The Role of AI in Fashion Design & Fashion Textiles Manufacturing

AI isn’t just a tool to make funny Instagram pictures or write like a pro. These days, AI is a handy assistant for every manufacturer, and fashion brands are finding it particularly inventive. Fashion embraces the usefulness of AI to research and analyse data and algorithms to determine fashion industry trends and what consumers want and transform AI insight into innovative products we all can’t wait to purchase.

This combination of AI technology and human creativity transforms the textile industry, enabling manufacturers to give customers what they want. AI also assists in the manufacturing, dyeing and design processes, making the fashion world a most exciting one to be in right now.

Can AI Enhance Fashion's Future?

First and foremost, don’t stress – fashion cannot survive without the human element. We must have a positive attitude about it and use it accordingly to benefit from this incredible tech. It’s a tool, not the answer to design and manufacture. Without innovative human creativity, it’s not going to work, no matter how much research it carries out and how much info it collects about creations past, present and future.

AI can do many things, but it doesn’t possess human senses. It can’t look at something and react to its colour, feel its texture and try it on to see how it drapes on our bodies. It cannot fall in love with a garment like we can; it doesn’t have human emotions. Remember that as you read on…

Creating Garments with Artificial Intelligence

Now, AI in fashion is commonplace. With AI, these products are conceived, created and crafted with unimaginable care and detail. Creatives are using AI technology to assist them in generating everything from unique patterns to AI-generated body models that mirror a specific individual’s size and body shape. Tailoringhas never been so exact since AI!

But it doesn’t end there… AI assists brands in customising our personal preferences to how garments function, from making them warmer, cooler, hyper-allergenic or durable, to ensuring they don’t harm the planet. Sustainability is foremost in everyone’s minds, and with AI assistance, we can protect the earth for generations by reducing waste, energy and water.

The result of using AI is phenomenal – we are making informed decisions to produce fabrics and design patterns that are contemporary and true to what the customers want and need. AI is giving us a whole new perspective.

An article in the Guardian discussed Fashion Week, specifically February’s shows at London’s Fashion Week and how they showcased several AI-generated outfits. “…Industry insiders have expressed a growing optimism about what the tech can do for the sector – from improving diversity to making the path from design desk to store floor short,” it said.

It quotes the head of London’s Fashion College’s Innovation Agency, Matthew Drinkwater, who talks about AI being a “hugely beneficial tool” for creative processes and the fashion “industry as a whole”.

"These tools are allowing people from very different backgrounds to begin to have a foothold in the industry. And for me that feels really new and exciting," he said.

How Artificial Intelligence is Being Used

According to McKinsey, generative AI could add £120 to £220 billion to the sales of the global industry’s clothing and luxury products. By using “raw text, images and video”, AI creates “3D designs and realistic virtual models” which are expected to influence fashion brands significantly at every level.

How will it do this? AI can convert “sketches, mood boards and descriptions” into 3D designs. AI can also customise garments for individual customers, “identify and predict trends” and “personalise the online consumer journey”. And that’s just the start. The article includes further mind-boggling ideas like AI assisting with inputting sketches with details of “fabrics, colour palettes and patterns” to create an “innovative, limited-edition” product. With AI the possibilities are endless.

The Other Side of the Story

Many designers are worried about the impact of AI, as they fear for their livelihood. It’s a scary thought – robots taking over what we create imaginatively. The fashion world is one of those creative industries where a little help could go a long way, but if AI takes over, we’re doomed.

Matthew Drinkwater, head of London College of Fashion’s Innovation Agency, commented in an article in The Guardian that AI “has opened the door to non-traditional pathways into the fashion industry for people who couldn’t get into it before”. He calls the fashion world “quite elitist and quite exclusive, and an expensive industry to get into”.

The Americans are ahead of the UK regarding embracing AI’s online tools. In April 2024, the first AI Fashion Week was held in New York, a competition asking aspiring designers to use AI to create their fashion range. Their belief? Use AI; it’s a handy tool – your jobs aren’t going anywhere.

Analysing Design & Customer Trends

AI has made it easier to support creative designers and manufacturers analyse market trends and understanding precisely what their customers want so they can increase sales. They don’t need to be instinctive; AI gives them the facts at their fingertips that explain the styles, colours, fabrics and designs that will resonate. They also have information from AI on strategies to assist them communicate with consumers about each new product. AI assists them in segmenting their market, tailoring garments to specific audiences and analysing what competitors are doing to establish what works and what doesn’t in this fickle, ever-changing industry.

This data from AI is all instant; it’s happening right now, and everything you learn is the most updated news and information. Tracking what’s happening online with AI, particularly on social media, enables designers and clothing manufacturers to have the latest figures at their fingertips. This way, AI tells you can what’s coming – future trends and forecasts that give you a head start in producing what your audience will want.

Generative AI & London Couture

Generative AI has assisted fashion in creating clothing everybody desires. But this type of AI also done wonders for high fashion, as, thanks to AI, this niche can now manufacture fashion-forward, one-of-a-kind items, a new standard in every high fashion product. Top design brands like Stella McCartney use alternative leather fabrics and innovative plant-based materials created by Generative AI.

The new fashion revolution includes fabric choices and pattern creation from AI to make the latest garments stand out. Quality is exceptional and innovation remains of the highest order.

For more inspiration, view our comprehensive guide to Fabric Innovations in Textile and Design.

The Role of Sustainability

Finding sustainable fabrics and processes, especially new and innovative ones, will set you apart from your competitors. Use AI to determine quality fabrics created using advanced tech to make them soft, durable and environmentally friendly. AI can also teach you about new and faster processes for manufacturing products, the most advanced digital printing processes to use, and the newest and most exciting methods of automating difficult design processes like embroidery and weaving.

You can learn more in our informative guide, Digital Textiles in Retail Fashion. And if you’d like more data and news on sustainable printing, read the definitive blog, Sustainable Textile Printing UK: How Fabric Print Processes Will Change in 2025.

You can use AI to assist you in your sustainability goals. Here’s how:

Sustainability is an Imperative

According to an article in Fashion United UK, entitled Fashioning a Better Future for 2025, the time has come for fashion brands to “commit to actionable change” as it’s a “non-negotiable imperative”. Their suggestion?  “By designing for longevity and creating systems for reuse, brands can shift the focus from fast consumption to mindful ownership. Moreover, advancements in materials science, such as bio-based fabrics and lab-grown alternatives, hold the promise of reducing fashion’s environmental footprint while maintaining the allure of innovation.”

Energy-Efficient Processes

 We can’t be expected to know everything about being energy-efficient. We need updated online AI data about energy consumption so our processes and businesses save energy in every possible way. If we keep updated through AI with what is happening, we can reduce the energy we use in every aspect of our company, and lower greenhouse gas emissions, too.

Product Waste Reduction

We know that fast fashion manufacturing processes lead to excessive plastic production and waste, with garments going to landfill. AI assists in various ways, including reducing waste in your production processes and the everyday running of your business. AI also assists by forecasting trends, as we mentioned earlier, helping designers decide the clothing that will sell, and helps with pricing to increase sales. With AI, you can keep updated on how to use resources wisely to eliminate waste, and improve quality control. The more you can reduce your impact on the environment, the better. There are ways you can do this if you’re prepared to try, so let AI assist you wherever possible.

Optimise Your Design Process with Technology

AI can assist in making your design manufacturing process more efficient, faster and, of course, more sustainable. Ideally, we need produce fashion items sustainably with fewer raw materials and less energy. We also need to ensure that every process, from ordering to delivery, uses less energy. When we use AI, we can do this.

The Benefits of AI for Fashion

The British Academy of Fashion Design sees many advantages to using AI in this industry. Let’s look at some of the benefits:

1.        Speed & Sophistication

Technology enables us to analyse data fast to predict trends and create innovative designs. AI is handy for predicting what trends and garments customers want next, so we can use this information to produce it for them. The speed with which AI delivers this info is incredible, allowing us to produce items far quicker than doing the research ourselves.

2.        Image Recognition Technology

This visual element of AI enables us to research and be inspired by the information regarding the type of aesthetics to use in our designs. This way, we can still be creative, but we have guidelines to use when we create garments and ranges.

3.        Combining Creativity & Technology

By using AI to enhance our creativity, we can design and manufacture garments faster and deliver fashion items that customers are looking for. The secret is to use AI as a valuable tool to inspire and educate you, not as the definitive answer to every question you have. You need to include your stamp on everything you create, and not copy exactly what AI suggests.

Tracking Trends with Analytics

We’ve found a few AI analytical tools to help you. Let’s explore:

·      The AI app Green Story monitors businesses’ carbon footprints and tracks how frequently people wear a garment to prolong its lifetime.

·      Want to know consumers’ reactions for the past 15 years? Brandwatch offers this marketing insight gleaned after researching more than 1.7 trillion social media posts about fashion trends. Search by keyword to find out what the public says about your brands or topics related to your business.

·      Talkwalker is another excellent AI tool with 3 distinct products covering customer-, marketing-, and social intelligence. Customer Intelligence includes product reviews; Market Intelligence includes conversations with customers, and Social Intelligence tracks more than 40,000 logos and products found on images and videos in social media.

Conclusion

You can use AI in every aspect of your company to transform your brands, starting with conceptualisation and design, through to the final product. Using knowledge from AI, you can ensure your design processes are more sustainable and efficient. You can hone your marketing and service skills and absorb insights that will help you predict future trends. With the right mindset, AI can even help you be more creative and innovative in design.

Be adaptable. Let AI enhance your brands and creative juices. AI lets you explore new ideas and find exciting innovations that will allow you to stand out from your competitors. Use this tool in every way you cn to be more sustainable. Let AI help you revolutionise your fashion brand by finding new ways to be more efficient, reduce waste and find more suitable methods for every stage of fashion manufacturing.

''Fashion entrepreneurs lead the charge for progress in sustainability, embracing the United Nations' goals. Through powerful partnerships, we tackle challenges and seize opportunities, driving change across industries. Together, we can shape a green future for all entrepreneurs.''  

– Artemis Doupa, maake Co-Founder