Understanding consumer preferences is one of the biggest challenges in the fashion industry. Brands strive to connect with their audience, yet communication gaps persist. Generative AI presents a solution, offering insights into evolving customer preferences and facilitating more informed decision-making.
Local solutions for international brands
Ellior Barlow, a manufacturing consultant at the UK Fashion and Textile Association (UKFT), stands with AI’s capability to help designers and brands sail on new opportunities around the world, creating local solutions for international brands. He brings up small-batch responsive manufacturing, which tracks consumer and market purchasing behaviour and employs AI programmes to adjust for current stock levels. This is a crucial enhancement of insights gained through AI’s capabilities in bringing data as a creative solution. Artificial intelligence emerges as an ally for both designers and customers, understanding consumer preferences and staying attuned to current microtrends within the framework of a brand’s identity.
Understanding the desire
In today’s world, reimagining design as a tool to not only spark consumer interest but also empathise with and understand the diverse needs and preferences of consumers is paramount. Many institutions in the UK have already become hubs for niche AI-related research, pushing the development of AI technologies for better application in the day-to-day lives of fashion enthusiasts. From enabling more efficient supply chains to cultivating genuine relationships with consumers, AI will help designers warmly engage with their followers, creating a bridge of insights. While this impact will help maintain and strengthen brand identity, it will also lower the environmental impact of the fashion industry, claims Vogue Business.
A growing industry
In a world of mass-produced fashion, where new sub-trends constantly emerge from the power of the internet and social media, AI can be an essential tool. One of the largest management consultancy firms, McKinsey & Company, claims that AI generation in fashion could bring $275 billion capacity to the retail and fashion industries. Consequently, according to BoF (Business of Fashion) and McKinsey’s State of Fashion 2024, 73% of fashion executives want to prioritise gen AI this year, and 62% of fashion enterprises currently employ gen AI in the workplace.
Prominent brands have already been using research and development services to maintain their level of success; investments in opportunities pertaining to gen AI are unavoidable. Drawing upon the same data and insights, AI-generated design not only fuels innovation but also fosters a closer connection to fashion lovers’ wardrobes at any point in time.