AI news and archive

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...

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Business|Interview

How Botika is transforming brand content creation with AI-powered fashion photography

Doubling your customer base is a common goal that most fashion startups share. But doubling your customer base within the span of a month? That's a different story, one that Botika AI, a generative AI fashion company specializing in the creation of content and product photos using AI models, found itself in last December. A perhaps enviable, but...

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Lululemon names first chief of AI

Canadian athleisure brand Lululemon has appointed Ranju Das as its first-ever chief AI and technology officer, as it looks to leverage artificial intelligence to improve product innovation and personalise the customer experience. Das has more than two decades of leadership experience scaling global organisations and driving AI-first innovation...

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Business|Marketing

Selling the vibe: Why fashion brands need more than just product

In the last decade, the currency of fashion has moved decisively beyond fabric and form. Value now resides in broader social, cultural and environmental significance. A pair of jeans is never just a denim garment; it stands as an emblem of creativity, community and lifestyle values. Every garment is a transaction of meaning: the buyer aligns...

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Business

AI start-up ChatBlu raises 500,000 US dollars in pre-seed funding

London-based artificial intelligence start-up ChatBlu, which bills itself as the first autonomous AI agent for multi-platform inventory management, has raised 500,000 US dollars in pre-seed funding. The round was led by Matador Venture Capital, with participation from angel investors associated with Google and Amazon Web Services. The funding...

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Retail

Debenhams Group launches AI Skills Academy to build “future-ready workforce”

Debenhams Group, formerly known as Boohoo Group before a rebrand earlier this year, is looking to fast-track its AI capabilities across its brands, including Debenhams, PrettyLittleThing, Boohoo, BoohooMan and Karen Millen, by launching an AI Skills Academy for its employees. In a statement, Debenhams said the AI Skills Academy, in partnership...

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Business

Insights from PwC: The mindset of supply chain managers

Audit firm PwC surveyed 610 supply chain and operations managers about the digital transformation of supply chains. The aim was to identify their priorities and tensions, as the supply chain is still perceived as a cost centre, not a strategic lever. While the "Digital Trends in Opérations Survey 2025" report does not directly address the...

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Business

Amazon shuts down Shanghai AI lab: source

US tech giant Amazon has shut down its artificial intelligence research lab in Shanghai, a source with direct knowledge of the matter confirmed to AFP. News that the lab, part of cloud division Amazon Web Services (AWS), has closed comes with AI at the forefront of a tech race between China and the United States. In a screenshot of a WeChat post...

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Business

Multiply Group completes acquisition of Tendam, will drive growth using AI as a lever

Multiply Group, an investment holding company based in Abu Dhabi, completed the acquisition of a 67.91 percent stake in Tendam, a Spanish fashion multinational, on 23 July 2025. Tendam owns brands such as Cortefiel, Springfield, and Women’secret. The transaction values Tendam at approximately 1.3 billion euros (5.6 billion UAE dirhams), with...

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Business

Inditex sees profit grow in first half of 2025 as commercial activities pick up

Madrid – This morning, July 15, Inditex’s 2025 annual general meeting took place at the company’s headquarters in Arteixo, Galicia. The meeting, chaired by Marta Ortega Pérez, non-executive chair of the Spanish fashion multinational, saw the approval of the company's 2024 annual accounts. It also highlighted various ongoing initiatives and...

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Business|Marketing

Why Labfresh ditched AI campaigns after four seasons: ‘Humans perform better’

AI still evokes different reactions. Enthusiasm and trepidation has now given way to experimentation and implementation. One of the fashion companies that started working with AI early on to help with its campaigns was Dutch brand Labfresh. After four seasons with AI by its side, however, the brand is now returning to fully “human” campaigns....

Fashion

A Spanish startup launches AI tool to streamline fashion’s creative engine

A new Barcelona-based start-up, Artiso, has emerged with a bold promise: to digitise and accelerate fashion’s most sacred process - creativity itself. With its AI-powered SaaS platform now officially launched, Artiso aims to streamline the end-to-end journey from initial concept to campaign delivery, targeting the inefficiencies that often bog...