Hey fashion, it’s time for a new look!
AI is the buzzword of the moment right now, inspiring spirited debates across the creative industries about what it can do, what it should do, and what it will do in the future. Perhaps you’ve seen that post circulating socials about wanting AI to do your dishes and laundry not your writing and art? Or maybe you’ve heard that being polite to Siri and Alexa will grant you their favour when AI inevitably becomes sentient and “takes over”. Whether you’re an AI-sceptic, ChatGPT enthusiast or cautious but curious; for better or worse, AI is here to stay. With new uses of AI for the fashion industry being discovered daily, these technologies have the power to shape the future of fashion.
To better understand what this future might look like, we headed to the AI In Fashion Symposium, hosted by University of the Arts London’s prestigious London College of Fashion. As an industry, known for its innovation but notoriously fond of sticking to traditional ways of working, education is the key to closing the knowledge gap required to master these modern technologies. Nurturing the fashion leaders of the future for over a century, who better to learn from than the educators and industry leaders at the forefront of these boundary-pushing new developments.
Located on their new East Bank campus on Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, a cultural hub for innovation and creativity, the space was abuzz with optimism and opportunity. Students, industry experts and academics alike gathered in the sprawling lecture hall, keen to engage in deep knowledge exchange and examine the narratives that exist regarding artificial intelligence and its future in fashion.
Published: 17th June 2024
Words: Lydia Oyeniran
“The people who use AI will outperform the people that don’t”
One of two talks led by IBM, Jez Bassinder opened a discussion, highlighting the idea that deploying AI successfully will require experience, technological know-how and most importantly industry-specific context. Stressing that AI solutions should be tailored to the unique demands of the fashion sector, he offers that insights from experts deeply familiar with the industry’s nuances should be leveraged.
Addressing concerns about AI taking creativity from the creatives, Jez draws attention to the fact that one of the most AI-enabled departments at IBM is Human Resources, where 94% of tasks are handled without human interaction. This statistic stands out, shedding light on a clear opportunity to liberate human creativity by automating admin tasks and enabling creatives to focus on innovation.
To enable this, a shift is needed within the industry from being AI users to AI co-creators. This quote in particular stands out: “The people who use AI will outperform the people that don’t”.
IBM Fashion Trust Consortium
Following Bassinder, Grainne Lynch discusses the IBM Fashion Trust, a consortium-based project that involved researchers, IBM as tech partner and various fashion brands. The initiative explored how fashion could evolve into an ecosystem-based industry, experimenting with blockchain technology to promote collaboration and transparency. Investigating cotton as a commodity, various supply chains were compared, revealing the discrepancies and false claims that most in the room openly acknowledged are unfortunately commonplace within the industry. Lynch offered a necessary critique of the current system of supply chain networks, designed to obfuscate responsibility with accountability for brands diminishing beyond Tier 1. However, recent legislative changes, are set to challenge this once and for all, requiring fashion businesses to truly interrogate the integrity of the information they receive from suppliers rather than accepting claims at face value.
Competitive advantage for SMEs using AI
The discussions that followed championed the country’s capital as a centre for innovation and creativity, with small businesses and independent designers often leading the way in challenging existing paradigms. However, with new tech advancements typically posing significant barriers to entry for these small but influential players, questions naturally arose from the audience challenging whether comparative advantage would be reserved for large conglomerates, leaving small-scale creatives behind.
It’s an important question and one CircKit hopes to address, preserving the character and uniqueness of the industry by making tools that are accessible and support creativity at all levels.
Photo: Work by Christopher Bellamy (@bio.crafted on IG) | Central Saint Martins
AI-powered fashion design
One innovative tool aptly positioned to disrupt the design space is Style 3D, an AI-powered design simulator enabling photo-realistic visualisation of 3D garments from a simple fashion sketch or technical drawing. Offering the ability to experiment with 100s of fabric swatch options, colourways, print scales, and placements without the need for physical samples was promising from a waste reduction perspective. However, the use of Style 3D’s pre-existing design asset library and AI models to generate campaign imagery was met with concern, particularly with regards to intellectual property, ownership of design, credit for use of likeness, and more. The question of who owns the design proves to be a sticky subject at this time with Boby Wong, Senior Tech Consultant at Style 3D humble in acknowledging the grey areas that currently exist within the space. As an industry where innovation moves fast with legislation often slow to catch up, this is a topic that is likely to be debated for the foreseeable future.
Digital Product Passports and the AI-enhanced consumer
The afternoon was dedicated to the AI Enhanced consumer, kicking off with a revitalising talk delivered by Laura Weir and Mary Wallace whose quippy and inspiring narration was welcomed by all, as they explored AI’s ability to re-awaken fashion - an apt discussion following this year’s Met Gala theme. Digital Product Passports were referenced, drawing away from the idea of DPPs purely as a sustainability compliance measure and shining light on the opportunities that exist for brand storytelling and customer experience enhancement. With digital records tracing treasured fashion pieces and their many owners throughout the product’s lifetime, the connection between consumers and the items they own becomes immortalised, paving the way for a shift in values and attitudes towards fashion ownership as a whole. From traceability and transparency to enhancing the consumer relationship with clothing, DPPs are a hopeful step in the right direction for circularity in the industry - something our guide to digital product passports for fashion explores in greater detail.
Photo: Met Museum
“Kick the bloody doors in, destroy, redesign, create something new”
The final talk was an animated and gutsy summary of the day from IBM’s Jez Bassinder and Mary Wallace with a vibe check of the room revealing scepticism replaced with hope and a newfound sense of possibility. With one final speech to spur us on our way, they reflected on the punk movement and its power to disrupt the status quo. We have a chance to do the same with AI, disrupting, innovating, and thinking differently, or as Wallace so impeccably put it: “Kick the bloody doors in, destroy, redesign, create something new.”
