Artificial intelligence is a buzzword that is being used in this time however, what is its use to boost one of the largest industries in the world? AI is used to improve productivity when manufacturing clothing as well as operating companies. The latest and most innovative technologies are being used to increase sustainability and create an individual and personalized customer experience.

What is the role of AI in fashion?

Artificial Intelligence is being utilized in various ways in the world of fashion. The most prominent use for AI within the fashion industry is an advisory function. Digital assistants that are artificially smart and intelligent are employed to suggest clothing to customers according to their weight, height, shape, and current size. The customers are then provided with exact sizing, based on the information they input to the program. The accuracy of the sizing is determined by reviews from customers. On average, 40 percent of online purchases are returned. The application for AI in customer assistance is vital since it increases satisfaction for customers as well as a decrease in the amount of returns.

AI is also utilized to increase efficiency and practicality in retail and online stores. By logging returns, sales and purchase transactions made online, merchants are able to keep track of inventory and determine which stores require the items. According to a study conducted by Capgemini AI, artificial intelligence will aid retailers in saving 341 million dollars annually through 2022 by making it possible to improve efficiency in various operational processes. The prediction is massive and it’s easy to understand why many retailers want to incorporate innovative technologies like AI in their businesses.

AI is Fashionable and Sustainability

The fashion industry is one of the largest global polluters. It’s the source of 10 percent of the carbon dioxide emission in the world, 20percent from industrial water and 25 percent from all the insecticides utilized in the fashion industry. It’s naive to believe that this industry will be able to continue producing clothes in mass production to meet the demands of this rapid fashion trend. Artificial intelligence could be utilized at various stages of production to address this problem, thereby decreasing levels of inventory. AI provides a long-lasting solution to fashion by reducing the overall inventory by 20-50% and improving the working conditions within the industry of fashion. The application in Artificial Intelligence alongside Machine Learning, Deep Learning, Natural Language Processing, Visual Recognition as well as Data Analytics could be utilized to decrease the mistakes in forecasting trends and predict trends more accurately, which will decrease the amount of clothing that is produced and then put away.

An Amazon team located in San Francisco created an unnamed AI “fashion designer”. They created an algorithm that looks at images and replicates the style creating new clothes with similar designs. We’re still not at high couture however, these technologies can hint at the future.

A business that puts sustainability as a key element in its model of business and has been doing it since its beginnings can be found in Toms. The company was established on the month of May the year 2006 by Blake Mycoskie, their mission statement reads:

For every pair of Toms purchased, they donate the pair to places that are less fortunate. To date, Toms has donated over 96.5 million pairs of shoes. The shoes are made of numerous materials, including organic cotton, hemp recycled polyester. These materials are utilized on the upper, the liner or the inside of the shoes. In addition to donating shoes, they also donate 33.3 percent of their net profits. Thus for every 3 dollars they earn they will donate one dollar. This demonstrates the commitment Toms are able to give back to communities that are struggling around the globe. Toms have gone beyond providing shoes. In 2011,they began to give prescription glasses to people who are in need. In 2014,they began to provide 140 liters (one week’s worth) to each person. They also taught experienced birth attendants and provided the safe-birth kits. They’ve assisted in providing safe births to more than 25,000 mothers. It’s no secret that Toms are on the right track in their business.

Designers employing AI in Fashion

The first brand I’m going to talk about is H&M. It’s one of the most well-known clothing stores worldwide; it was founded within Sweden through Erling Persson, who founded it in 1947. The company produces an enormous number of clothing items across the globe. The company has decided to utilize advanced analysis and artificial intelligence to increase their profits overall. H&M is improving how they detect trends and manage logistics. They also reduce the amount of sales that are discounted, as well as massive quantities of unsold stock employing artificially intelligent technologies. They also employ it to study demand and supply and then assign a suitable amount of items to each store, also reducing the number of clothes that are discarded. In the H&M group they’re combining both analytics and AI along with human intelligence to create what’s known as “Amplified Intelligence.”

It is a business that offers a personalized fashion service to both women and men. They make use of data from customers and customers to provide an accurate outcome for the client. Customers input their information to create an account. You are asked questions like; “do you enjoy shopping?” and “how much time do you spend getting ready for work” to provide a customized experience. There are many diverse technologies that contribute to the success of this application or tool. A few of them are: recommendations systems and the human brain (harnessing human brainpower to tackle computational problems) logistic optimization state machines ( machines can have multiple states, but can only perform one at a given time) demand modeling as well as inventory management. the information platform (customer database that is available by other software).

To conclude

Artificial intelligence can bring many benefits for the world of fashion, for example, the application of online fashion assistants to improve customer service in predicting trends and creating viable solutions. In this age of consumer-driven we need to communicate the right message to the consumers and get them to be part of this conversation as we transition to an increasingly digital world.