Ask Ralph: Ralph Lauren launches AI-powered digital stylist with Microsoft

In the US, fashion house Ralph Lauren has launched Ask Ralph, a new AI-powered styling tool within the Ralph Lauren app. The digital assistant acts as a virtual stylist. It provides users with instant, personalised outfit advice from the womenswear and menswear Polo Ralph Lauren collections through simple questions or prompts.

The tool was developed in collaboration with Microsoft. It utilises the Azure OpenAI platform (an artificial intelligence and machine learning service from Microsoft). Thanks to advanced language models, Ask Ralph can understand open questions such as "What should I wear to a wedding?". It can offer visual outfit recommendations based on current stock.

"Artificial intelligence is changing the way consumers are inspired, informed and shop for fashion globally," said Shelley Bransten, corporate vice president of Global Industry Solutions at Microsoft, in a statement. "We are proud to combine our trusted generative AI technology through Azure OpenAI with the iconic Ralph Lauren brand, paving the way for an entirely new form of conversational commerce."

Ask Ralph was launched on September 9 for US Ralph Lauren app users on Apple and Android devices. Ralph Lauren states that the AI stylist will be further developed based on how customers use the tool. This includes new features, more personalisation options, expansion to other brands within the portfolio and a wider rollout to additional platforms and markets worldwide.

Microsoft and Ralph Lauren have a history of collaboration. The two companies worked together 25 years ago to launch an online shop.

Ask Ralph, Ralph Lauren AI stylist. Credits: Ralph Lauren

AI outfit advice

AI stylists are also being experimented with in the Netherlands. Fashion company Omoda launched a similar tool earlier this year, using Google Cloud’s generative AI (Vertex, Gemini etc).

This article was translated to English using an AI tool.

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