Fashion Forward: How the promise of A.I. will disrupt the apparel industry

A new supply chain

In addition to speeding up the design-to-production timeline, retailers are looking to reduce the transportation times associated with moving their freight, as well. As a result, airfreight is becoming an increasingly popular option for shippers in fast-fashion, despite its higher associated cost. While the increase in demand for airfreight may be good for carriers, shippers are feeling the costs in their bottom lines.

David Pereira, president of 3PL firm Trinity Logistics, said his company has increased its freighter frequencies between China and the U.S. year-round in order to accommodate the increase in demand for airfreight between the regions. “This is a change that has happened over the last two-and-a-half years to keep in line with client requirements. Our customers want us to move faster,” Pereira said.

Pereira also noted that the company has witnessed clients increasingly move their supplier bases closer to customer bases, adding that some clients use technology to have direct access on a 24-hour basis, “so you can continuously adapt to whatever consumer changes that are happening instantly,” he said. “Technology has given us the visibility to keep up with fast paced changes from consumers.”

Looking forward, there is a long way to go in deploying A.I. within the traditional retail model, but it is clear that industry leaders like Agility, Alibaba and H&M are taking it seriously, each moving forward with implementing these innovations into their operations. Alibaba and H&M are each moving forward with plans to engage consumers with A.I. at the retail level, while logistics industry players work on utilizing the technology in their own operations.

Kewalram said Agility’s requirements moving forward with potential A.I. projects are that “One, [it] must show signs of formation of an ecosystem,” referring to the above described integration of data silos, “and two, it’s got to be mature enough to be pilot-ready.”

Full integration of A.I. to operations will take time, but you may find yourself interacting with A.I. interfaces sooner than you expect. A scenario in which you can walk into the mall and use a magic mirror to help you design an outfit may be just around the corner, in part thanks to airfreight.