\u201cI believe that the future of fashion will be all about one-to-one services. Thanks to tools like AI and machine learning, brands will be increasingly able to understand their customers\u2019 preferences and give them exactly what they want.\u201d<\/p>\n
Orlando Ribas Fernandes is describing his vision for artificial intelligence in fashion. The CEO of retail innovation startup XNFY Lab, Ribas has launched an AI-powered solution he believes will be a steppingstone on AI\u2019s future in retail.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe fashion industry is going through a turbulent phase and is having to shut down a lot of stores,\u201d he says. \u201cAs a result, ecommerce is increasing, use of digital is exploding. This is the perfect storm for new technologies to succeed.\u201d<\/p>\n
In anticipation \u2013 or rather preparation \u2013 of this storm, Ribas Fernandes has partnered with Microsoft to launch AI Generated Fashion, a solution that uses AI to upcycle unsold clothes, helping designers in their creative process and supporting sustainable fashion.<\/p>\n
Powered by Microsoft Azure Machine Learning and launched as part of the XNFY Lab, the solution allows individual brands to generate high-definition clothing models based on market trends and customer demands \u2013 and ultimately present them to customers even before they\u2019re produced.<\/p>\n
He is certain the ripple effect will be huge. \u201cI recently pitched our solution to an Italian consultant who had more than 20 years of experience in luxury fashion and their feedback was rather unique,\u201d he says. \u201cThey simply told us that we\u2019ll likely disrupt the entire fashion industry.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think people are prepared for this wave of change, but I\u2019m certain they\u2019ll embrace it right away.\u201d<\/p>\n
A Portuguese software engineer with a passion for disruptive technologies, Ribas Fernandes saw the potential of using AI in retail long before the XNFY Lab. \u201cI have a masters degree in AI that I took 15 years ago \u2013 at a time when AI was seen as a rather exotic topic,\u201d he says. \u201cSo when I finally had the opportunity to found my own startup, XnFinity, AI took center stage.\u201d<\/p>\n
Born as a smart digital receipt platform, XnFinity bids to apply AI and other new technologies to the retail sector. This was the basis of what would later become the XNFY Lab, an initiative that Ribas Fernandes and Microsoft launched jointly.<\/p>\n
The goal of the Lab is to help retailers drive and test innovations through a cluster of internal R&D, startups, and other retailers. \u201cRetailers often don\u2019t have the time and resources to drive innovation, so they need the support of a technology partner to minimize the costs and risks of investing while also driving value quickly,\u201d he explains.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is why we invited Microsoft to join us and create the XNFY Lab, to create a powerful ecosystem where a research team can focus on driving disruptive innovation, while best-in-class startups and retail partners collaborate with each other.\u201d<\/p>\n
Presented at the dawn of the COVID-19 pandemic, the initiative is hoping to play its part in helping the sector get back on its feet after a challenging period. \u201cRetailers now have one and only priority \u2013 to keep alive,\u201d he continues. \u201cSo it\u2019s up to us at the Lab to help bring value for them, and that\u2019s where the idea of AI Generated Fashion came from.\u201d<\/p>\n
Capable of creating visually pleasing, realistic images and virtual products, AI is a promising solution for the fashion industry and its supply chains. \u201cAI can create high-quality visuals that can be hardly differentiated from their real-life versions,\u201d says Ribas Fernandes. \u201cAs ecommerce becomes increasingly important, more emphasis needs to be put on digital stores.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ribas Fernandes believes that fashion is the perfect industry for AI to thrive due to its reliance on cycles and trends and its traditionally slow processes. \u201cThis sector has had the same old slow processes for decades, producing several collections throughout the year and then manufacturing on large scale without the certainty that their clothes will sell,\u201d he says. \u201cThis is not only a risky investment, but it also generates a lot of waste in terms of money and materials.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hence the idea to optimize the entire process with AI. From designing the clothes to making sure they match current trends and previewing them to customers ahead of production, XNFY Lab\u2019s solution encompasses all parts of an item\u2019s lifecycle. This helps brands with both forecasting demand and reversing trends that may lead to unsold items.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur goal is to empower influencers, stylists and creative directors in their work,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd our solution, which uses Azure Machine Learning, is doing just that \u2013 helping them generate new garments and soon allowing customers to virtually try them on and customize them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Alongside assisting in the creative process, Azure Machine Learning is also used to accelerate the approval of collections and their rollout \u2013 optimizing supply chains. As he puts it: \u201cOur research team can use it to check on progress, assess whether we are on the right path of design and launch, but also increase the quality of images and align with its self-assessment until better results are achieved.\u201d<\/p>\n
For the makers of AI Generated Fashion, revolutionizing the industry is not just a case of bringing more technology to it, but making it more sustainable.<\/p>\n
From production to shipping, the fashion industry is estimated to account for 10% of global carbon emissions and between 10% and 20% of all pesticides. This, says Ribas Fernandes, is something that customers increasingly care about and keep in high consideration when its comes to picking brands.<\/p>\n
He believes that AI-Generated Fashion can be the answer to this issue, and help the industry improve its sustainability credentials by generating new design ideas based on unsold inventory and deadstock fabrics.<\/p>\n
\u201cFashion brands want to be more and more environmentally friendly, and consumers are starting to take that into account,\u201d comments Ribas.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo our initiative is a great opportunity to drive sustainability in this world, promoting a zero-waste approach to our models and putting AI in the hands of the customer.\u201d<\/p>\n
More broadly, this would allow brands to elaborate holistic sustainability strategies that keep into account factors like production, shipping and choice of materials.<\/p>\n
But this doesn\u2019t necessarily need to be limited to fashion, as the Lab is currently vying the possibility of extending to furniture making, architecture and other sectors. \u201cThese industries may not be needing to modernize as urgently as fashion,\u201d he says. \u201cBut they are just as under pressure to be more sustainable, so we\u2019re hoping we find some cases in these industries too.\u201d<\/p>\n
Launching AI Generated Fashion was the first milestone of XNFY\u2019s roadmap to rollout and introduce its solution to the fashion world.<\/p>\n
Looking ahead, the next step will be allowing customers to visualize their own avatars, as well as transforming currently still images into more dynamic videos. \u201cJust like real-life runways, buyers will be able to look at clothes from different angles thanks model catwalks,\u201d explains Ribas Fernandes. \u201cThey\u2019ll also be able to see themselves wear their garment in different scenarios, like at home or a party.\u201d<\/p>\n
Alongside these initiatives, the Lab is also looking into enhancing customer engagement on social media and making sure that the user experience is as engaging as possible. \u201cWe really want to bring the shopping experience online, it will be something of a mix between TikTok or Instagram and e-commerce,\u2019 he continues. \u201cWe\u2019re also looking to explore case uses for quantum technologies and blockchain.\u201d<\/p>\n
He strongly believes that this will continue to be a flagship collaboration with Microsoft, who was crucial in making the initiative become reality.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur hope is that this solution will help break down a lot of taboos about the AI, showing how it can be used to drive meaningful change,\u201d he concludes. \u201cSo\u202fbringing sustainability and empowering human creativity, shifting customers and designers\u2019 opinion on artificial intelligence.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cI believe that the future of fashion will be all about one-to-one services. Thanks to tools like AI and machine learning, brands will be increasingly able to understand their customers\u2019 preferences and give them exactly what they want.\u201d Orlando Ribas Fernandes is describing his vision for artificial intelligence in fashion. The CEO of retail innovation […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":792,"featured_media":512887,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1804,1911],"class_list":["post-512866","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-customer-stories-en","category-digital-transformation-en","specials-transform-en","verticalIndustries-retail-en","stories-data-insights-intelligence","stories-how-can-i-use-ai-en","businessPriorities-data-ai"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pulse.microsoft.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/512866"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pulse.microsoft.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pulse.microsoft.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pulse.microsoft.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/792"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pulse.microsoft.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=512866"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/pulse.microsoft.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/512866\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":512941,"href":"https:\/\/pulse.microsoft.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/512866\/revisions\/512941"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pulse.microsoft.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/512887"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pulse.microsoft.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=512866"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pulse.microsoft.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=512866"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}