customer experience.
As an industry relying on creativity, fashion might not be an obvious contender for the integration of automation, machine learning and artificial intelligence. But the merging of tech and fashion can also just be “fun,” as Dior proved in 2015 with its virtual reality headset. Beyond the fun, however, there is a real need. Enhanced consumer experience, e-commerce efficiency, stock management and sustainability all benefit from AI.
The changing face of retail
AI is changing the business of fashion and nowhere is this more evident than in production and retail.
From quality assurance (Cognex ViDi is a platform that recognises patterns and can “tell” what good textile looks like) to manufacturing (computer-controlled lasers, automated sewing) and product recommendations, AI is now the name of the game.
H&M uses AI to organise and allocate unsold stocks to stores with high demand, ASOS has an AI sizing tool to help customers find the perfect fit, Dior had an AI beauty assistant (chatbot) on its website called Dior Insider from 2016 to 2017 and The North Face’s personal shopper Watson can make recommendations to its customers online.
E-commerce and AI go hand in hand, and the pandemic has only highlighted the need for businesses to be highly efficient online. Whilst AI is helping, it’s still got a long way to go, if the love of chatbots (nobody likes chatbots) is anything to go by.
AI, however, isn’t just applicable to online shopping. FARFETCH launched its Store of the Future in 2017. “A technology-powered retail operating system,” it “aims to improve retail productivity by capturing consumer data and enhancing interactions between consumers and sales associates, both in store and when the consumer interacts with the retailer or brand online.” The technology was used at the Thom Browne’s flagship shore in New York and FARFETCH announced a multi-year partnership with CHANEL in 2018.
The creative AI
“Sooner or later, AI is going to be an essential tool for any person in computing, so we thought the ‘little black dress’ was a good place to start,” Pinar Yanardag told Vice. Yanardag is one of two graduate students from the MIT group How to Generate (Almost) Anything. With Emily Salvador, they started GLITCH, which mixes AI and fashion. The duo “created AI-generated fashion designs, perfume, jewelry, and LBD-AI,” the asymmetrical little black dress that’s made headlines in 2019. “These tools are meant to empower human designers,” Salvador said. “What I think is really cool about these creative-focused AI tools is that there’s still this really compelling need for a human to intervene with the algorithm.”
Creative AI doesn’t happen in a vacuum and, far from proposing to replace designers, AI should be seen as a tool that all creatives can embrace.
This is something that EcoShot by metail.com is exploring. EcoShot is a “visualisation tool that helps designers create imagery to communicate their 3D garment designs.” It’s a “virtual photo studio, making it easy to create true to life garment-on-model imagery, to show 3D clothes on real people.” The tool has been used by PUMA during the pandemic and is an integral part of the designing process at Featuring Ltd. “Featuring Ltd has implemented 3D in its product development process to alleviate major time and cost challenges. Before adopting 3D, typically, our work with our fashion brand clients involved getting design and fit approvals with many physical samples and sample yardage of fabric being transported from Asia to Europe for review.” AI is cutting down cost, environmental impact and making the design process and approval more streamlined.
The Clueless wardrobe
Back in 2018, Glamour told us that AI was coming for our closet. What we all thought – and probably dreamt of – was a Clueless-type AI stylist that would make dressing in the morning a breeze. It was all a pipe dream, but they did mention Stitch Fix, Amazon’s Echo Look (which has since been discontinued), and the app Style Check. All incorporate some kind of computerised system to help you decide what to buy, what to wear and, ultimately, how to look good.
Smart Fashion, a company based in Singapore, goes even further with an “AI stylist.” Using Deep Learning, this is the closest thing to the Clueless wardrobe we can think of. Uploading all your clothes and accessories to the app, it will pick your outfits for you. The app also has a “try-on” feature that will let you see what you would look like with clothes on. “This is quite similar to the doll dressing games. Now the doll is you!”
Sarah Kante
