Generative AI is changing fashion for the better. One stellar example is Google software engineer Christina Ernst, who triggered a discussion on social media after she created the "world's first AI dress."
"I engineered this robotic snake dress, and it is finally done," Ernst said in the description of her video. "I coded an optimal mode that uses artificial intelligence to detect faces and moves the snake head towards the person looking at you. So, maybe this is the world's first AI dress. Surveillance state, but make it fashionable," she added.
The black dress features several robotic snakes, with one around her neck specifically.
After Ernst architected this, the techie's Instagram video became the talk of the town on social media. Netizens were quick to react and comment, highlighting her unique idea.
However, this is not the first time that an AI-designed outfit has been produced.
AI algorithms generate innovative styles, inspiring designers and making high fashion more accessible and diverse for everyone. They democratise design, allowing everyone to bring ideas to life and fostering inclusivity.
For example, Bewakoof, a popular Indian apparel brand, partnered with Google Cloud at the Google Cloud Summit India 2024 to use Gemini AI to create new content. The collaboration includes an AI T-shirt designing tool for custom artwork.
While the Google engineer gained viral attention, there have been a number of remarkable innovations where AI, not necessarily GenAI, has significantly influenced the fashion industry; one that made major headlines is when Zac Posen partnered up with Google to make a unique LED gown.
Maddy Maxey, a fashion engineer and mentor at Made with Code, aided in the design of the dress, a Google-backed initiative. The dress was designed with a circuit infused into the textile to create different animations.
"Wearable technology was becoming popular in the tech industry back then, with many pumping investments in this particular sector. Google was already betting on its growing importance," said Posen.
Another notable example is Iris van Herpen's entry into the world of AI with the debut of her FW23 campaign, which showcases a couture collection that imagines a new world.
"Our creative process was exceptionally inspiring, allowing us to dream up our references to the deep sea life we had seen and even my archive that we trained the AI with. So, by teaching the AI my design DNA and the more historic architecture references, it got better 'dreams'. It was very inspiring to see how marvellous Rob Rusling and his team are with AI, it brings a whole new dimension to fashion editorial," said Herpen.
While designers use AI to create costumes, there's a company by the name Fabricant, founded by Kerry Murphy in 2018, that leads the digital-only fashion frontier, seamlessly blending technology and fashion to transform traditional craftsmanship. Committed to high-quality premium experiences, their platform reshapes the fashion landscape with innovative co-creation and visually striking encounters. Embracing sustainability and equity, The Fabricant creates an ecosystem where creativity thrives, redefining identity in fashion.
Back in 2016, for the Manus x Machina-themed Met Gala, IBM and Marchesa unveiled a cognitive dress, a first-of-its-kind garment with cognitive inspiration woven into every step of the creative process - from concept and R&D to design and finished product. This collaboration showcased the creative potential of building with Watson and the ability of this technology to enhance human imagination.
At Paris Fashion Week 2023, Humane Pin was designer Coperni's latest buzzy tech name to be included. It was pinned on the clothes of multiple Coperni models during its presentation, which generated considerable buzz.
AI has been reshaping industries for decades, and fashion is no exception. Generative AI, including LLMs and other models, is a particularly exciting development. Brands like The Fabricant and Rebeca Minkoff use AI to create digital clothing designs, enabling rapid prototyping and creative exploration. GANs generate new fashion designs by blending styles from a large dataset of existing designs.
The fashion industry has been using AI for quite some time, but many more brands have hopped onto the AI bandwagon in the last couple of years.
A few of them include G-Star Raw's March campaign, which used AI to reimagine denim, releasing its first denim couture piece designed with Midjourney.
Maison Meta collaborated on its first AI-powered campaign in February with machine-generated images for London Fashion Week, and Levi's took the potential of AI one step further in March by using it to create a series of inclusive digital models for its e-commerce site.
McKinsey analysts say that Generative AI could add anywhere from $150 billion to $275 billion in profits to the fashion industry by 2030.
But AI prediction isn't just for trend forecasting firms. For example, fast fashion behemoth H&M employs more than 200 data scientists to track purchase patterns and other store trends to map customer demand at a granular level. Similarly, Sweden's Zara also uses AI algorithms to identify patterns and predict which styles are likely to become popular in the future.
Amazon enables customers to upload an image, and its AI-powered tool finds similar styles on Amazon, considering factors like brand, price, and user preferences. L'Oréal's ModiFace allows users to virtually try on makeup using facial recognition and AR, giving them a highly personalised shopping experience.
Even back home, we have e-commerce giants using AI. Myntra, the e-commerce platform, introduced 'Maya', its premier virtual fashion influencer.
According to Sunder Balasubramanian, Myntra's Chief Marketing Officer, "Maya, a distinctive figure of Myntra Fashion Forward (FWD), will function as an influencer on social media and also be part of Myntra's own social commerce on the Myntra Studio platform."
Last year, we saw fashion brands in the experiment stage with AI. However, the shift is happening at a faster rate now as companies are moving from POCs to production this year.
