Artificial intelligence is leading a new trend in the fashion industry
At this year's Paris Fashion Week, supermodel Naomi Campbell, known as the "Black Pearl", wore an artificial intelligence (AI) badge AiPin on the lapel of her dress.
This is just one episode of AI making a big splash in the fashion industry. In a recent report, Forbes pointed out that in the next three to five years, AI will inject $150 billion to $275 billion in profits into the apparel, fashion and luxury industries, while improving the sustainability and creativity of the entire industry.
Nellen Barfield, vice-chancellor of the Royal College of Art, predicts that the impact of AI on the fashion industry will be "revolutionary", from the ideation and concept stages to prototyping to manufacturing, distribution and recycling.
Create a personalized "blind box" for customers
Personalization is the soul of modern retail, with 73% of customers wanting brands to understand their personal tastes and preferences, and AI can play a key role in providing customers with tailored looks.
A U.S. apparel retail company is using AI to create personalized style profiles for customers and recommend clothing and outfits based on them. Users who shop from the company don't need to go into a store to pick or browse the Internet, they just need to fill out a detailed form that includes their height, weight, favorite style, shopping budget, and even the number of dates they go out on. Based on the questionnaires provided by consumers and their social information, the company selects clothes and outfits that match their body shape and style preferences. Every month, the company sends a "blind box" to the consumer, which contains 5 pieces of clothing that the AI deems most suitable for the consumer. After receiving the box, consumers can try it on at home, keep all or part of the clothes according to their preferences, and return the clothes they don't like.
Studies have reported that 56% of customers who experience this personalized service will become repeat customers. Customer loyalty depends on the brand experience, which can be enhanced by AI.
Achieve sustainability
The fashion industry has been criticized for environmental issues, and sustainability has become a hot topic in the industry.
AI technology innovations can make a difference in optimizing supply chains and curbing waste. For example, apparel companies have integrated AI into radio frequency identification (RFID) technology and garment tags with microchips to facilitate the traceability of goods from the factory to the retail store, making operations more efficient and minimizing waste.
In order to make fashion more eco-friendly, the American start-up Refiberd has developed a device that places used clothes on its automatic conveyor belt, and an AI-powered hyperspectral camera scans the old clothes, and the resulting data is processed by AI to automatically detect the fabric composition of the clothes.
Let design and creativity shine
At this year's New York Fashion Week, fashion designers have started using AI image generators to create showcase garments.
Last year, Mango launched its AI platform "Inspire" to create more than 20 garments. Mango also launched Lisa, a conversational AI model. Since 2018, the brand has developed about 15 AI models for pricing and enhancing the customer experience.
Hailed as the world's first designer-led AI system, the "Fashion Interactive Design Assistant" integrates technologies such as image recognition and generation. Designers can upload sketches, materials, and color palettes to the system, and algorithms generate blueprints that designers can tweak and add their own style. The system can generate more than a dozen fashion templates in 10 seconds, saving valuable time for designers.
Predict future trends
Professionals generally predict trends in the fashion industry by looking at runway shows, street fashion, and pop culture. AI tools can now identify fashion trends faster and more accurately by analyzing various data sets, such as sales data, as well as social media posts.
Heuritech, an AI platform, analyzes millions of images shared on social media every day to provide fashion brands with the latest trend analysis to help them design collections that meet customer needs, while Trendalytics uses AI to analyze search data from social media and Google to help retailers measure the popularity of fashion trends and maximize sales.
AI-based trend forecasting is not only profitable, but it can also help achieve sustainability by avoiding the production of out-of-trend items.
"Virtual fitting" enhances the customer experience
According to Google, 42% of online shoppers say they feel overwhelmed when it comes to the lack of expressiveness in the images provided by sellers, while 59% say they are disappointed when the items they buy don't match their expectations.
AI can improve the online shopping experience. For example, Nike's AI system can scan a user's feet to recommend a shoe size through a smartphone camera, and Walmart's AI tool enables shoppers to virtually try on clothes by uploading a photo of themselves.
AI can also generate models for virtual try-ons. In March of this year, Levi's announced that AI-generated models would showcase the clothing. Two months later, Semir Apparel joined hands with Unbounded AI, and AI intervened from sample design to product display.
According to a report by Forbes, both fashion lovers and designers looking to push the boundaries of creativity should pay attention to the inextricable connection between AI and fashion. Because it not only gives them an idea of today's trends, but also helps them shape tomorrow's fashion.
Source: China Textile Economic Information Network
