Artificial intelligence reshapes fashion design and production

Artificial intelligence technology and robotics are driving changes in the fashion industry. From market analysis to custom designs to waste reduction, AI opens the door for designers to stay current and responsive.

With robots picking and packing goods in logistics centers, it’s no surprise that they are also producing clothing and shoes. Now, artificial intelligence is driving the rise of fast fashion.

Fashion companies are currently using artificial intelligence to predict style trends, textures and colors. Even Google and Amazon are getting involved. Google launched Project Muze, which uses artificial intelligence to design clothing based on fashion trends and online merchant sales data. Amazon is also working on a project that uses machine learning to identify “fashionable” items that can then be replicated and produced offline under the Amazon Essentials product line.

Paris-based Heuritech uses deep learning and image recognition technology to help designers at brands like Dior identify trends across seasons, markets and countries. Designers select representative items, and Heuritech's algorithms scan thousands of public social media images for more than 3,000 details, including fabrics, shapes and colors. Heuritech claims that its computer vision system will predict fashion trends within a year with 90% accuracy. Designers, in turn, use this data to guide their fashion lines.

Precision Clothing

AI works best with input from human designers – some of the initial Muze project sketches were simple doodles, but with guidance from on-site designers, AI can produce customizations clothing.

Customization is the future of retail, and it’s everything from personalized M&Ms to Nike kicks. With the help of artificial intelligence and robotic sewing machines, custom designs are moving from large fashion stores to the Etsy online platform.

Fashion designers can take 3D images of customers and design unique custom garments based on their exact measurements. After creating a project on a digital model, designers send the electronic file to a robotic sewing machine, such as SoftWear Automation’s Sewbot. Sewbot extracts the necessary crop data and starts cutting and stitching. The machine doesn't care whether it makes one piece or 100, the process is the same.

Sustainability Factor

What cannot be ignored is the global advantage of automated design and production, especially in the field of fast fashion. Automated robots use artificial intelligence to sew pieces of cloth together, which can significantly reduce production costs, not only in terms of labor, but also bring production closer to the point of sale. It also helps build more reliable supply chains — an advantage that has become even more valuable after the coronavirus pandemic crippled retailers’ sourcing and fulfillment capabilities.

AI-based fashion design also improves sustainability. The software determines the most efficient way to use fabric to reduce waste. Additionally, fashion can be produced on demand, reducing overhead and waste.

Tokyo-based fashion lab Synflux is solving sustainability issues through design. Synflux uses artificial intelligence to develop what it calls “algorithmic fashion.” Using 3D scans of the human body, machine learning algorithms can create clothing patterns to minimize fabric waste. Designers use computer-aided design software to model and piece together patterns for designing garments with less waste.

Artificial intelligence brings a new level of customization to the ever-evolving fashion industry. It has the power to change the way clothing is sourced and produced, and reduce its carbon footprint. AI also has the potential to level the playing field for designers, allowing online Etsy designers to compete with high-fashion brands in offering custom-made garments.

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