The Industry Problem: Where AI Could Innovate Sustainability Efforts in Fashion

An Artistic Rendering Using AI

The Fashion Industry's Mark on the World

As it stands, the fashion industry is one of the largest contributors to climate change as profits and the business of fast fashion takes precedence. Whether it is greenhouse gas emissions, landfill waste, or energy consumption, the fashion industry has a hand in it all. Although the rate of consumption seems like it will never decrease, there are those utilizing artificial Intelligence to mitigate these detriments brought on by the fashion industry. Unlike humans, AI can synthesize data almost instantly. This component of Artificial Intelligence can prove incredibly useful in our efforts to reduce the impact of the fashion and textile industry while catering to growing consumer demand.

Is AI Faster Than Fast Fashion?

Fast fashion retailers like H&M and Zara churn out what seems like an almost endless amount of clothes in such short periods, all in an effort to meet consumer demands. While big fashion houses do not produce garments at fast fashion levels, this does not absolve them from being named as contributors to a problem affecting all of us. consumers are also to blame, the rate at which we buy new clothes is only growing, meaning that the fashion industry must meet the demand. More now than ever, consumers are ditching trends faster and picking up new ones to only do the same over.

Fashion brands expend many resources in order to identify new trends, and create products catering to them. In this process, these resources are wasted in samples and products that do not sell, creating pollution and waste that is a result of manufacturing those trends. With the help of Artificial Intelligence, fashion brands are able to be more accurate in predicting trends, as AI algorithms register this information many times faster than any human could. This leads to sharper trend forecasts which reduce uncertainty in what will and will not sell, resulting in fewer resources being wasted on samples and production models that miss the mark for consumers.

Artificial Intelligence slowing down Fast Fashion's Environmental Impact

AI can determine which resources are needed to make fashionable goods with accuracy that many fashion industry giants can make use of. Fast fashion companies, Zara for example, releases an apparel ‘collection” every two weeks. These collections are not like Paris runways, with carefully curated looks and craftsmanship found nowhere else. Instead, fast fashion companies specialize in cheaply manufactured garments with no ingenuity and little regard for original styles. Looks found in fast fashion lookbooks are stolen from runways from fashion houses releasing collections bi-annually. Fast fashion brands manufacture garments with no quota in mind (as it appears) and garments that are not bought in the two-week cycle get sent to landfills where they are to be disposed of.

This waste is unnecessary as a lot of the clothes will never see a retail rack. AI algorithm capabilities are able to predict which fabrics are to be used and the quantity needed to meet consumer demand. AI is capable of reducing the amount of wasted textiles companies expend and the money spent acquiring capital needed to make them into consumer products.

The Evolving Nature of AI: Conclusions to Draw

AI is still a new technology very much in its infancy, its capabilities are growing rapidly. The evolutionary nature of Artificial Intelligence allows for the constant refining of processes humans are not capable of harnessing. The use of AI as a business tool can satisfy the growing consumption rate while contending the adverse effects our actions have on the well-being of Earth's environments.