TThe impact of artificial intelligence on creative industries is a topic that has sparked widespread fears of job losses and the death of imagination, and the world of fashion is no exception.
But this month’s London Fashion Week, which marks the event’s 40th anniversary, will feature a slew of AI-generated costumes, with industry insiders saying the technology is helping to make the journey from improving diversity to shortening the path to the design desk. He is expressing increasing optimism about what the field can do. Go to the sales floor.
Matthew Drinkwater, head of the London College of Fashion’s Innovation Agency, believes AI will prove to be an “incredibly useful tool” for the creative process and the industry as a whole. There is.
“It’s opened the door to a non-traditional path into the fashion industry for people who wouldn’t have been able to get into it before, because let’s be honest, this industry is pretty elitist and very This is because there may be a perception that the industry is exclusive and expensive.
“But thanks to these tools, people from completely different backgrounds are starting to gain a foothold in the industry. And to me, that feels really fresh and exciting,” he said.
Brands such as Heriot Emil, Zara and H&M are already using AI to manage their supply chains, promoting sustainability by reducing overstock and waste. Many brands are also leveraging AI to aid the design process, visualizing different materials and patterns using garment images generated from input prompts. This allows designers to make informed decisions before the garment is physically produced.
Consultancy McKinsey & Co. last year estimated that generative AI (a term used to describe technology that can generate compelling images, text, and audio from simple human prompts) could boost the fashion industry’s operating profits from $150 billion to $275 billion ($120 billion). It was predicted that this could increase from £220 billion to £220 billion. The luxury segment is likely to expand within the next 3-5 years. It is predicted that the use of AI to predict future fashion trends and the realization of virtual try-on will be just around the corner.
Drinkwater has been working with his team to consider how AI can change the industry, and has been testing generative AI’s ability to create clothing for years. “We were trying to scrape websites and get a lot of data so we could create a dress from over 40,000 images. It was actually quite a task to do this four years ago. But now they open up their laptops, or even their smartphones, and start generating images very quickly,” Drinkwater said.
“So typically we take things that are probably three to five years away from commercialization and start showing research projects about where the future of the industry could move,” he added.
Last April, Cyrille Foiret’s generative AI studio, Maison Meta, hosted the first AI Fashion Week in New York. This included a competition for aspiring designers to create a fashion line using AI. Winners were able to physically manufacture their collections for sale online at retailer Revolve. As in other industries, AI has become associated with layoffs, with critics arguing that creative artistry could be lost. But Foiret insists there is little need to fear.
“AI is a very powerful tool to amplify creativity. People who think it will reduce their jobs should not think that way. We just need to get used to the tool, but it is just a tool.” , and it’s useless if there’s no one behind it,” he said.
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Arti Zeighami, former chief data and analytics officer at H&M and now senior AI advisor at consulting firm BCG, agrees that AI can be used as a force for good in the fashion world. “Being transparent about AI can help people feel less fearful and more secure and in control. What’s important is a change in human thinking,” he said.
“AI will evolve as a technology, and we need to evolve with it, but we’re not at the Terminator stage, at least not yet.”
Mary Towers, head of AI at the TUC, said AI could be a useful support for creative sector workers, but it should not be taken over to replace human creativity. .
“We need new legislation to ensure that all workers in the arts, including fashion, are consulted and properly compensated when their work or intellectual property is used by AI.” she stated.
“In the UK, we have already seen performers having their images, voices or likenesses replicated by AI technology without their consent. We cannot afford for this to become the norm in other industries. , new regulations are urgently needed to protect worker creativity and copyright.”
