AI set to disrupt the fashion industry
A London-based start-up called Tess. is out to make personal stylist and personal shopper services affordable and available to everyone by combining the inputs of professional stylists with artificial intelligence. Targeting busy women who have little time to shop, the service is based on a search system and machine learning, indexing websites of online retailers. As AI and professional stylists recommend clothes that suit the individual, the start-up also claims it can reduce the costly returns element for online retailers. The team at Tess. predicts that eventually personal AI will select and deliver garments to households via 3D printers, "the mass retail market will disappear and only hand-made and luxury segments will stay."

Today, artificial intelligence has become the latest trend in various fields, including education, healthcare, the environment and the business sectors. But have you ever wondered what it would be like if artificial intelligence invades the world of fashion?

Whether people will admit it or not, fashion is playing an essential role in our daily routines. Since we are currently in an era where artificial intelligence is on the rise, some of us can't help but wonder how AI will change and influence the world of fashion.

Machine-Human Coevolution In Fashion

Earlier in May, people got a glimpse of how experts incorporated artificial intelligence into the ever-evolving field of fashion. In fact, the theme for the 2016 Met Gala called, "Manus x Machina: Fashion In An Age Of Technology," was the best depiction of a machine-human coevolution in the fashion realm.

On a previous Parent Herald report, we detailed how fashion designers used the artificial intelligence-driven Grasshopper to push fashion's technological bounds forward. But now, an AI-based fashion startup called Tess. is about to revolutionize fashion styling by making it available to everyone.

What Is Tess.?

According to co-founder and head stylist Dasha Egay, Tess. is a London-based online service created for women. With the help from its team of mathematicians (former Microsoft employees) and professional fashion stylists, Tess. offers personalized professional styling recommendations based on artificial intelligence.

"We believe that Tess. is a new way to shop," Egay said in an email. "Women don't need to spend their time walking around in huge retail shops trying to find the right item. Personal styling is something only celebrity can afford, but today we make it affordable for everyone! The uniqueness of our project is that we combine Artificial Intelligence (Machine Learning) with professional stylists. This allows to recommend the most suitable garments and also to save stylist's time to serve more clients."

Tess.' Target Market Are Moms And Business-Ladies

In addition, Parent Herald also got a chance to talk to the Tess. team regarding their vision on this one-of-a-kind artificial technology-based startup, as well as their target market. Interestingly, Tess.' biggest clients are moms and female professionals in the business realm.

"Talking about the target market, they are women who have no time to shop and who have no time for 'experiments with the online retailers,'" Egay said. "Mostly they are young mothers, mothers with young children or business-ladies. As a woman I understand how difficult is to be a mom, that's why we always choose the most comfortable, easy to wear but trendy in the same time garments."

For more information about Tess., Parent Herald did a short interview with its co-founder and head stylist Dasha Egay and CEO Alexander Golovin. Please continue reading below.

Do you consider Tess. as a virtual stylist?

Tess. Team: To be honest, Tess. is not only a virtual stylist but also a virtual shopper. Meaning that we find garments from the online retailers, which more likely to fit the client. This is a very important difference.

One of the biggest costs of all online retailers is returns. When the customer receives the item from the online store, the client might not be happy with the way it sits on the figure, the quality of the material and how does it match with other items from her wardrobe. Getting the feedback from the clients, we try to suggest them the most suitable items in all the aspects (style, size, color etc.).

How is Tess different from other emerging fashion and tech startups?

Tess. Team: Our specialization is styling/shopping - meaning the search of garments, which will suit the exact client. That's why the professional stylists work with us. They teach Artificial Intelligence to do the right choice.

A professional stylist is a very important feature of Tess. Large online retailers have their own recommendation systems. However, these systems are always based on what you liked and didn't like earlier. Tess. is also considering your taste but it can offer garments, which you wouldn't have picked yourself. This is the main difference of professional stylists - they can "spy" you and find the garments that will highlight your individuality.

Moreover, our system is a searching system. Like Google, we index websites of large online retailers. We don't need to have any agreements between them and that's why our choice is maximum objective. We offer garments from almost everywhere - because we think that the main thing is to find items which will ideally suit the customer and makes her happy.

What does it take to create and launch a fashion/AI startup like Tess?

Tess. Team: Tess - is a mixture of two worlds - the world of mathematics and the world of fashion. To bring alive such unusual combination we also need an unusual team - mathematicians (who also like fashion) and stylists (who are still getting confused in mathematics).

However, to be honest, the most important is to understand that fashion cannot be programmed in the usual way. According to our estimate, there are more than 500 characteristics for different types of clothing. And all of that are on the different items in the completely different combinations.

It is obvious that to create the system, which will count all of that diversity and give recommendations can be possible only with the usage of the most modern elaboration, and to be precise - systems of Artificial Intelligence.

How did you and your team come up with Tess' concept?

Tess. Team: Alexander, our CEO is a mathematician and he found it difficult to choose the garments. When Siri appeared, Alexander was trying to get some recommendation from "her" all day long. But obviously, Siri is not made for that.

After long discussions, we agreed that there is nothing on the market that can help and pleasure men, not even talking about women. That was the point when we decided to create Tess. and make it precisely for women, because for them styling is a very important and daily routine.

What do you think will be the impact of electronic helpers in the world of fashion?

Tess. Team: As we all understand, all of the retail shops and online shops are comfortable warehouses (or shopping windows), where you have to find something along the millions of items. We are trying to change that and make the shopping a lot more convenient.

In reality, a lot of us would love to use the services of the personal stylist however, it is very expensive. Now people have that chance and it's absolutely free. We are definitely sure that the future is such services. Companies such as H&M and Sephora are already in the process of making such personal helpers.

How will artificial intelligence change the world of fashion?

Tess. Team: Designers will create garments using the AI. At the moment, AI can already draw pictures and write books. Your Personal AI will select and deliver garments for you.

Almost in every house, there will be a 3D printer, which will print garments ideally reflecting your taste. Because of 3D printing, the mass retail market will disappear and only hand-made and luxury segments will stay.

Most of the modern technologies will be integrated into the garments that will be your electronic continuation. AI will help you find friends because the way you dress reflect you internal state. While organizing some events all of the AI will connect to make sure all the garments are unique. And this is just the beginning.

Meanwhile, Tess. is indeed one promising artificial intelligence-based startup that is about to make a big stride in the world of fashion. The company has started working with clients in the beginning of 2016 but the team has been working on their concept since 2015.

What are your thoughts on Tess.? Sound off below and follow Parent Herald for more news and updates.