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The best advertising campaigns make you want to be the woman on the billboard. In 2013, I wanted to be Daria Werbowy in a pink, roll-top bath, naked save for a rhinestone-studded collar necklace and bracelets, in Céline's spring campaign.

I dreamt about that sparkling choker, specifically, for months, though it was wildly unaffordable - upwards of £2,000 - on my peanut salary as a fashion reporter. Years later, when its creator Phoebe Philo announced she was leaving the brand in 2017, I thought of the necklace again. Curious to see if I could track one down, I hit Google. Fifteen minutes later, I had unearthed a German seller on the French resale website Vestiaire Collective, who was willing to part with theirs for £481.37, complete with its dust bag and original box. Reader, I bought it. And then I bragged about it. "It's spring/summer 2013," I told admirers who enquired as to the necklace's origin at a Vogue party.

Time was when past-season designer wares would be pushed to the back of the wardrobe or donated to willing recipients after their moment in the spotlight. Now, pre-loved, pre-worn, used, thrifted and resale clothes and accessories could not be more desirable. "Vintage" is the term that covers all bases, though it makes the sticklers shudder: technically, it should only be applied to clothes made between the past 20 and 99 years. In any case, the second-hand market today is distinctly evolved from the two categories that "vintage" used to denote: an acid-free, tissue-wrapped couture dress acquired at an auction house on the one hand, or a moth-ball-scented slip dress unearthed at a flea market stall on the other.

For one thing, the pre-loved items that today's savviest shoppers are hunting down are often not that old. And the hunt isn't taking place in cavernous warehouses or auction houses, but online. Today's well-dressed fashion fans score gently used Alaïa dresses on The RealReal, worn-once Bottega Veneta Cassette bags on Vestiaire Collective, vintage Chanel bouclé jackets on Hewi, and pre-owned Hermès Birkins on Collector Square. They snap up sold-out BNWT ("bought new with tags", in internet speak) Zara leggings on Depop and second-hand Jean Paul Gaultier Cyber Dots mesh tops on eBay. They go to StockX for like-new Dior Air Jordans and to Chrono24 for lived-in Cartier Tanks, making a brief detour to Dotte for Mini Rodini cast-offs for their kids.

They sell, too. After all, their original Dior Saddle bag from spring/summer 2000 is worth a pretty penny since Maria Grazia Chiuri reissued it in 2018 - making it far too lucrative to pass on to a daughter.

"People's sense of ownership has changed," says Rachel Reavley, a former Vogue staffer and board member at Hewi, a family-run, UK-based resale site with particularly affluent clientele. (Hewi is short for Hardly Ever Worn It; more than 30 per cent of stock on the site has never been worn.) "When you've experienced shopping in a luxury re-commerce space, it really opens up your customer expectation. Then you start to look at things in your wardrobe, thinking, am I ever going to actually wear those Dior boots again? You go online, and as long as you've taken care of them, they've held their value. It's a win-win - you have the financial reward, the feel-good factor of participating in circular economy. Then, you might buy something else, and it feels guilt-free."

Resale is big business. The second-hand market is projected to double over the next five years, growing 11 times faster than the broader retail clothing sector to reach £67bn by 2025, according to a report by GlobalData and ThredUp. Why the boom? It must be said that women have been buying pre-loved fashion for decades; as far back as 1928, for instance, British Vogue was advertising 22 second-hand clothing dealers who could be trusted to discreetly dispose of last season's Chanel suit. But the key word there is "discreet".

Generation Z, who are primarily fuelling the growth in thrifting, are more likely to boast about their finds on social media than keep said item's second-hand status under wraps. "From the research that we did in collaboration with Depop, if you analyse the youngest generation, they don't have that stigma anymore," says Claudia D'Arpizio, luxury goods guru at management consulting firm Bain & Company. "It's clear they are also buying a lot of 'first-hand' products. But I think the stigma was more attached to previous generations."

After all, eschewing the brand-new is cheaper and less intimidating (in the case of luxury items) than hitting London's Bond Street or New York's Madison Avenue, and more sustainable: according to a Farfetch report, purchasing a pre-owned item on average saves 1kg of waste, 3,040 litres of water and 22kg of CO2, compared with a new item.

Then, there's the thrill of the chase. As Camille Charrière, journalist and influencer with an Instagram following of more than 1.2 million, and who regularly shops resale platforms for past-season pieces, puts it: "I get a lot of kicks from wearing things that no one else has got." Her most highly prized trophy is a one-of-a-kind John Galliano for Dior dress from the Noughties, a gift for a recent birthday. She relishes the time spent acquiring one-off pieces. "You don't need to buy the latest thing that's just come out to be able to be well-dressed," she says.

The pandemic has changed our world in myriad ways - but perhaps its biggest legacy for fashion will be the shift in mindset towards pre-loved products. Farfetch, for instance, has been selling pre-loved clothing alongside brand-new luxury stock since 2010, but 2020 was a clear turning point: pre-owned views increased 151 per cent year-on-year, with notable growth from March 2020 onwards, when the pandemic took hold. Moreover, it noted a 506 per cent increase in sales of pre-owned items valued at more than $10,000 (£7,253) from Q1 to Q4 of 2020. As Tom Berry, Farfetch's global director of sustainable business, notes: "Our pre-loved curation isn't necessarily targeted at a low-price offer. For us, people come for unique items, for great fashion, and it makes them feel better because it's sustainable." Customers have also been availing themselves of the "Second Life" service, where they can resell their luxury bags in return for Farfetch credit.

Net-a-Porter has been taking notes. Last October, it announced a resale pilot with Reflaunt, the tech company behind H&M's "Rewear" programme, offering customers the chance to sell well-preserved designer items in their wardrobes in exchange for store credit. And at Printemps in Paris, a new 13,000sq m floor entirely dedicated to vintage and thrifted clothing, as well as a new buy-back scheme opened in October, reportedly the biggest-ever space dedicated to second-hand fashion in a department store. Marie Blanchet's Mon Vintage, a high-end vintage service, is the star attraction, with its racks boasting original Versace bondage suits, Yves Saint Laurent safari dresses, and even the Jean Paul Gaultier cameo necklace from his spring/summer 1998 Hommage à Frida Kahlo collection, once worn by Madonna in the music video for 1998's "Frozen". "What we curate looks like it could be on the runway right now," says Blanchet. She believes the pandemic has fundamentally shifted the way we feel about new clothes. "Now, it's all about meaningful purchases. Vintage, in this sense, is a sustainable signifier. You are buying into a story, feeling unique, and wearing pieces that were made to last - the quality of fabrics on the whole is incredible."

Gucci wants in. Hot on the horsebit-adorned heels of Ridley Scott's House of Gucci - which stars Lady Gaga and is stuffed with throwback Gucci looks sourced from the house's vast archive in Florence, as well as vintage dealers, eBay and Etsy - in September it launched Vault. Billed as an online concept store, it is partly stocked with vintage items acquired from Italian grannies and auction houses alike, reconditioned by in-house artisans, and in some cases customised by creative director Alessandro Michele.

Vault is a no-brainer for the vintage-obsessed Michele: the pre-loved pieces reinforce the seasonless codes on which he has built his Gucci reboot. As he put it in an interview at Vault's launch: "Gucci turns one hundred this year, and it's the time to show everybody how beautiful it would be to give a second, a third life and more to old things that are the most beautiful." Having successfully reissued the archival Jackie, Horsebit 1955 and bamboo-handled Diana bags in recent years to monster sales figures, as well as revisiting 1990s hits from Tom Ford-era Gucci for its centenary Aria collection, stepping into resale won't feel like much of a stretch for Michele and CEO Marco Bizzarri. After all, it won't have escaped them that Prada's recent decision to reissue its signature nylon handbags from the 1990s and 2000s has resulted in the originals increasing in value by about 174 per cent, according to Rebag.

Read more: The 10 Key Spring/Summer 2022 Trends To Know Now

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The Rise Of Resale: How Second-Hand Became Fashion's First Port Of Call

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The best pre-loved fashion is no longer discovered only in IRL. Today's savviest fans are finding everything from vintage Alaïa to Zara in all corners of the digital shopping space.

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"Look up section 4"

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section 5?

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Discover the most relevant industry news and insights for fashion's e-commerce and technology professionals, updated each month to enable you to excel in job interviews, promotion conversations or perform better in the workplace by increasing your market awareness and emulating market leaders.

BoF Careers distils business intelligence from across the breadth of our content - editorial briefings, newsletters, case studies, podcasts and events - to deliver key takeaways and learnings tailored to your job function, listed alongside a selection of the most exciting live jobs advertised by BoF Careers partners.
Key articles and need-to-know insights for e-commerce and technology professionals today:
Online sales during the crucial US holiday season are expected to rise 4.8 percent from a year earlier as retailers go all out to woo inflation-hit consumers with even bigger discounts and promotions, a report from Adobe Analytics showed on Thursday. The sales are also expected to grow at a much faster pace and hit $221.8 billion for the period between Nov. 1 and Dec. 31 which includes some of the biggest shopping days such as Cyber Monday, Thanksgiving and Black Friday. That compares with $211.7 billion a year earlier.

Adobe said the holiday season would see heavy discounts this year, especially in the toys, sporting goods and furniture categories, with markdowns peaking at 35 percent. Last month, Mastercard's SpendingPulse report forecast a 6.7 percent rise in online sales during the holiday season. Retailers such as Walmart , Target and Macy's prepare months in advance for the all-important season as it brings in nearly a third of the industry's annual revenue in a good year. With Amazon.com hosting its second Prime Day sale in October, holiday shopping is expected to start as early as this month.
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Last month, at Meta's annual conference on virtual and augmented reality - and now AI - the tech giant and Ray-Ban announced the second generation of their smart glasses, called the Ray-Ban Meta. They come roughly two years after the companies introduced their collaboration with the first-generation Ray-Ban Stories, which took Ray-Ban's staple Wayfarer and embedded cameras and speakers into the frame, letting users take pictures and video, listen to audio and make calls.

However, while the glasses are meant to be a stepping stone in Meta's journey to making the metaverse a reality, they don't yet offer AR, which places a digital layer over the physical world. Meta and Ray-Ban say full AR glasses are, realistically, still five to 10 years away, at least in the form that they want. (Snap unveiled its first AR glasses in 2021 but portrayed them more as an experiment than a finished product at the time, and even today they have a number of limitations, such as their battery life.)
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For Puma, embracing the virtual world has been a learning experience. A year ago, during New York Fashion Week, it introduced Black Station, a 3D online space to showcase new products and ideas that Puma used to launch two new sneakers, the NFRNO and Fastroid, the physical versions of which buyers could only claim after purchasing corresponding limited-edition NFTs. Since Black Station's launch, the NFT market, which was already struggling, has all but disintegrated. Metaverse hysteria has further dwindled. It would be understandable, maybe even expected, for Puma to pull back on those efforts.

But the company, which turned 75 this year, is among those trying to capitalise on the number of consumers today spending time in video games and buying cosmetic skins and digital items. It sees a long-term opportunity in virtual spaces and products, which according to Ivan Dashkov, Puma's head of emerging marketing tech and web3, create new ways of interacting with the brand, help Puma to meet a new generation of shoppers where they live and eventually, could become a significant source of revenue.
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It's a truism at this point that every big social platform will dream of becoming its users' favourite place to shop, and every one will fail to make it a reality. TikTok, which has a reputation for getting users to purchase what they see on the app - a sentiment summed up in the hashtag #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt - is betting it can buck the trend. This week, the company rolled out its Shop feature to all US users, allowing people who go to the social network for a regular dose of animal videos, lip syncing and influencer posts to also purchase products directly within the app. Along with shoppable videos, the update introduces a marketplace where businesses and individuals can list items from yoga pants to slow cookers.

Shopping is a popular activity on Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, with the app growing into an e-commerce powerhouse over the past few years. But what works in Asian markets doesn't always work in Western ones. For years social media companies have tried to integrate shopping into their US platforms with little to show for their efforts. Instagram, for instance, removed its shopping tab from the home feed earlier this year.
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If you didn't already know artificial intelligence was used to design Collina Strada's Spring/Summer 2024 collection, it would be all but impossible to tell. At their New York Fashion Week runway show, set amid a rooftop farm on the Brooklyn waterfront, the clothes betrayed no obvious hints that founder Hillary Taymour and her team spent weeks feeding images of past Collina Strada looks into the AI image generator Midjourney, guiding it with text prompts of varying complexity and diligently refining the results to produce the collection.

The use of generative AI tools has gathered momentum in fashion over the past several months, even amid concerns the technology could displace creatives and infringe intellectual property. Revolve released an AI-generated billboard campaign and capsule collection, backed an AI Fashion Week and is experimenting with it to design its lucrative private brands. Casablanca used it in the marketing campaign for its Spring/Summer 2023 collection. Others are turning to it for jobs like writing product descriptions.
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6. US Sales and Top Spending Customers Drive Sales at Mytheresa
Strong US momentum and a growing pool of top-spending customers drove sales and profit at Mytheresa in the fourth quarter despite "a very tough market," said CEO Michael Kliger. The luxury e-tailer's North America business grew 40.8 percent in the three months ending June 30, following a ramp-up in marketing investment in the region with special events for clients. Mytheresa said the value of goods sold (GMV) on its platform rose 14.5 percent to €855.8 million ($912.3 million) for the full year ending June 30, while revenue rose 11.4 percent to €768.6 million. Adjusted EBITDA was up 40.3 percent to €41.1 million. Shares were up 16 percent in early trading.
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Mytheresa's focus on courting luxury's wealthiest customers is helping mitigate the impact of broader slowdown in demand for luxury goods, said Kliger, as aspirational shoppers pull back on spending amid an uncertain economic backdrop, hitting peers like Farfetch hard. Mytheresa has ramped up investment in the US to drive brand awareness, staging a five week pop-up in partnership with Flamingo Estate in East Hampton, NY over the summer. It's also dialled up the number of money-can't-buy experiences for top clients in the market, hosting events in cities like LA, Nashville, Miami and Aspen.

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Nike's virtual studio is getting physical. On Tuesday, the sneaker behemoth announced the first physical product to come out of .Swoosh, the digital-goods platform it introduced late last year. It's a black-and-white, low-top version of Nike's Air Force 1 with .Swoosh branding and details, dubbed the TINAJ, as in "This Is Not a JPEG," a slogan that also appears on the shoe. When it drops in Nike's SNKRS app on Oct. 20, instead of having to compete against countless shoppers and bots, only those who previously purchased and virtually unboxed one of the digital Our Force 1s Nike released earlier this year will have the chance to purchase it.
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Nike hasn't said exactly how many people that amounts to, but nearly 53,000 .Swoosh members bought at least one of the tokens when they first went on sale. Still, exclusivity is currency in the sneaker world, and the release demonstrates how Nike is thinking about using its NFT-based platform to engage what it views as an increasingly important fan group while letting it promote membership, which remains one of the most powerful tools in its kit.

IT Service Desk Analyst, Burberry - Leeds, United Kingdom

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New changes are hitting social platforms in the EU, with possible implications for any brands that rely on them to connect with shoppers - which is basically everyone. On August 25, regulations came into force that require large online platforms including Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat to give European users at least one option for a content feed that doesn't use their personal data for customisation. A user who chooses that alternative could still get recommended content, such as what's popular in their country, but using their online behaviour to determine what to show them would be off limits.
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The new guidelines are part of the EU's far-reaching Digital Services Act, which aims to regulate the way internet companies operating in the EU handle data and mitigate systemic risks. It began taking effect in a tiered system last year. The latest rules apply to what it calls large online platforms, meaning those with at least 45 million users. The category includes 19 companies, such as search giant Google, marketplaces Amazon and AliExpress, and Zalando, Europe's largest online fashion retailer, which filed a suit contesting the designation.

E-Commerce Manager, Naked Wolfe - London, United Kingdom

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What Fashion's E-Commerce and Tech Professionals Need to Know Today

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BoF Careers provides essential sector insights for fashion's e-commerce and technology professionals this month, to help you decode fashion's creative and commercial landscape.

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https://www.businessoffashion.com/opinions/luxury/the-state-of-luxury-resale/

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AI tools are supporting consumers with chores they don’t want to do.

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AI tools are supporting consumers with chores they don’t want to do.

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To get access to all of the data and insights, purchase The Lifestyle Era: Luxury's Opportunity in Home and Hospitality.
When the Prada Caffè opened at Harrods in London earlier this month, a viral TikTok reel showcasing the cafe recorded 220,000 views within the first 24 hours of its posting. Viewers left comments swooning about the eye-catching details like Prada-branded cutlery and made comparisons to the recent hospitality ventures of other luxury fashion players, including the pop-up Dior cafe that also opened at Harrods the prior year.

Expanding into adjacent categories like design and hospitality is not new for many fashion and beauty brands. Ralph Lauren launched a home business in 1983; Fendi established its Fendi Casa joint venture in the same decade. What is new is the momentum such expansions are gaining, particularly since the Covid-19 pandemic has led to consumers placing greater importance on the spaces in which they live, work and socialise.

Since 2020, brands ranging from Aquazurra and Fendi to Sézane and Rhode have launched home collections. Meanwhile, mass fashion players such as Boohoo, Mango and Gap have seized the opportunity as customers show new openness to purchase their branded homeware at generally higher prices than their apparel.

Amid this change. BoF Insights' latest report, The Lifestyle Era: Luxury's Opportunity in Home and Hospitality, explores the dynamics behind the lifestyle boom and how brands can maximise the opportunity to extend their brand universe and unlock new avenues of growth.

According to market research firm Euromonitor International, sales in home and hospitality categories will grow at a compound annual rate of approximately 7 percent through 2026, outpacing pre-pandemic growth of 4 percent. Fuelling this acceleration are key post-pandemic shifts such as hybrid work and growing consumer interest in "experiential goods," like notable items to use and showcase while entertaining at home. Customers are also looking for more novel, immersive experiences, including at exclusive restaurants and hotels.

In a proprietary survey with luxury research provider Altiant, BoF Insights found that high-net-worth individuals are spending more on home design today than before the pandemic. Affluent shoppers in the US, UK and France say they are spending more on furniture, decor, textiles, fragrances and tableware now than before 2020, leading to a 12 percentage points post-pandemic increase.

Around half of those surveyed say they shop for home design products to refresh the style of their living spaces or to upgrade their surroundings for a more premium feel.

Fashion and beauty brands are betting on these categories to not only open new revenue streams but also extend customer touchpoints and build greater brand affinity. More than 70 percent of surveyed HNWIs say home design and hotel extensions have a positive impact on how they perceive fashion and beauty brands.

Hotel and dining extensions can provide especially strong affiliations between brand and customer by creating immersive, memorable experiences, ranging from personalised menus, such as Café Kitsuné's drinks and desserts customised by location, to VIP services like those available at Boucheron's private apartment in Place Vendôme in Paris.

These ventures can also showcase a brand's home offering. BoF Insights found that over 30 percent of surveyed HNWIs are more likely to purchase from a brand's home collection after a branded hospitality experience.

Affluent shoppers cite Dior, Chanel and Gucci as the brands they would be most interested in buying home design products from. Notably, however, Zara was the only non-luxury brand to appear in the top 20 most-mentioned brands in our survey, indicating how expansions into home can enable mass brands to achieve a more premium positioning in that category.

Brands expanding into lifestyle must have fresh narratives for these ventures, ensuring the tone isn't gimmicky and resonates with customers' desire for quality and tastefulness. Gone are the days when printing a luxury logo onto an everyday item would attract customers. Accordingly, BoF Insights explores a framework for fashion and beauty brands' investment into lifestyle categories, and the respective tactics to deploy to reach their desired target audiences.

Why this BoF Insights report is a must-have:

Analyses the opportunity for fashion and beauty brands to expand into lifestyle, through homeware, dining and hotels

Unpacks how cultural shifts are redefining customer attraction to lifestyle products and experiences and explains how brands can craft a long-term lifestyle strategy

Features proprietary research with high-net-worth consumers in the US, UK and France, revealing attitudes towards fashion brand extensions into home and hospitality, purchase drivers, and the most in-demand product categories and brands

Showcases perspectives from executives and industry leaders on brand extensions into home design and hospitality, including creative development, the competitive landscape and operating models

Includes concise case studies on Boucheron, Bulgari, Café Kitsuné, Diesel, Dolce & Gabbana, Elie Saab, Fendi, Louis Vuitton, Marimekko, Prada and Tiffany & Co

This report is based on proprietary research inputs:

Three panels, conducted by Altiant LuxuryOpinions® on behalf of BoF Insights, of HNWIs in the US, UK and France who each have investable assets with a median value of between $1.5 million and $2 million

28 interviews with founders, CEOs and other senior executives from fashion, beauty, home design brands and retailers, hospitality companies, as well as consultants and analysts

Market-sizing data from Euromonitor International, a global market research firm

Featured companies include but are not limited to: Anya Hindmarch, Armani, Boucheron, Bottega Veneta, Brunello Cucinelli, Bulgari, Burberry, Cartier, Chanel, Café Kitsune, Coach, Dior, Diesel, Dolce & Gabbana, Elie Saab, Fendi, Gucci, H&M, Hermès, Issey Miyake, Jo Malone, Kate Spade, Louis Vuitton, Marimekko, Missoni, Prada, Ralph Lauren, Roche Bobois, Saint Laurent, Tiffany & Co, Versace and Zara

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The Lifestyle Era: Luxury's Opportunity in Home and Hospitality | BoF Insights

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To get access to all of the data and insights, purchase The Lifestyle Era: Luxury's Opportunity in Home and Hospitality . When the Prada Caffè opened at Harrods in London earlier this month, a viral TikTok reel showcasing the cafe recorded 220,000 views within the first 24 hours of its posting.

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How Global Luxury Travel Trends Will Impact Fashion

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From consumers replacing bucket lists with revenge buying to remote-working blending with travel itineraries to create a "bleisure" travel culture, Marriott International's president of luxury Tina Edmundson tells BoF how post-pandemic travel trends are changing the opportunity for luxury.

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We'll experience more technological progress in the coming decade than we did in the preceding 100 years put together, says McKinsey.

And 10 tech trends will dominate this shifting landscape.

Understanding the effects of this change can help avoid nasty shocks to the system, for both individuals and organizations.

Businesses that are making the most of advances in tech are also in a good place to make the most in terms of return on their investments.

Any change can be unsettling and keeping pace with developments even more so. Part of the challenge is knowing which are the most significant changes and which are the ones that are less likely to bear fruit.

Tech trends and underlying technologies. Image: McKinsey & Co

1. Process automation and virtualization

Around half of all existing work activities could be automated in the next few decades, as next-level process automation and virtualization become more commonplace.

"By 2025, more than 50 billion devices will be connected to the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT)," McKinsey predicts. Robots, automation, 3D-printing, and more will generate around 79.4 zettabytes of data per year.

2. The future of connectivity

Faster digital connections, powered by 5G and the IoT, have the potential to unlock economic activity. So much so that implementing faster connections in "mobility, healthcare, manufacturing and retail could increase global GDP by $1.2 trillion to $2 trillion by 2030." 5G and IoT will be one of the most-watched tech trends for the next decade.

"Far-greater network availability and capability will drive broad shifts in the business landscape, from the digitization of manufacturing (through wireless control of mobile tools, machines and robots) to decentralized energy delivery and remote patient monitoring."

3. Distributed infrastructure

By 2022, 70% of companies will be using hybrid-cloud or multi-cloud platforms as part of a distributed IT infrastructure. It will mean data and processing can be handled in the cloud but made accessible to devices faster.

Tech trends affect all sectors, but their impact varies by industry. Image: McKinsey & Co

"This tech trend will help companies boost their speed and agility, reduce complexity, save costs and strengthen their cybersecurity defenses," McKinsey says.

4. Next-generation computing

Next-generation computing will, McKinsey believes, "help find answers to problems that have bedevilled science and society for years, unlocking unprecedented capabilities for businesses".

It includes a host of far-reaching developments, from quantum AI to fully autonomous vehicles, and as such won't be an immediate concern for all organizations. "Preparing for next-generation computing requires identifying whether you're in a first-wave industry (such as finance, travel, logistics, global energy and materials, and advanced industries)," McKinsey says, or "whether your business depends on trade secrets and other data that must be safeguarded during the shift from current to quantum cryptography."

5. Applied Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Effects of technology trends in 2050. Image: McKinsey & Co

AI is one of the biggest tech trends. We are still only in the early days of the development of AI. As the technology becomes more sophisticated, it will be applied to further develop tech-based tools, such as training machines to recognize patterns, then act upon what it has detected.

By 2024, AI-generated speech will be behind more than 50% of people's interactions with computers. Companies are still searching for ways to use AI effectively though, the consultancy says: "While any company can get good value from AI if it's applied effectively and in a repeatable way, less than one-quarter of respondents report significant bottom-line impact."

6. Future of programming

Get ready for Software 2.0, where neural networks and machine learning write code and create new software. "This tech trend makes possible the rapid scaling and diffusion of new data-rich, AI-driven applications," according to McKinsey.

In part, it could see the creation of software applications far more powerful and capable than anything available today. But it will also make it possible for existing software and coding processes to be standardized and automated.

In 2019, more than 8.5 billion data records were compromised. Despite advances in cybersecurity, criminals continue to redouble their efforts. Being a growing tech trend, trust architectures will help in the fight against cybercrime.

One approach to building a trust architecture is the use of distributed ledgers, such as blockchain. "In addition to lowering the risk of breaches, trust architectures reduce the cost of complying with security regulations, lower the operating and capital expenditures associated with cybersecurity, and enable more cost-efficient transactions, for instance, between buyers and sellers," McKinsey notes.

There is a "confluence of advances in biological science" that "promises a significant impact on economies and our lives and will affect industries from health and agriculture to consumer goods, energy and materials."

Propelled by AI, automation and DNA sequencing, the bio revolution promises the development of gene-therapies, hyper-personalized medicines and genetics-based guidance on food and exercise. These tech trends will create new markets but will also raise some important ethical questions. "Organizations need to assess their bQ or biological quotient - the extent to which they understand biological science and its implications. They should then sort out the resources they need to allocate to biological technologies and capabilities and whether to integrate those into their existing R&D or partner with science-based start-ups," McKinsey says.

9. Next-generation materials

Developments in materials science have the potential to transform multiple market sectors, including pharma, energy, transportation, health, semiconductors and manufacturing. Such materials include graphene - a single layer of carbon atoms arranged in a honeycomb lattice configuration, which is around 200 times stronger than steel, despite its incredible thinness. It is also a very efficient conductor and promises to revolutionize semiconductor performance. Another is molybdenum disulfide - nanoparticles of which are already being used in flexible electronics.

"By changing the economics of a wide range of products and services, next-generation materials with significantly higher efficiency in many as-yet-untouched application areas may well change industry economics and reconfigure companies within them," McKinsey says.

10. Future of clean tech trends

Renewable energy, cleaner/greener transport, energy-efficient buildings, and sustainable water consumption are at the heart of clean tech trends. As the costs associated with clean-tech fall, their use becomes more widespread and their disruption is felt across a growing number of industries

"Companies must keep pace with emerging business-building opportunities by designing operational-improvement programmes relating to technology development, procurement, manufacturing and cost reduction," McKinsey believes. "Advancing clean technologies also promises an abundant supply of green energy to sustain exponential technology growth, for instance, in high-power computing."

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These are the top 10 tech trends that will shape the coming decade, according to McKinsey

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Technological progress is advancing more rapidly than ever. To survive - and thrive - businesses must swiftly find their feet in this new landscape.

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The impact of artificial intelligence on the creative industries is a subject that has prompted widespread anxiety about job losses and the death of imagination, and the world of fashion is no exception.

But this month's London fashion week, marking the event's 40th anniversary, will showcase a host of AI-generated outfits and industry insiders have expressed a growing optimism about what the technology can do for the sector - from improving diversity to shortening the path from design desk to shop floor.

The head of London College of Fashion's Innovation Agency, Matthew Drinkwater, believes AI will prove a "hugely beneficial tool" for creative processes and for the industry as a whole.

"It has opened the door to non-traditional pathways into the fashion industry for people who couldn't get into it before because, let's face it, the industry can have a perception of feeling quite elitist and quite exclusive, and an expensive industry to get into.

"But these tools are allowing people from very different backgrounds to begin to have a foothold in the industry. And for me, that feels really new and exciting," he said.

Brands such as Heliot Emil, Zara and H&M are already using AI to control supply chains, which they say promotes sustainability by reducing overstock and waste. Many brands are also using AI to help the design processes, with images of clothes generated from typed prompts, visualising different materials and patterns. This allows designers to make informed decisions before physically producing clothes.

The consultancy McKinsey predicted last year that generative AI - the term for technology that can produce convincing images, text and audio from simple human prompts - could add $150bn to $275bn (£120bn to £220bn) to the operating profits of the fashion and luxury sectors within the next three to five years. Predicting future fashion trends and creating virtual try-ons using AI are also predicted to be just around the corner.

Drinkwater has been working with his team to look at how AI could change the industry, testing generative AI's ability to create clothing for years. "We were scraping websites to try to get lots of data so that we could create dresses from more than 40,000 images. It was actually really hard work to do four years ago but now we open our laptops, even our smartphones and start generating images very quickly," Drinkwater said.

A collaboration between VFX and AI artist Atara and the Fashion Innovation Agency at the London College of Fashion in March 2023.

"So typically, we take stuff which is maybe three to five years away from commercialisation and begin to show those research projects around where the future of the industry might move to," he added.

In April last year Cyril Foiret's generative AI studio, Maison Meta, hosted the first AI fashion week in New York, which included a competition for aspiring designers to use AI to create a fashion line. The winners were able to have their collections physically manufactured to be sold online with retailer Revolve. As in other industries, AI has come to be associated with job redundancies and critics argue creative artistry could be wiped out. But Foiret argues that there is little to fear.

"AI is such a powerful tool that is amplifying creativity. People thinking jobs are going to reduce shouldn't think like that. We all just need to get accustomed with the tools, but if it is just a tool without a person behind it, it's of no use," he said.

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Arti Zeighami, a former chief data and analytics officer at H&M and now senior adviser in AI for consulting firm BCG, agrees that AI can be used as a force for good within fashion. "Being transparent about AI helps people to not be afraid and allows them to be comfortable and still feel in control, it's the transformation of the mindset of the human that is important," he said.

"The AI will evolve as a technology either way we need to evolve alongside with it, but we haven't come to the terminator stage not yet, at least".

The TUC's AI lead, Mary Towers, said AI could be a useful aid for workers in the creative sector, but that it shouldn't be hijacked to replace human creativity.

"We need new laws to ensure that all workers in the arts - including fashion - are consulted and properly compensated if their work and intellectual property is used by AI," she said.

"We have already seen performers in the UK having their image, voice or likeness reproduced by AI technology without their consent. We can't afford for this to become the norm in other industries too. That's why we urgently need fresh regulation to protect workers' creativity and copyright."

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How AI is 'amplifying creativity' in the fashion world

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Ahead of London fashion week, optimists believe new tools can open up an industry that can be elitist - and costly to enter

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The fourth industrial revolution was about applying emerging technologies that are connected, interactive, and intuitive. The end objective is to derive the maximum cost and time efficiency. The European Union describes Industry 5.0 as providing “a vision of an industry that aims beyond efficiency and productivity as the sole goals and reinforces the role and the contribution of industry to society.” In the foresighting world, these mega-developments like Industrial revolution profoundly impact our Society. The 1st industrial revolution shifted us from a farming to a manufacturing economy and brought mega trends like urbanization. Similarly, with Industry 5.0, there will be a profund impact to our society at large, where human-robot coworking will reframe the fundamentals of jobs, skills, and global sourcing.

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Picture this: The year is 2040. You've just disembarked from a hypersonic flight from New York to London, a mere two-hour journey, and then take an air urban mobility "drone" to beat London's rush hour traffic to be home in 20 minutes. While in the air, you streamed a holographic conference in real time, thanks to a seamless fusion of cellular and satellite networks made possible by 6G. This isn't a visionary's dream. It's a glimpse into the imminent future. My team of foresight specialists at MarketsandMarkets has put together the top Mega Trends that will shape our future. The below Trends wheel summarises these trends across Horizon 1, 2, and 3.
The Mega Trends Decoded
The Hyper-Connected World: Each generation of technology has revolutionized how we connect and interact. 3G bought data, 4G video, and 5G provide B2B use cases like machine-to-machine communication, providing us with Connected stadiums, factories, and cars. But 6G? The leap from 5G to 6G promises a colossal leap, bringing isolated entities like homes, cars, and cities into a unified connected living ecosystem. Combine this with Space Log Jam (we will launch 20k satellites in this decade, and this will provide high-speed broadband, possibly 5G speeds in the future through satellites and precise location-based services), and we will be connected everywhere, anywhere, anytime, making it a hyper-connected world that will trigger new disruptive business models. The future, in essence, will echo a constant connection. In such a world, being disconnected might be the only true luxury.

Dawn of Technology Singularity: This trend charts the AI evolution from narrow AI to the dawn of singularity, where intelligent and powerful technologies could radically transform our reality with unpredictable results. With the advent of Generative AI, we have now entered the General AI era. There are currently no real-world examples of Artificial SuperIntelligence (ASI) where AI reaches human levels of consciousness, intelligence, and capabilities. A key sub-trend of growth of AI and the hyper-connected world will be us entering what we term an Autonomous world - a $10tr opportunity. By 2035, we will have the advent of new computing science like Neuromorphic Computing, DNA computing, and Quantum computing entering our worlds, and they will challenge Moore's law further and accelerate the shift from General AI to Super AI, meaning machines will become more intelligent than humans thereby achieving Technology Singularity.

Industry 5.0 - The Symbiotic Era: The fourth industrial revolution was about applying emerging technologies that are connected, interactive, and intuitive. The end objective is to derive the maximum cost and time efficiency. The European Union describes Industry 5.0 as providing "a vision of an industry that aims beyond efficiency and productivity as the sole goals and reinforces the role and the contribution of industry to society." In the foresighting world, these mega-developments like Industrial revolution profoundly impact our Society. The 1st industrial revolution shifted us from a farming to a manufacturing economy and brought mega trends like urbanization. Similarly, with Industry 5.0, there will be a profund impact to our society at large, where human-robot coworking will reframe the fundamentals of jobs, skills, and global sourcing.

The Energy Transition: Future of Energy will be decarbonized, decentralized, digital and democratized, and possibly one day energy will be free.Decarbonization refers to the shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources. Decentralization in the Energy sector refers to the growth of smaller on-site renewable power generation solutions. Digitalization refers to the shift from analog to digital solutions in the energy infrastructure like smart meters and smart grids to real-time management and processing of billions of data points to automate decision-making to allow integration of diverse power generation sources. Democratization refers to localization of Energy and harnessing the local nature to develop the best energy mix for that country/region and making energy accessible to all. We at MarketsandMarkets believe that one day, in the 21st century, energy could be free, and it will usher in new disruptive business models and opportunities that are unique and very different from what we see in the world today. That could mean future fuels like Green hydrogen will be abundant if the solar or wind power to generate it is free.

Innovation to zero: This is my favorite trend and is close to my heart. Innovating to Zero is not a mega-trend but a mega vision-a vision of a picture-perfect world, a desire for perfection in our Society, businesses, and every product and service we consume. It is a zero-concept world with zero crimes, zero diseases, zero hunger, zero deaths, carbon-neutral buildings, cities, and net zero nations. The Vision Zero World is all-encompassing today, embracing manufacturing, retail, cities, individuals, corporates, governments, work, home, leisure, products, performance, and processes. It is about a philosophy that pivots around safe, smart, and sustainable practices. Beyond achieving carbon neutrality and net zero, it is about consciously building a better world-free of errors, defects, and negatives.

Future of Mobility: The future of travel isn't just faster but smarter. Imagine a world free from transport woes, where multi-modal, integrated systems offer real-time dynamic guidance, culminating in almost instantaneous journeys. The future of mobility will be multi-modal, integrated, and door-to-door, combining multiple energy-efficient transport modes with mobility-as-a-service platform offerings. Mobility will be an integral part of a zero-vision world where the three evils of transport-congestion, pollution, and accidents-are all eliminated. We will have the fourth and the fifth dimensions of travel introduced with sub-surface and super-surface travel with hypersonic speeds a reality (imagine London to New York in two hours). The scenario will lead us to a state of mobility that takes us closer to transcending time and providing instantaneous mobility.

Future Society and Urbanization: While the global population is aging, some nations in Asia and Africa have young, fast-growing populations. The prospective customers will be more diverse in age, sex, culture, and wealth and require personalized and customized services. Increasing urbanization rates in small and intermediate-sized cities, particularly in Africa and Asia, will have important implications for new markets, products, and services. Suburbanization will grow in the West, but the East will see a growth of Mega regions and urbanization of cities hundreds of miles apart, giving rise to gargantuan corridors like the 1350 km Delhi Mumbai Industrial corridor.

Economic powerhouses of the future - Baby-bust economies: With growing populations and a youth demographic dividend, many emerging economies will outpace advanced economies in growth. In fact, by 2040, today's developing economies will account for more than 65% of global output. We believe that countries with a 100M+ population have the potential to be trillion-dollar economies by 2040. Thereby, future growth will be driven by what we term 'baby-bust economies.' In this changing economic tapestry, populas nations like China, India, Indonesia, Brazil, Mexico, Saudi Arabia and Nigeria could emerge as the ultimate and top 15 economic powerhouses by 2050. Changing economic dynamics also pose challenges for businesses. For example, a lingering thought remains as we draw this vision to a close. With global population growth potentially plateauing and the ongoing climate crisis, the grand question is: Could we see the end of growth as we know it? The answer may lie with the emerging middle class of developing countries. Their aspirations, dreams, and economic thrust could carve out a new 'Middle Earth.' A world where their ambitions drive the global GDP growth, shaping a future that's as unpredictable as it's exhilarating.

In this grand dance of disruption and innovation, one truth stands tall-we're on the cusp of a revolution that promises to be extraordinary. So, brace yourselves: the best is yet to come!

If you are interested to learn more about Foresighting, reach out to the Markets and Markets Foresighting team.

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The Mega Trends That Will Shape Our Future World

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The Mega Trends Decoded: Hyper Connected world, Autonomous World, Marketplace everywhere, Future Society and other Mega Trends that will shape our future world

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The Evolution of Artificial Intelligence: Past, Present & Future

Everything about the evolution of artificial intelligence

Artificial Intelligence has grown into a formidable tool in recent years allowing robots to think and act like humans. Furthermore, it has attracted the attention of IT firms all around the world and is seen as the next major technological revolution following the growth of mobile and cloud platforms. It's even been dubbed the "4th industrial revolution" by some. Researchers have developed software that uses Darwinian evolution ideas, such as "survival of the fittest," to construct AI algorithms that improve generation to generation with no need for human intervention. The computer was able to recreate decades of AI research in only a few days, and its creators believe that one day it will be able to find new AI techniques.

In this article, we will learn about how AI is evolving day by day.

History of Artificial Intelligence

Despite artificial intelligence has been present for millennia, it was not until the 1950s that its real potential was investigated. A generation of scientists, physicists, and intellectuals had the idea of AI, but it wasn't until Alan Turing, a British polymath, proposed that people solve problems and make decisions using available information and also a reason.

The difficulty of computers was the major stumbling block to expansion. They needed to adapt fundamentally before they could expand any further. Machines could execute orders but not store them. Until 1974, financing was also a problem.

By 1974, computers had become extremely popular. They were now quicker, less expensive, and capable of storing more data.

AI Research Today

AI research is ongoing and expanding in today's world. AI research has grown at a pace of 12.9 percent annually over the last five years, as per Alice Bonasio, a technology journalist.

China is expected to overtake the United States as the world's leading source of AI technology in the next 4 years, having overtaken the United States' second position in 2004 and is rapidly closing in on Europe's top rank.

In the area of artificial intelligence development, Europe is the largest and most diverse continent, with significant levels of international collaboration. India is the 3rd largest country in AI research output, behind China and the USA.

AI in The Present

Artificial intelligence is being utilized for so many things and has so much promise that it's difficult to imagine our future without it, related to business.

Artificial intelligence technologies are boosting productivity like never seen before, from workflow management solutions to trend forecasts and even the way companies buy advertisements.

Artificial Intelligence can gather and organize vast volumes of data in order to draw inferences and estimates that are outside of the human ability to comprehend manually. It also improves organizational efficiency while lowering the risk of a mistake, and it identifies unusual patterns, such as spam and frauds, instantaneously to alert organizations about suspicious behaviour, among other things. AI has grown in importance and sophistication to the point that a Japanese investment firm became the first to propose an AI Board Member for its ability to forecast market trends faster than humans.

Artificial intelligence will indeed be and is already being used in many aspects of life, such as self-driving cars in the coming years, more precise weather forecasting, and earlier health diagnoses, to mention a few.

AI in The Future

It has been suggested that we are on the verge of the 4th Industrial Revolution, which will be unlike any of the previous three. From steam and water power through electricity and manufacturing process, computerization, and now, the question of what it is to be human is being challenged.

Smarter technology in our factories and workplaces, as well as linked equipment that will communicate, view the entire production process, and make autonomous choices, are just a few of the methods the Industrial Revolution will lead to business improvements. One of the most significant benefits of the 4th Industrial Revolution is the ability to improve the world's populace's quality of life and increase income levels. As robots, humans, and smart devices work on improving supply chains and warehousing, our businesses and organizations are becoming "smarter" and more productive.

AI in Different Industries

Artificial intelligence (AI) may help you enhance the value of your company in a variety of ways. It may help you optimize your operations, increase total revenue, and focus your staff on more essential duties if applied correctly. As a result, AI is being utilized in a variety of industries throughout the world, including health care, finance, manufacturing, and others.

Health Care

AI is proven to be an uplift in the healthcare business. It's enhancing nearly every area of the industry, from data security to robot-assisted operations. AI is finally providing this sector, which has been harmed by inefficient procedures and growing prices, a much-needed facelift.

Automotive

Self-driving vehicles are certainly something you've heard of, and they're a hint that the future is almost here. It's no longer science fiction; the autonomous car is already a reality. As per recent projections, by 2040, roughly 33 million automobiles with self-driving capability are projected to be on the road.

Finance

According to experts, the banking industry and AI are a perfect combination. Real-time data transmission, accuracy, and large-scale data processing are the most important elements driving the financial sector. Because AI is ideal for these tasks, the banking industry is recognizing its effectiveness and precision and incorporating machine learning, statistical arbitrage, adaptive cognition, chatbot, and automation into its business operations.

Transportation And Travel

From recommending the best route for drivers to arranging travel reservations remotely, AI has now become a gigantic trend in this business. End consumers are finding it easier to navigate thanks to artificial intelligence. Furthermore, travel businesses that integrate AI into their systems profit from smartphone usage.

E-Commerce

Have you ever come upon a picture of clothing that you were hunting for on one website but couldn't find on another? Well, that is done by AI. It's due to the machine learning techniques that businesses employ to develop strong client connections. These technologies not only personalize customers' experiences but also assist businesses in increasing sales.

Conclusion

In the early twenty-first century, no place has had a larger influence on AI than the workplace. Machine-learning techniques are resulting in productivity gains that have never been observed before. AI is transforming the way we do business, from workflow management solutions to trend forecasts and even the way businesses buy advertising. AI research has so much promise that it's becoming difficult to envisage a world without it. Be its self-driving vehicles, more precise weather predictions, or space travel, AI will be prevalent in everyday life by 2030.

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The Evolution of Artificial Intelligence: Past, Present & Future

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The Evolution of Artificial Intelligence: Past, Present & Future Artificial Intelligence has grown into a formidable tool in recent years allowing robots to think and act like humans. Furthermore, it has attracted the attention of IT firms all around the world and is seen as the next major technological revolution following the growth of mobile and cloud platforms. It's even been dubbed the "4th industrial revolution" by some.

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Picture this: The year is 2040. You've just disembarked from a hypersonic flight from New York to London, a mere two-hour journey, and then take an air urban mobility "drone" to beat London's rush hour traffic to be home in 20 minutes. While in the air, you streamed a holographic conference in real time, thanks to a seamless fusion of cellular and satellite networks made possible by 6G. This isn't a visionary's dream. It's a glimpse into the imminent future. My team of foresight specialists at MarketsandMarkets has put together the top Mega Trends that will shape our future. The below Trends wheel summarises these trends across Horizon 1, 2, and 3.
The Mega Trends Decoded
The Hyper-Connected World: Each generation of technology has revolutionized how we connect and interact. 3G bought data, 4G video, and 5G provide B2B use cases like machine-to-machine communication, providing us with Connected stadiums, factories, and cars. But 6G? The leap from 5G to 6G promises a colossal leap, bringing isolated entities like homes, cars, and cities into a unified connected living ecosystem. Combine this with Space Log Jam (we will launch 20k satellites in this decade, and this will provide high-speed broadband, possibly 5G speeds in the future through satellites and precise location-based services), and we will be connected everywhere, anywhere, anytime, making it a hyper-connected world that will trigger new disruptive business models. The future, in essence, will echo a constant connection. In such a world, being disconnected might be the only true luxury.

Dawn of Technology Singularity: This trend charts the AI evolution from narrow AI to the dawn of singularity, where intelligent and powerful technologies could radically transform our reality with unpredictable results. With the advent of Generative AI, we have now entered the General AI era. There are currently no real-world examples of Artificial SuperIntelligence (ASI) where AI reaches human levels of consciousness, intelligence, and capabilities. A key sub-trend of growth of AI and the hyper-connected world will be us entering what we term an Autonomous world - a $10tr opportunity. By 2035, we will have the advent of new computing science like Neuromorphic Computing, DNA computing, and Quantum computing entering our worlds, and they will challenge Moore's law further and accelerate the shift from General AI to Super AI, meaning machines will become more intelligent than humans thereby achieving Technology Singularity.

Industry 5.0 - The Symbiotic Era: The fourth industrial revolution was about applying emerging technologies that are connected, interactive, and intuitive. The end objective is to derive the maximum cost and time efficiency. The European Union describes Industry 5.0 as providing "a vision of an industry that aims beyond efficiency and productivity as the sole goals and reinforces the role and the contribution of industry to society." In the foresighting world, these mega-developments like Industrial revolution profoundly impact our Society. The 1st industrial revolution shifted us from a farming to a manufacturing economy and brought mega trends like urbanization. Similarly, with Industry 5.0, there will be a profund impact to our society at large, where human-robot coworking will reframe the fundamentals of jobs, skills, and global sourcing.

The Energy Transition: Future of Energy will be decarbonized, decentralized, digital and democratized, and possibly one day energy will be free.Decarbonization refers to the shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources. Decentralization in the Energy sector refers to the growth of smaller on-site renewable power generation solutions. Digitalization refers to the shift from analog to digital solutions in the energy infrastructure like smart meters and smart grids to real-time management and processing of billions of data points to automate decision-making to allow integration of diverse power generation sources. Democratization refers to localization of Energy and harnessing the local nature to develop the best energy mix for that country/region and making energy accessible to all. We at MarketsandMarkets believe that one day, in the 21st century, energy could be free, and it will usher in new disruptive business models and opportunities that are unique and very different from what we see in the world today. That could mean future fuels like Green hydrogen will be abundant if the solar or wind power to generate it is free.

Innovation to zero: This is my favorite trend and is close to my heart. Innovating to Zero is not a mega-trend but a mega vision-a vision of a picture-perfect world, a desire for perfection in our Society, businesses, and every product and service we consume. It is a zero-concept world with zero crimes, zero diseases, zero hunger, zero deaths, carbon-neutral buildings, cities, and net zero nations. The Vision Zero World is all-encompassing today, embracing manufacturing, retail, cities, individuals, corporates, governments, work, home, leisure, products, performance, and processes. It is about a philosophy that pivots around safe, smart, and sustainable practices. Beyond achieving carbon neutrality and net zero, it is about consciously building a better world-free of errors, defects, and negatives.

Future of Mobility: The future of travel isn't just faster but smarter. Imagine a world free from transport woes, where multi-modal, integrated systems offer real-time dynamic guidance, culminating in almost instantaneous journeys. The future of mobility will be multi-modal, integrated, and door-to-door, combining multiple energy-efficient transport modes with mobility-as-a-service platform offerings. Mobility will be an integral part of a zero-vision world where the three evils of transport-congestion, pollution, and accidents-are all eliminated. We will have the fourth and the fifth dimensions of travel introduced with sub-surface and super-surface travel with hypersonic speeds a reality (imagine London to New York in two hours). The scenario will lead us to a state of mobility that takes us closer to transcending time and providing instantaneous mobility.

Future Society and Urbanization: While the global population is aging, some nations in Asia and Africa have young, fast-growing populations. The prospective customers will be more diverse in age, sex, culture, and wealth and require personalized and customized services. Increasing urbanization rates in small and intermediate-sized cities, particularly in Africa and Asia, will have important implications for new markets, products, and services. Suburbanization will grow in the West, but the East will see a growth of Mega regions and urbanization of cities hundreds of miles apart, giving rise to gargantuan corridors like the 1350 km Delhi Mumbai Industrial corridor.

Economic powerhouses of the future - Baby-bust economies: With growing populations and a youth demographic dividend, many emerging economies will outpace advanced economies in growth. In fact, by 2040, today's developing economies will account for more than 65% of global output. We believe that countries with a 100M+ population have the potential to be trillion-dollar economies by 2040. Thereby, future growth will be driven by what we term 'baby-bust economies.' In this changing economic tapestry, populas nations like China, India, Indonesia, Brazil, Mexico, Saudi Arabia and Nigeria could emerge as the ultimate and top 15 economic powerhouses by 2050. Changing economic dynamics also pose challenges for businesses. For example, a lingering thought remains as we draw this vision to a close. With global population growth potentially plateauing and the ongoing climate crisis, the grand question is: Could we see the end of growth as we know it? The answer may lie with the emerging middle class of developing countries. Their aspirations, dreams, and economic thrust could carve out a new 'Middle Earth.' A world where their ambitions drive the global GDP growth, shaping a future that's as unpredictable as it's exhilarating.

In this grand dance of disruption and innovation, one truth stands tall-we're on the cusp of a revolution that promises to be extraordinary. So, brace yourselves: the best is yet to come!

If you are interested to learn more about Foresighting, reach out to the Markets and Markets Foresighting team.

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The Mega Trends That Will Shape Our Future World

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The Mega Trends Decoded: Hyper Connected world, Autonomous World, Marketplace everywhere, Future Society and other Mega Trends that will shape our future world

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Gen AI examples in the industry + conclusion

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Gen AI examples in the industry + conclusion

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image source vogue and gloccy.co

The fashion industry, renowned for its ever-changing trends, has always been on the lookout for fresh and innovative approaches to stay ahead in the race for style supremacy. In this dynamic landscape, the fusion of fashion and technology has become more apparent than ever. Among the technological marvels taking center stage is Generative Artificial Intelligence (Generative AI), a disruptive force redefining the way clothing is designed, produced, and even marketed.

The Evolution of Fashion Design

Traditionally, fashion design was a meticulous process, driven by human creativity and inspiration. Designers sketched intricate designs, selected fabrics, and crafted patterns with painstaking attention to detail. While this artistic approach remains integral, Generative AI is now a silent collaborator in the creative process.

Human-AI collaborative fashion designs made by Agnes Cameron from How To Generate Almost Anything.

Generative AI leverages deep learning algorithms and neural networks to generate novel designs based on pre-fed data. Designers input parameters such as style preferences, color schemes, and clothing types, and the AI system produces a wide array of design variations. This innovative tool has significantly expedited the design phase, providing designers with a plethora of inspiration and ideas.

Personalized Fashion for Everyone

One of the most significant advantages of Generative AI in fashion is its ability to create personalized clothing. It's a dream come true for consumers who have longed for tailored garments that suit their unique tastes and preferences. By inputting their body measurements and style choices, customers can now receive clothing designed just for them, down to the last stitch.

Moreover, this level of customization extends to fashion retailers, allowing them to offer "made-to-measure" or "custom-fit" options, setting their brands apart in a competitive market. As a result, the fashion industry is experiencing a shift from mass production to more sustainable, customer-centric practices.

Sustainable Fashion: A Necessity, Not a Trend

Sustainability is no longer a mere buzzword in the fashion industry; it's an imperative. Generative AI is making waves in sustainable fashion by optimizing fabric use, reducing waste, and enhancing overall efficiency. By minimizing material wastage in the design and manufacturing process, this technology contributes to eco-friendly fashion.

Mannequins wearing ecofriendly sustainable fashion created with generative ai

In addition to reducing waste, Generative AI aids in creating innovative eco-friendly designs. It generates patterns that maximize fabric usage and minimize the need for additional materials. This results in clothing that's both stylish and sustainable, meeting the growing demand for environmentally conscious fashion.

A Revolution in Textile Design

Textile design, a critical aspect of fashion, has also witnessed a revolution thanks to Generative AI. Designers can experiment with an array of fabric patterns and textures to create unique textiles. This technology has breathed new life into traditional fabrics, allowing designers to explore unconventional combinations and create designs that were once unimaginable.

Furthermore, Generative AI optimizes color combinations, ensuring that the chosen hues complement each other flawlessly. This translates into exquisite textiles and clothing that is not only aesthetically pleasing but also visually harmonious.

Changing the Retail Landscape

The fashion retail landscape is being transformed by Generative AI. Virtual fitting rooms and recommendation systems leverage this technology to provide customers with a personalized shopping experience. Shoppers can virtually try on clothing and receive tailored recommendations based on their style preferences and body types, bridging the gap between online and in-store shopping.

Leading Brands Utilizing Generative AI

Several major companies in the fashion and clothing industry have embraced Generative AI to enhance their design, production, and customer experiences. Here are some notable examples:

Adidas: This sportswear giant utilizes Generative AI to create unique and personalized shoe designs. Customers can customize their sneakers through the Adidas Gritin customization platform, allowing them to choose color schemes and patterns, ultimately receiving one-of-a-kind footwear.

source- Adidas Artificial Intelligence Design | Webhead Studios

2. Stella McCartney: Known for her commitment to sustainability, Stella McCartney has adopted Generative AI to develop innovative sustainable materials and fabrics. The brand is at the forefront of eco-friendly fashion, using AI to create new textiles that are kinder to the environment.

source- Students Team with IBM and Tommy Hilfiger to Use AI - FIT Newsroom (fitnyc.edu)

3. IBM and Tommy Hilfiger: Tommy Hilfiger teamed up with IBM to create a fashion collection in a project known as "Reimagine Retail." Using Generative AI, they redesigned classic Tommy Hilfiger styles, producing a unique line that combined the brand's classic look with innovative, AI-generated designs.

source- Neo-Ex collection - clothing that only exists online | NEW YORK TOKYO

4. Carlings: This Scandinavian fashion retailer launched a digital clothing collection called "Neo-Ex" that exists solely in augmented reality. Customers select a piece of clothing and describe the design they want, which is then brought to life using Generative AI. This virtual clothing collection reduces waste and exemplifies the personalized fashion approach.

5. Zara: Zara has integrated AI and Generative Design into its manufacturing processes. They use AI for demand forecasting, optimizing inventory management, and even designing clothing collections that reflect current trends and customer preferences.

These examples highlight how fashion and clothing companies are integrating Generative AI into various aspects of their operations, from design to production and customer interaction, ultimately reshaping the fashion industry.

Conclusion:
Threads of Tomorrow

In pixels and threads, AI finds its grace, Creating garments with a digital embrace. From runways to screens, a stylish parade, Generative AI in fashion, the future's made.

In conclusion, the influence of Generative AI in the clothing industry is nothing short of revolutionary. It enhances creativity, promotes sustainability, and personalizes fashion like never before. As we look to the future of fashion, it's clear that technology and innovation will continue to shape the way we dress, ensuring that fashion remains truly forward-looking. Generative AI is not just a tool for designers; it's a movement that places individuality, sustainability, and creativity at the heart of fashion's future.

Additional Reference Links:

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Fashion Forward: The Influence of Generative AI in the Clothing Industry

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The fashion industry, renowned for its ever-changing trends, has always been on the lookout for fresh and innovative approaches to stay ahead in the race for style supremacy. In this dynamic...

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Transforming Trends into Innovation | Fashion Snoops

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Our consulting teams partners with clients to give them the tools, access and advice they need to innovate and successfully act on global trends and cultural shifts.

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Katie Baldwin, a senior womenswear designer at G.H. Bass & Co., is currently immersed in research for the summer 2015 season. (The New York-based designer is responsible for knits and sweaters.) That means visiting museums and galleries, observing what other stores are currently carrying, compiling mood boards and just getting a general sense of where she'd like to take the collection. But before she presents her ideas to the vice president of design, she consults WGSN, a trend forecasting service that offers in-depth reports on what people will be wearing in the future. "It delivers a strong message to my management," she says. "It makes my presentation stronger to be able to say that not only do I think we should add a boy-fit tank to our line, but so do market researchers."

Baldwin first starting using WGSN in 1999 while working at Brooks Brothers. (The London-based service was founded in 1998.) She continued to use it during gigs at Ralph Lauren and PVH Corp. At some point, though, she switched over to Stylesight, the New York-based trend forecasting serviced founded by retail industry vet Frank Bober in 2004. When PVH sold Bass to G-III Apparel Group in October 2013, she continued to use Stylesight. A month later, WGSN acquired Stylesight for an undisclosed sum, combing the two businesses. After years of using Stylesight, she was back with WGSN -- and perfectly fine with it.

Baldwin, of course, is capable of doing her own research. She's capable of spying the trends, predicting popular colors and sketching the silhouettes. But what WGSN offers is ammunition. If her superiors aren't convinced that boy-fit tanks are the next big thing, it's valuable that a group of purported experts are confirming her instincts. Indeed, that proposed value is why WGSN is today's leading trend forecaster.

"We're a real, trusted resource for validation," says Steve Newbold, managing director of WGSN trends. "Things are moving so fast. We give you the tools to know that what you're making is going to be commercially viable."

Designers make up more than half of WGSN's customer base: the rest are CEOs, visual merchandisers, buyers, marketing execs and students. Major retailers like Marks & Spencer and Nordstrom, as well as brands like Rebecca Taylor, are paying clients. How much they pay each year varies because fees are negotiated, but the number can easily reach the five figures depending on how many log-ins are required. (Students, obviously, are offered a discounted or free service, typically through their university.) WGSN, which is owned by the Top Right Group, says its subscriber base is currently 75,000. WGSN and 4C Group - a trend forecasting firm for the construction, environmental and political industries - brought in a combined £75 million for Top Right in 2013. The parent company says it has invested £50 million in the WGSN Group over the past three years.

It is thought that WGSN wanted Stylesight for its technology. (And also for its audience: Stylesight was able to lure many U.S. brands away from WGSN.) When I interviewed Bober - who has retired "but remains a close advisor and friend to the company" - for Fashionista in 2010, he emphasized the breadth of the platform, and why tech was just as important as the content. "We're the only company in our space that actually has a development team. We're doing our own coding," he told me. Stylesight distinguished itself from WGSN and other competitors by, as I described it back then, creating "a Google Docs for your fashion stuff." Suddenly, all those trend reports and mood boards and color forecasts were organized and filed in a way that made it easier for designers to create presentations.

When the WGSN and Stylesight's combined platform launched in early August, all of Stylesight's goodies were on hand. While the trend forecasting reports are valuable to users, what they really seem to be there for are the 65,000 CAD files, or computer-generated patterns. (It's romantic to think that all fashion lines dream up new patterns every season, but it doesn't happen much outside of ready-to-wear. Brands will even send designers out to buy competitors' pieces so that they can copy a popular pattern. It's not a pretty aspect of the industry.)

Unsurprisingly, Kevin Silk, WGSN's chief commercial officer, sees it differently. "Color libraries, CADs, those are just gravy," he says. "What we do is distill this massive amount of information through our experts down to usable, actionable insights." WGSN is also pushing its InStock retail analytics service, which allows users to track what is selling, trending and being marked down at other retailers.

Few brands are willing to talk on the record about their experience with WGSN and Stylesight. There are many reasons for this. First, there's the matter of trade secrets. They don't want to publicly admit that they need "help" scouting trends or designing patterns. Some find it difficult to convince their superiors, year after year, to pay such a handsome sum for the service, so they don't want to draw attention to it once again.

Others are moving to cheaper services that might feel a little more like the "old" Stylesight. (While the technology is still there, much of Stylesight's creative team was let go during the merger.) Editd, a UK-based, data-driven forecasting firm run by a hip fashion designer, earned itself a New York Times profile last year. And then there's New York-based Fashion Snoops, which launched over a decade ago, but has shifted its direction as of late. "About nine months ago, we were really sensing the need to address the fast-fashion fatigue our clients' consumers were feeling," says Michael Fisher, creative director of menswear, lifestyle and culture at Fashion Snoops. (He also happens to be a former Stylesight editor.) For Snoops, that means a more boutique approach to the process: along with frequent updates of trend reports, the team is focusing more on storytelling, less on design dictation. "Compared to our competitors who are literally becoming giant search engines of an overwhelming amount of information, we want to give our clients edited, expert-driven plans for the seasons ahead."

While WGSN is certainly watching these competing firms, there's no doubting that it still has the foothold on the market- and arguably because it bought Stylesight. The service's next step is to break into other categories, such as interior design. "There's crossover with the core fashion business, yes, but it's also a new audience," Newbold says. "We want to both increase users and increase penetration with existing users. The new website is obviously a massive step forward. It's faster, better and more useful for our customers."
Homepage photo: Kirstin Sinclair/Getty Images

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Katie Baldwin, a senior womenswear designer at G.H. Bass & Co., is currently immersed in research for the summer 2015 season. (The New York-based designer is responsible for knits and sweaters.) That means visiting museums and galleries, observing what other stores are currently carrying, compiling mood boards and just getting a general sense of where she'd like to take the collection.

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Op-Ed | Trend Forecasting Is Becoming Less Art, More Science

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Learning to analyse digital demand signals is the key to staying on trend, argues Yarden Horwitz, one of the 10 winners of BoF's Future VOICES Challenge.

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How To Use Trend Forecasting To Understand Your Consumers

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As trend forecasters we often get asked; What is trend forecasting? How can trend forecasting help me to understand my customers?

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Updated: Jan 15

For industry innovators in the consumer consumer products, retail, and manufacturing sectors, understanding and anticipating fashion and consumer trends is paramount.

One way to stay ahead of the market is to partner with reputable trend forecasting agencies. Working with a trend forecasting agency can be a considerable investment for any organization. So, knowing the top players is key so your organization can choose the right one.

Here's a curated list of the top fashion trend forecasting agencies from around the world.

Guiding the Path of Innovation

For innovators in leadership positions navigating the intricate world of fashion and consumer trends, aligning with these trend forecasting agencies is a strategic move. From the data-driven precision of to the generational insights of , each agency brings a unique perspective to the table.

As businesses look to the future, the guidance of these trend forecasting leaders will prove instrumental in shaping innovative product strategies, fostering consumer engagement, and staying at the forefront of the dynamic fashion landscape.

For industry innovators in the consumer consumer products, retail, and manufacturing sectors, understanding and anticipating fashion and consumer trends is paramount.

One way to stay ahead of the market is to partner with reputable trend forecasting agencies. Working with a trend forecasting agency can be a considerable investment for any organization. So, knowing the top players is key so your organization can choose the right one.

Here's a curated list of the top fashion trend forecasting agencies from around the world.

Guiding the Path of Innovation

For innovators in leadership positions navigating the intricate world of fashion and consumer trends, aligning with these trend forecasting agencies is a strategic move. From the data-driven precision of to the generational insights of , each agency brings a unique perspective to the table.

As businesses look to the future, the guidance of these trend forecasting leaders will prove instrumental in shaping innovative product strategies, fostering consumer engagement, and staying at the forefront of the dynamic fashion landscape.

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A Comprehensive Guide to Fashion Trend Forecasting Agencies

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For industry innovators in the consumer consumer products, retail, and manufacturing sectors, understanding and anticipating fashion and consumer trends is paramount. One way to stay ahead of the market is to partner with reputable trend forecasting agencies. Working with a trend forecasting agency can be a considerable investment for any organization.

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Why Trend Forecasting for Fashion Brands Is Important In 2024

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If you want to grow your fashion brand, you must know the needs, wants, and demands of your customers. Even if your dresses are made by a famous designer, they won’t sell if people don’t think they’re right for them. If a company understands fashion trends and the buyer’s mind, it’ll have a better chance of finding out what people want and making collections that sell like crazy.

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This image was created using artificial intelligence (an AI tool) to illustrate this background article. Credits: FashionUnited Who predi