That’s Fashion Sweetie: I’ll see you in the metaverse? 

If you would have told me five years ago that I would be writing about fashion and technology in the same piece, I would have laughed in your face.

With fashion being such a physical, materialistic industry, it seems almost impossible that it would be tied into the digital world. The average consumer can’t necessarily own the internet, and definitely cannot wear it. But what my 15-year-old mind would neglect to consider is Web3 and AI. 

Last Wednesday, the Business of Fashion held its BoF Professional Summit: An Inflection Point in Fashion Tech, hosted by Bolt. Leaders from top businesses such as Gucci and StockX, and tech start-ups such as Quilt.AI, engaged in fantastic discussions about data collection for better appeal of target audiences, quantum marketing in the age of instant consumer feedback and experimenting with Web3 — which uses blockchain in an extension of cryptocurrency — and the metaverse. 

Soon after the summit, though, Levi’s, which was also represented, announced it is beginning to test AI models for its website. If it succeeds, this is an absolute game changer — let me explain why. 

First, a rendering that looks just like a person will directly jeopardize and possibly replace the modeling industry. Modeling will revert back to a strict catwalk and editorial basis, and commercial models will no longer exist. With the falling economy, wiping out the entire industry seems like a possibility, but now, one with a higher likelihood.

Secondly, with quantum marketing, we could be giving AI and the internet even more information about us. Explained in author and CMO Raja Rajamannar’s book “Quantum Marketing: Mastering the New Marketing Mindset for Tomorrow’s Consumers,” companies and digital platforms already have an incredulous amount of information that we’ve willingly surrendered — either through in-the-heat rants or quickly clicking “accept all cookies” every time we go to a website. Quantum marketing could further constrict, or rather more precisely prescribe better boundaries, surrounding data and privacy on an online marketplace. 

With AI and customization capabilities, customers may be able to put in their own measurements or scans of themselves to see a garment on a similar body or even on their meta-selves before hitting “checkout.” Consequently, even in this extreme hypothetical, another business may be eradicated: physical stores.

Some companies have already attempted to make online shopping experiences hyper-personalized. Skims, Savage X Fenty and Good American have taken a courageous and deservedly-applauded effort at diversity and inclusivity when shopping online by offering photos of different models wearing different sizes of the same garment. Still, they were models nonetheless. 

As these companies implement more personalized features and as Levi’s continues to work with LaLaLand.ai on its marriage with the digital world, the runway also has not shied away from the challenge of virtualization. 

In Milan fashion week, Shanghai-based brand KWK by Kay Kwok used ChatGPT to produce the lyrics for his show, and Christopher Kane used AI to design the animal prints for his collection. But two standouts for me were in Paris at Coperni FW23 and Anrealage FW23. 

Still on the media buzz high from its last collection when it sprayed its dress onto Bella Hadid, Coperni incorporated “Spot,” the Boston Dynamic robot. Having its own moment on the runway, the different “Spots” would interact directly with the models in various ways, ranging from holding and handing off bags to taking jackets off. While this friendship between humans and robots was incredibly beautiful, it still felt a little under-performed. 

Maybe the simplicity overshadowed the exciting layers underneath, but it may also be the residual excitement from the Bella Hadid sprayed dress performance slowly wearing off. It’s hard to maintain expectations once you go viral and even harder to make something new viral. Just to be clear, I believe more strongly in the latter as Coperni still debuted an incredibly strong collection. 

More exciting to me, though, was Kunihiko Morinaga’s experiment with UV tubes and pattern emergence in Anrealage. When models emerged in simple, well-tailored coats, they would step onto a platform and a UV tube would slowly move up the models, revealing brightly colored, complex and compelling patterns on the clothes and transforming the beige and cream coates into warm, spring-time pinks, yellows and blues. 

Looking at the collection under the eye of fashion as art, it was adventurous, bold and a positively whimsical fever-dream experience. Still, though, I have to remind myself about practicality. Yes this technology can change how people approach clothing and shopping, but how sustainable is it? Are the UV lights harmful? How much will it cost to own one? And what about maintenance fees? 

Incorporating technology is an incredibly difficult thing to do, but a necessary one as we grow toward an increasingly digital world. Maybe you think the incorporation of tech is a necessary or unnecessary evil, but I don’t see the point of rejecting the inevitable.

So instead of stressing about all the things that could go wrong, let’s also take a moment to consider all the positive possibilities that we have yet to even fathom. With creativity and curiosity, the digital sky’s the limit, so let’s all take a deep breath, and together we can put one (meta)foot in front of the other. 

Hadyn Phillips is a sophomore writing about fashion in the 21st century, specifically spotlighting new trends and popular controversy. Her column, “That’s Fashion, Sweetie,” runs every Tuesday.