AI Wants to Know Your Closet

by Marcello Cortese

When was the last time you looked in the mirror and thought, “Yeah, that looks good” ? Or perhaps, “I wonder what it would look like if I paired the blue with something brown... Maybe a necklace here!” I would wager you’ve had a similar thought or idea very recently; within the past day, even.

It’s all part of the process of readying for a day, an evening out, or even just for future creative reference. Accessorising. Colour blocking. Changing out of shoes multiple times before something feels right. All these things are part of a process called “styling.” You may have heard of it.

Styling is a technique that is useful in all contexts, from everyday wear to high fashion, haute couture runways, even to parties or nights out. It is the art of appearance, utility, and expression. There is craft to it, risk, and the desire for success, just as with most passions. A person who styles an outfit does more than just put it on. They alter, accessorise, personalise it... they have done something to it, yes? They individualise something for themselves, maybe even hoping to inspire others. It’s a great deal of effort and the occasional headache.

But what if I told you that now you can forget about doing it yourself? Or even for your friend, client, or unstylish cousin? A new stylist has come to town, and it’s AI. (How’s my infomercial voice?)

Image credit: voguesent

While the skill has been around for centuries, it developed into a fully-fledged career path with the rise of editorial work, primarily for magazines. The wealthy were able to delegate their wardrobes for the sake of ease; royals, magnates, film stars, you name it. Celebrities hired personal stylists post-60s for all sorts of appearances, essentially to have a manager of their wardrobe. As social media paved the way for new platforms focused on “influencing,” the categorisation of “celebrity” has drastically changed within the past decade. So have the standards for brand deals, event invitations, movie and modelling contracts, oh my!

The achievement of dreams has seemingly become more possible for people more than ever, all as a result of the camera. The key to success is now to be seen, to be heard (occasionally a little too much), and to be responded to.

Given this new wave of fame for a much larger demographic, and with the dissolved boundaries between social and institutional media, what we’ve now come to know as “influencers” are being drawn into these historically restricted social spaces. Invitations to the Academy Awards or the Grammys. Promotional videos for major insurance or cellphone brands. Fashion Week appearances. Acting contracts straight out of TikTok or Instagram. The list of opportunities goes on and on, and what that emphasises is public visibility for all of these newcomers. One needs exciting, eye-catching looks for any and all appearances.

This, of course, is where stylists come in.

Thus, with the ascension of those in this new tier of fame, styling has become even more of a sought-after profession. It takes vision, knowledge of trends and popular aesthetics, and insight into cultural context. Especially in a city like New York, where almost no trend is too small, stylists have become a necessity rather than a commodity. But here’s the kicker: not everyone can work for a celebrity, so the result is that now essentially anyone can hire the services of a professional. Where once styling was a coveted and restrictive luxury, in this current climate, there is a desperate need of regular people alike to delegate their wardrobe.

In other words, styling has become entirely democratised. Where once exclusivity was the key allure to this benefit, access now is.

Given this, the newest wave of styling has become just that: completely accessible. Nonetheless, even with the new expansion to personal and private styling within human-to-human capacities, not everyone has the budget for a personal human stylist. Ergo, the budget-friendly and ultra-inclusive alternative is AI. As the AI industry has boomed in a way never before seen within the past two years, certain companies, brands and services have almost wholly made the switch for all sorts of reasons. While the fashion industry has joined this wave with enthusiasm, styling has remained of the least touched subsections. But make no mistake, the integration of AI for stylistic purposes has been slow and steady over the past few years, only gaining exponential traction to date.

Brands have popped up all over the internet - from Refabric and PerfectCorp (focused on retail and collection-based clients) to Stylista. and Alta (personalised services for the individual) - that emphasise “effortless” and “eased” styling services that will ensure you will “always look your best.” With some websites like Alta, the websites boast features and collaborations, such as with Vogue, to ensure a prospective client that their reputation within the fashion industry will ensure their clients will “never be stressed getting dressed again.”

Catchy.

Courtesy of altadaily.com

But where is the true distinction of benefits between the options? Sure, online and in-app services that allow you to upload photos or videos of clothing can be helpful in a pinch when truly stumped, but the primary appeal of human styling is rapport. It takes time and effort to go through a catalog of preferences, memories, inspirations, etc. to build a person’s wardrobe. It also takes a certain amount of trust and faith in another person to intuit that they have your best interests at heart when selecting new options.

Can an algorithm imitate, or even better perform, this kind of go-between? To discuss

the growth opportunities of AI styling companies like these, I was able to talk to Alexander Eser, Co-Founder and CEO of Rawshot.ai.

Courtesy of rawshot.ai

Founded this year, Rawshot is a new AI-powered photoshoot and styling service that provides “stunning, professional results” while saving time and optimising visualisation in fashion photography and campaigns. I was curious to bend Eser’s ear about AI’s stylistic efficacy.

He noted that the limitations of digital styling are “real and worth acknowledging” as well as the fact that “digital styling lacks the tactile dimension - you can’t feel a fabric’s weight, its drape, or how something moves when you walk.”

Nonetheless, he advocated for services like these on the basis that modern AI systems,

across the board, “aren’t pulling from rigid design trees - they’re synthesising vast pattern recognition in ways that can surface unexpected combinations a human might not consider.” In the same vein as this thought, Eser expanded on the psychological aspects of engaging with an AI and receiving productive feedback, stating that “AI can be diplomatically honest without ego or agenda” where “a human stylist might hesitate

to tell you that something doesn’t flatter you.”

This was curious to me in understanding how prioritised psychology is in styling. Does the tactical aspect matter nearly as much as the accessibility of a “diplomatic” voice? And what about the nature of a feedback loop, given the limitations of programming itself? I was also able to pick the brain of Jay-Michael Wilson, a freelance editorial stylist, who advocated for using an AI service to get a “clear and direct response” while “having no expectations that it has a genuine interest” in giving a person anything but the requested outcome.

To this point, Eser says that “this is a genuine risk with any AI system that optimises for engagement” and the inherent result of personal reinforcement is “an echo chamber of your existing taste.” The solution for him? Intentional design. Building moments of “creative friction, unexpected suggestions, and gentle challenges” provides a more organic exchange between digital stylist and human client.

Wilson also found that the most important aspect of styling is point of view. In conversation with Eser’s suggestion that it’s all about understanding context, Wilson wanted to emphasise that solidity and steadfastness to one’s goal is tantamount. Where his idea is that “it’s imperative that a stylist stays true to their vision,” Eser noted, “great styling is about understanding who someone is, where they’re going, and what they want to communicate. The best stylists - human or AI - grasp that clothing is communication.”

For Eser and RAWSHOT, context is “everything” when it comes to styling, shooting, and the story in between. For Wilson, the objective is empathy and trust between the persons.

On one particular matter, Wilson, Eser, and myself agree: Styling will remain, on

a large scale, to and for humans. Will the industry be reshaped? Naturally, just as the

efforts toward democratisation become stronger. Consistency and convenience, as

Wilson put it, will take charge and the market will “stratify”, so Eser predicts. There will

be a sense of access to all, but just as with anything that gives itself to the masses, dilution will emphasise the importance of true craft and vision. Exclusivity doesn’t seem like it will go away, but shall just morph. We’ll have to see how exactly the convergence will manifest in this sense of stratification.

But, in the meantime, who feels like digitising their closet?