How AI Is Transforming Fashion Retail | Retail Rebels 2025 Startup Pitches
The recording captures a multi‑speaker session where five fashion‑tech startups present AI‑powered solutions for e‑commerce. Kristina (ContourLab) opens by confronting common AI fears—job loss, data paralysis, lack of talent—and then showcases ContourLab’s human‑centric AI shopping advisor and “fashion passport” that combines body measurements, style preferences, and purchase history to deliver personalized product discovery, size recommendations, and a data‑rich customer profile. She reports measurable outcomes: 4× conversion lift, +22% AOV, 7% repeat purchase increase, and 17% lower return rates, positioning the technology as a sustainability lever and a strategic data foundation. Chris Kellner (Digital Genius) explains the company’s AI agent Nora, built specifically for e‑commerce, which automates routine contacts (order status, returns) and uses visual AI to detect product defects. He cites On Running’s results: 2× productivity, 93% faster response, 70% inquiry resolution, 88% CSAT, and reduced carbon footprint. He stresses that AI augments—not replaces—human agents, freeing them for “delight moments.” Speaker C (Fiercely) demonstrates an avatar‑based try‑on platform with the AI stylist Eddie. Shoppers upload a photo, receive a personalized 3D avatar, and can create shoppable videos that double as social content. The pitch highlights higher conversion, lower returns, and the creation of a creator‑economy loop where every shopper becomes an influencer, feeding brand‑owned marketing. Will (Glossy) presents a browser‑based real‑time 3D visual production studio that turns a single 3D model into unlimited photoreal assets (images, 360 spins, videos) in minutes. By baking creative direction into templates and leveraging a CAD‑true source‑of‑truth, Glossy cuts asset turnaround from weeks to minutes, reduces spend, and boosts conversion (+32%) while delivering three‑times more visuals per product. Throughout the session, speakers repeatedly reference market pressures—peak‑season traffic spikes, post‑COVID expectations for in‑store‑level personalization, and sustainability imperatives tied to high return rates (30‑40% of online fashion items). They also share personal motivations (Kristina’s body‑positivity mission) and call for partnerships with AI‑specialized vendors to overcome fragmented data and talent gaps. The overall narrative frames AI as an enabler of human‑centric experiences, data‑driven decision‑making, and operational efficiency, while dispelling myths that AI will replace people.
Chapters
Hello everyone, I'm Kristina. I'm founder and CEO of Conterlab, and I would like to maybe start off with addressing some fears and barriers that probably a lot of people already heard frequently these— well, yesterday and today maybe also— around AI that is— that are holding fashion companies back. And why why they cannot afford to sit still, and what we're doing with KonturLab to help lead that change by building an AI that is human-centric and not cold or personal. So we're all a little bit scared about the potential outcome and power that AI might have, right? And I think it's one of the main reasons that the adoption of AI hasn't been fully embraced yet in this industry. And so the first one is, of course, that AI is here to replace us and our teams. The second one is that not many companies have already determined which AI strategies would be the best for them, and they kind of feel paralyzed around the data that they're sitting on and don't know how to start, really. But there's also the thing that they don't really have the right teams yet. So creative teams aren't often trained in AI, no data scientists or machine learning engineers in-house to execute it. So they're kind of scared of inefficient use, right? But you'll see from this presentation, hopefully, that these fears do not have to hold you back. Because it's a reality. The world around us is already changing. I mean, the clearest example is ChatGPT, 800 million users, and it hasn't been around for that long amongst the consumer space, right? So let me guide you through some observations that we're seeing in the e-commerce space, in fashion particularly. I mean, we see clearly that the product discovery is broken. It's flawed because consumers having to scroll through hundreds or thousands of products is a real struggle. A lot of insecurities also arise when shopping online, especially around fit, which is actually causing 70% of cart abandonment. Of course, that's leading to low conversion rates. It's below 2%, whereas if you would look at conversion rates in stores, it's much, much much higher, and I will tell you later why. But this is even worse because it's also a high amount of, you know, unsustainable returns and overproduction. And if you look at it more concretely, we are at $450 billion worth of estimated losses of unsold or returned goods, which is hallucinately high. And between 30 and 40% of those online fashion goods are being returned, of which a large part is due to a poor fit or size. And then when you take a look at the research from a consumer point of view, there is definite need for personalization because 39% is actually already using AI for product discovery and 79% actually wants help reducing the time spent researching what to buy. And 82% would find it helpful for AI to understand them better, what their needs are, and to recommend products. To them. But research is optimistic about adoption of AI by these companies because the first one, I mean, digital e-commerce experiences have been growing digital sales by between 30% and 50%. So there are use cases there. And then for the challenges in the middle, 50% of fashion executives actually see improvement of discovery as a key use case this year and next year. And of course, when I'm talking about, you know, the problem of lack of digital and data strategy, I mean, there are plenty of startups out there that are helping and using AI to make this industry more sustainable and more efficient. So studies also recommend partnering up with those specific specialized AI vendors and niche solutions to really drive change. So the signal is clear, right? The rise of AI-powered shopping is there. Consumers are ready for a technology that understands them, and the most Clear examples are maybe, I don't know if you know them, are Pia and Daydream. They're both B2C solutions that help shoppers shop more efficiently and more seamlessly. So I would love to now guide you through how KonturLab is generating real and tangible value in the B2B space because we're not B2C, we're offering the service to brands. So we are helping fashion companies to simplify the product discovery and turn it into a more humanized personal experience. With AI that actually has a purpose and personality and doesn't feel distant or cold. And our AI shopping advisor brings that experience that shoppers love in-store with asking the right questions at the right moment and then helping them to discover the perfect products for them. We're bringing that into the online world. So she's working with body type, but also with, you know, skin, hair, and eye color, style and fit preferences. To really help that shopper increase their self-confidence with online purchasing and take away the need for returns, of course. And we're often perceived as a sizing tool, but we are deliberately not because we don't believe that the shopper is only just a size. When you go into a shop, they don't look at you as you're a size 2 or you're a size 4, right? You also have a body type, your own style, your own needs, your preferences. And so that is how we are going about it with a more holistic approach, let's say, when we look at the discovery for the customer. It also— I mean, sizing alone doesn't fix the discovery or the customer satisfaction. There are European brands that we're already to help win, but I would love to show you how it really works. So imagine that you're a shopper going into a webshop and you start browsing through the products. I mean, this is typically a moment where product overwhelm hits and a lot of uncertainty questions arise around, you know, will this look good on me? Will this fit me? So we ask the right questions and we do this through a chat window, as you see, or a simple form to fill in. And all the input is actually building towards a fashion passport that holds information around your body. And like I said, your external features and your preferences. And it also connects to the order history so that we can really understand the shopper even better and understand also more of their intent. So once this is done, it brings you to a personalized page with a curated selection like this. On the left, you will see the product passport and actually the, the collection and the curated selection that you see here is sorted and filtered based on the profile of the shopper. And so the best options and the most flattering ones you can see on top. And when you're interested in the product, you can also discover the right size recommendation there. So for brands, as you see, this has been quite successful because we've seen an increase of the conversion rate times 4, but we also see an uplift in the average order value with 22%. And a really nice KPI that we're going after, and we've seen this happening, is the positive impact on customer loyalty, which is really important these days. 7% comes back early, earlier than normally in the same year. And then the return rate is 17% lower for the users of our service. So I mean, if you can make the shopper feel heard, feel listened to and valued, that and, you know, plus elevating the experience online this way as it hasn't been done before, you know, you get a competitive advantage as a brand. And this is something, a solution that really can help you win now. And so when I was talking about data strategy, right, this fashion passport can also be the foundation for a great data strategy approach. Because when a brand knows who their real customer is, they cannot only— I mean, the UX is great online, but they can also have more data-driven decision around product design, buying, or merchandising. But also, you know, hyper-segmentation maybe in your CRM system and in your marketing. It's really elevating hyper-personalized communication. Or even save you costs in the warehouse because of lower returns. So this data strategy will allow fashion companies to have less overstock and mass production and also less carbon footprint. I think it's fair to say that this is not a replacement. It's a facilitator. Because if you're already working with human stylists, whether it is online or in stores, this can also be a supporting tool for them to make them more efficient and to save them time. And don't forget about those silent shoppers online, around 85 to 90%, that doesn't want to interact with a human. There you have like the digital solution that can help them even further. And we see a large potential there. So, I mean, brands that delay innovation face rising compliancy issues, loss of customers because of a poor digital experience, but also missed market opportunities. And so from research and real use cases, we see kind of a pattern. The industry is lacking in AI adoption, not from a lack of interest, but more from a place of fear, maybe fragmented data, uncertainty about the ROI. Yet measurable results already exist, like I just demonstrated. And so I just encourage you to start and you won't be doing this alone. There are enough startups that can partner with you like us, and we will, we will be navigating this together. And so to conclude, I mean, AI is often seen as something distant and something mechanical, a technology that might replace human expertise. But the real value of AI is in how it enhances people and brands what they already do best. And the future of fashion and e-commerce isn't about technology taking center stage. It's about, you know, a means to improve. And at ConterLab, we're building an AI that carries personality, purpose. It's human-centric. And so the AI AI is actually infused with human touches along the way to make it more empathetic. And it doesn't replace humans or experiences. It's making it better, but at a large scale. So I truly invite to connect with me through the LinkedIn code here or to just come up to me after to give me your raw, honest feedback. We're very open to it. It's a great way to reflect and to grow. And we're offering brands here a low-key, a very easy pilot partnership if you want to. So happy to talk to you later today. I will be staying here all day. Thank you.
Is this working? Yeah, it's working. Hi everyone. So to continue the AI train today, I'm Chris Kellner, CEO at Digital Genius. and today I'm gonna talk to you about the AI agent that retailers rave about. But first, I— let's start by going back to one of the most infamous events of the last decade, the Fyre Festival. What was sold as a once-in-a-lifetime luxury experience quickly unraveled into chaos, disappointment, and one of the biggest PR disasters in history. This just shows how important customer experience is. No matter how well you're marketing something, customers won't come back until the experience stands up to what's being sold to them. Customer experience can make or break your business. 1 in 3 customers will churn after a bad CX interaction, and bad news travels fast. 48% of people who had a negative experience told more than 10 people. Yes, that's 10 people. If you have one bad CX experience, negative brand sentiment spreads like wildfire and affects your brand reputation. With acquisition costs continuing to rise, brands can't afford to be losing customers based on a poor experience. And most brands today get it wrong. I'm sure everybody in this room in the last 7 days has had a bad CX experience with a brand that you've been talking to. And if it goes really bad, you're completely screwed. Here's, here's a recent Taylor Swift example where there were tickets being sold on Ticketmaster. Tickets didn't arrive. People couldn't show up for the show, up to turn up to the show, and it turned into a huge PR nightmare. And today, as we've just heard, everyone's racing to deploy AI solutions that become more and more accessible. And we're being thrown a raft of big numbers all the time. Cost to be reduced by, by 90% with AI in the next 2 years. I don't know how many of you read about the Klarner AI assistant, but again, about a year ago they said they're getting rid of Salesforce and they're getting rid of 700 CS agents. But the reality is very different. Again, we've heard most recently that about 95% of all GenAI product projects are failing. 40% of projects that we've started in the last few years will be killed by the end of 2027. And even Klarna themselves has had to bring back some of their CS reps because their CS turned into such a disaster. But when brands get it right, they reap the rewards. On Running is a great example of this. Over the last 7 years, On has transformed from a small Swiss running brand to a global powerhouse. They've grown over 70% annually and debuted on the New York Stock Exchange in 2023 with sales of $2 billion and a valuation of over $7 billion. And I think you see their stores popping up all over New York now. But with rapid growth comes the headache of a huge increase in customer contact. On didn't want to scale their team to match that pace, so they turned to us. Working with Digital Genius, they created Nora, ON's AI agent that automates repetitive contacts and helps guide customers to purchase. Here you can see an example of how ON provides personalized product recommendations to customers directly in chat. With these recommendations, Nora is able to ask the right question to determine what the customer is looking for and suggest relevant products based on technical product classifications, all without needing the involvement of a human agent. This ensures higher conversion rates at a lower cost to the business, and what more, it reduces returns, even helping to reduce carbon footprint. The next example I wanted to show you is, is how ON is handling where is my order inquiries. Again, for most e-commerce brands, that's typically the biggest pain point and the number one query that every agent has to handle. ON are working with us to fully resolve these queries thanks to deep integrations with e-commerce systems. We can even send out replacements based on ON's business rules without an agent having to get involved. And you can see here, this, this is creating a really positive customer experience. And finally, I wanted to show you something a little bit different. Uh, this is how ON is leveraging visual AI to detect product defects and support their warranty process. They're using visual AI to check images and take actions much faster than a human would, providing the right outcome for the customer the first time. And you can see here, this whole journey can be automated all the way from looking at the picture, validating the picture, and actually going ahead and sending the customer a replacement if there's something wrong with the shoe. And ON as part of this has seen some incredible results, doubling their team's productivity, reducing customer wait times by 93%, and fully resolving 70% of their inquiries, all with an 88% CSAT score, well above the industry average. And the reason we can achieve these results is because Digital Genius is the only AI agent built specifically for e-commerce. And we work with some of the, the world's largest brands. What makes us different is that AI is in our DNA. We're not just another provider that's essentially a GPT wrapper. We've built our own proprietary AI with deep integrations to e-commerce systems. Our team are experts in e-commerce, and we act as an extension of your team, ensuring you deploy AI in the right way for optimum results. But don't just take our word for it. Um, here is real customer feedback that we've pulled from CSAT scores from our customers engaging with our product. This is the, the type of feedback that drives us. At the end of the day, we want to help create brands, create amazing experiences that keep customers coming back. Experiences that differentiate you from the competition and set the bar high for exceeding expectations. And I couldn't resist as well including some funny ones we've received. The robot, the flirter, is our favorite. But I want to leave you with one thing. Our ethos isn't to replace your team. It's to take care of the mundane so your people can focus on things that matter. We believe that the customer should be at the heart of every brand and those responsible for customer experience should be seen as the heroes of their organization. AI can take care of the mundane so your teams can, can focus on what matters in creating those surprise and delight moments. It's down to them to keep, to, to keep your consumers coming back. Customer experience can really make or break your brand. Um, I'll be around for the rest of today, and I think you can probably use this QR code to send some questions. Um, but thank you everyone for your attention.
Getting people to take that photo has not been easy or fun. Fierce is making shopping so fun, so entertaining, that shoppers want to take that photo because that photo makes the magic come alive. And with that also comes better fit, fewer returns, and much happier shoppers. Fiercely is an AI-powered retail platform for B2B that lets shoppers see what clothes look like on them before they buy them. Our AI stylist Eddie gives personal recommendations on size, fit, and styling that lets shoppers achieve the look that they really want. And when shoppers find the look they want, they can create a video, share it looking great in their clothes, and they can buy confidently. For brands, that confidence turns into real results with bigger baskets, higher conversion, lower returns, and happy shoppers. This is how the journey works. After a shopper takes a photo of themselves, We capture their likeness and their body shape and give them a personalized avatar that they can dress. But wouldn't it be awesome if you also had a personal shopper? Eddie is your AI stylist who's at your side throughout your shopping journey to make it totally delightful. And when you find looks that you love, you can share that content up on socials so your friends can see it, and it's also shoppable, so your friends can also try on the clothes and buy them. Eddy is your brand's best friend. Eddy knows your brand, your shoppers, it knows your products, and it knows— she knows all about fashion. She delivers advice to your shoppers with style, and charm. Who wants to meet Eddie?
Hi Cindy, how did that pinstripe suit you bought last week work out?
It's great, I'm feeling like a real tech boss today, and your size recommendation, it's right on. But now I have a date coming up, dinner and a rock show. I need an edgier outfit.
Oh yes, I've got you. How about a rock t-shirt, pleather pants, and a faux fur coat? The coat is on sale, and all items can be packaged for curbside pickup today.
I look surprisingly good in that. Uh, you know, that's great. Um, but could you put this pinstripe jacket in so maybe it's a little less edgy? Right.
That blazer is versatile, and we can build a look from there. How about we keep the rock tee, work those jeans again, and give you a heeled boot.
That is perfect. Two great looks with a few curated pieces. I cannot wait for the date. Thank you. I'm going to put that in my cart after this demo. Why is our content strategy so important? It's because shopping is social. Every shopper today is an influencer. TikTok and Instagram are driving huge amount of traffic for fashion discovery. And in fact, 90% of shoppers consult a social platform at least once before making a purchase. I know before I make a purchase, I love to check in with my bestie Paula. Hey Paula, what do you think of that outfit? You look like a rock star. I knew you were going to say that, and I agree. With Fiercely, every try-on becomes social content and every shopper becomes an influencer. That's not just e-commerce. That's the intersection of commerce and the creator economy. That's a place that's organic, authentic, and you cannot buy your way into it. That is shopping fiercely. Content created by shoppers gives your marketing team superpowers. It drives an organic flywheel of engagement that just keeps growing. Shoppers find looks, they share them, they bring in audiences who also want to try on and so far. Brands can launch campaigns now starring real shoppers. And then deliver that content back to those shoppers. This hyper-personalized marketing can be deployed across all of their channels— on their e-commerce, on their newsletters, socials, even in in-store kiosks. And we may look pretty on the outside, but we're damn smart on the inside. Fierce Intelligence tracks insights of the entire shopper journey. We know what they tried on, how they mixed and matched, what they shared to socials for bragging rights, and how all of these behaviors have an impact on conversion. We convert interactivity and engagement into actionable intelligence. And yes, we use AI, but it's, it's custom for your brand. Your data, your data is secure, private, and anonymous. Our AI is trained on your products, your catalog, on your shoppers to ensure that the results are accurate, on-brand, and authentic. And our AI, the more you use our AI, the smarter it gets. So we can earn trust with every interaction. Imagine a future where shopping is fun. Fun, fun.
Come on, man.
Fun. Where returns are shrinking, conversion is growing, and your customer loyalty runs deep. That's the future that we're building here at Fierce, and we invite you to join us. After all, don't your customers deserve to shop fiercely?
Thank you.
Please see us for a demo if you like afterwards. Thank you to all of you to be— being here, the organizers, and I really want to give a high five out to all the other tech startups who are here who are helping to make shopping better. Rock on!
Hello everybody, I'm Will, CEO and founder of Glossy, and we are— oh, I'll go back here— and we are the real-time visual production platform for 3D commerce. So from a single model, it lets you create every asset that you need to sell across your customer journey. From product images to spin to motion, all in your browser and art directable. So we all know that most products today start as a 3D model, if not all products. We're all at PI Apparel, so we're adopting the newest technology. And over the past 5 years, 3D has become everything when it comes to product creation and manufacturing. With it, only the visual needs that everyone needs has only grown and grown. So a single product becomes 50 assets needed to sell across the retail journey. And over a full collection, you know, 50 products per image with 100, you know, products per season, that becomes thousands and thousands of assets. And in that time, 3D has been proven to replace traditional photo and video needs of these brands, but it's only available to the select few with the technical ability, huge teams, and huge budgets. And even those teams are plagued by these traditional processes that are slow and service-driven. So the 3D pipeline today looks like this. You have design. You have an art team exporting the file, relighting it, rendering it. You have retouch teams working in outsourced photography or agencies. You have approvals from people outside of those technical teams, from e-com or your art direction, and then publishing to your channels. And every one of those steps is often siloed. A different skill set, a different piece of desktop software, and it just becomes a mess. So these distributed teams, disconnected tools just result in wasted spend and issues up and down the process. And that really costs. So traditionally, it goes from an asset, a product being complete, and the design file being complete, it still can take up to 4+ weeks to get a marketing asset to sell it. And brands we talk to often spend more than $1 million a year just on PDP assets, studio photography alone. And that isn't predictable costs. Working with studios, with teams, with retouchers often that balloons and you have to do redos and reshoots. So Glossy replaces that bottleneck and those technical issues with a real-time browser-based studio that anybody can use. It's real-time, it's photo-real, and it's browser-based. So the concept of Glossy is simple, right? You have your 3D materials, your 3D models from the tools you already use. You bring it into Glossy, a virtual studio, and then export everything you need to sell— imagery, video for e-commerce pages, merchandising, and more. So let's see what it can do. This is a quick video walkthrough.
What's the secret to producing stunning visuals lightning fast? This is Glossy, a virtual studio that gives anyone the power to live-direct a product's photo shoot instantly. A brand's 3D model becomes a fully controllable asset. You can adjust the lighting, change the angle, and zoom in on the perfect detail. You can even change materials and colors with a single click. Plus, use AI to finish off the scene and add photorealistic details. And it's not just for photos. Quickly generate professional videos like dynamic 360 spins to showcase your product from every side. It's the power of a professional studio packed into one simple tool. It's the competitive advantage you need to go from idea to iconic and win the pitch. So when the pressure is on and a brand is on the line, let's get on brand with Glossy.
Thank you.
So that's a preview of what we can do. These are supposed to be videos. But PowerPoint is, is rough. So we have, you know, addition to Glossy's speed and ease that you just saw in that video. You know, one of our core capabilities is sort of bake— baking your creative direction and applying that at scale. So every Glossy project, because it works in 3D, you have complete control over your camera, your lenses, your lighting. Your scene and everything like that. And that can be saved once and then applied as brand direction to every product. So think about going from a single model to a full set of PDP images with zero friction other than dropping into a template and hitting render. In addition, once you have that template saved, you can apply that across a whole product line in batch at scale. All of these were rendered last night in 5 minutes. And on top of that, we work with the source of truth 3D render. And then on top of it, we apply AI to build on your product-accurate imagery and apply in any context, whether that be changing your scene or placing on a model. And the key thing here is with us, big conversation around AI is that often these AI imagery tools tell you, hey, you can start, you know, just upload a photo of your product, right? And then you can place it anywhere. That hard part is getting that photo of your product and giving the software an understanding of all of the technical details, all the different sides, all the material applications of your product. And because we work in 3D as a source of truth renderer, we can maintain that source of truth in every asset you create downstream. So the workflow today, weeks per asset, specialists only, software bottlenecks, and long reviews replaced with minutes per asset, connected teams, templated creative, and live feedback. And everything is CAD true, photoreal, and scalable. In addition, we work and are built to work with and integrate with the workflows you already have, right? Whether that you be scanning products in your manufacturing facility, creating them in design tools like Clo3D or Browzware, or working in Substance. And equally, you know, can sync with DAMs and PLMs for managing your assets at scale. And better creative, you know, is always great for your brand and it means better business. So 80% faster content production cycles. These are from a few pilots that we've had with large retailers. 32% average lift on conversion and 3 times more visuals per product. And once you're using a tool, you can get infinite visuals. And that's it. So thank you, PI Apparel. And you can scan this code to get a quick demo with us and a free product display pack using any of your 3D assets.
Thank you.
Oh, cool.
OK, so the first question is, are the social shares shoppable? Do the consumers receive any incentives for sharing sales? I believe that should is for you.
I think that the content is going to speak for itself. When you see yourself in these videos, it is truly delightful, and I invite all of you to come see us so we can put you in one of these videos. And yes, we'll make it obvious that this content is shareable. It has all the product information embedded so that it is shoppable. And when someone else interacts with that content, they can then come into the try-on experience as well. So I don't know how much incentive is going to be needed, but that's the goal, is to make sure people share and share and share.
Fantastic. I actually had a question. When each of you came up with the idea for your innovative solutions, what were the two top problems that you addressed by the creation of your tool?
I can start. Yeah, so I used to actually do— I was a product designer and also a commercial photographer. So I would actually help brands in LA often design their first product and launch. And always the hardest part of that was not working with China and not manufacturing a product, but actually at the finish line figuring out how are we going to show this product off, update my visuals, and tell my product story. So Glossy was built with that inspiration. And from there have just gotten the privilege of working with larger and larger brands that have the exact same problem, just at a whole different magnitude.
That's awesome.
And I guess the last— that's the first problem. The second problem is that just accessibility and ease. I think that so much of the 3D conversation, especially in retail, is so technical and so difficult that people are scared of it before they even explore it. So, you know, making a 2D— making a 3D tool feel like it's a photoshoot and making a 3D tool accessible to everybody like Canva is the other thing because it's not a matter of output, it's a matter of adoption and accessibility.
Yeah. And I feel like it still allows people who have a background in photography or videography to utilize it without feeling like they're not a part of the process anymore.
Completely. And there's no, really no friction whatsoever in adopting. It's built to not, you don't need any 3D tools. And as these scanning capabilities become easier and easier, you can just pull out your phone, scan your product, in your living room and then have a 3D asset to shoot forever.
That's awesome.
Yeah.
Thank you.
I'd say peaks for every brand out there, right? Well, for a lot of brands, 80% plus of revenue is done in November and December. And that causes so many challenges from customer experience to online shopping. And I think that's a concurrent problem for any retailer out there. I'd probably say the second is post-COVID everyone has gone online, but people shop for that in-store personal loving experience. But it's so different. How do you match that online? You never have the amount of— you can't match a one-to-one experience online like you could do in store. So that's our vision is how can you have that same personalized experience that you have online that you want to have in store as well.
Yeah.
We had just made the point in our breakout that when you have a bot that's not like responsive in a way that's helpful, it's an immediate turnoff. It's like, oh my God, never mind.
Exactly. And that's most brands, I think, today.
Yeah. I mean, I started this company mainly from a personal challenge, let's say. You've all seen me. I'm not the biggest or the tallest one out here, and it used to give me a lot of frustrations and a lot of insecurities of not feeling seen. And I didn't really feel represented by the industry either, because of course the ideal models that you you see out there, they're way taller than me. They have different body shapes. So for me, it was always quite difficult to shop online. I don't have time to go into the shop. And I really appreciate the advice of an expert. But I couldn't find that online. And I was working before I started this company in fashion myself for over a decade. And I mean, during COVID we saw that people really wanted to have that advice as well. Because we used to train our personnel, our staff in store to really tailor their advice to the people that are coming in. But if you're only shopping online, that's not possible today. So I wanted to make it really easy for people to find the right products for them, even though you wouldn't be able to see yourself in the campaign images and make it more inclusive. And then, I mean, the whole thing about the returns and the sustainability component, for me, the mission with ContourLab is really increasing the body positivity at the consumer side. But also help fashion brands be more purposeful and sustainable in, you know, offering the service online, how people shop today.
Yeah.
I feel like the number one thing missing online is having that super sales associate who like cares, that you can be like, actually, I have a question. So that's awesome.
Yeah. And I think everybody knows that if you're going into your favorite boutique store and there's someone with expertise that helps you really well, you also go back. Because you know that your satisfaction is great, and so you want to have that experience again. And that's what we're building into the online world where it doesn't exist. Excellent.
We founded Fears to try to help solve the returns problem. When we first, like, really came to understand the impact, both on the environment and financial, we said, we have got to help fix that. We come from a background in video games, AR, VR, And so we thought, how can we apply the talents that we have maybe in other sectors and bring it to the fashion space? So we started out working on 3D technology. And so we have deep 3D background in our core of our team, but we're building a customer-facing retail experience. And we were able to make a lot of progress in putting 3D assets, CAD models from the brands onto 3D avatars. And so we had like really accurate fit signals that we could provide, and we could visualize how clothes laid pretty well. But what we couldn't do is get over that uncanny valley of 3D. The shoppers wanted to see how they look, right? And so we made a pivot. At some point, we said, we're not going to get where we want to go with 3D. And so we made the pivot to GenAI, and we have not turned back. So our goal continues to be, how can we provide fit information, informed shopping? But we're doing that by bringing fun into the shopping experience and motivating people to take the steps they need in order for us to, to get that.
That's awesome. So I'm going to try to get in a couple questions that popped up. So the first one is, how does Couture Lab digitally get the customer's size? How does it measure the body of the consumer online?
In the chat window or in the form, a shopper can fill in their body details, right? So it's body proportions in combination with height, weight, and bra size. And so the first part is that our algorithm captures those, and then it's forecasting the measurements of a body of a shopper, and then it cross-matches it with the product information that we get because our other algorithm is extracting all the metadata or attributes from a product database. So with SKUs and images, our computer vision algorithm actually scans the images and then it cross-checks with, you know, either the tech packs of a brand or the generic sizing tables to matchmake it across to each other, and then it goes on to recommending the right Awesome.
Do we have time for 2 more questions? 2 more? Okay, thank you. So what is Glossy's capability of showing models? Are they always unrecognizable, i.e., no faces?
Just those assets had no faces, but you can— there are no limits to it. So you can either train your own styles on models that you already have. Those 2 examples were from a brand called Staud, and we actually used the models that they shot in studio and just replaced bags on their bodies. But, you know, faces are fine. You know, anything. It's AI.
So, okay, no worries. And then Chris, a lot of the conversation at the conference has been that AI can't replace customer service. How is Digital Genius different?
It's a good question. I mean, we can't get away from the fact that AI is changing the labor market in general, right? And customer service is one of the the best applications of AI because there's a lot of repetition. But I think that, um, is not— AI is not going to completely replace customer service. As I said in my talk, I think AI is there to do the mundane and repetitive tasks, which potentially is the majority of what customer service have to deal with— things like returns, refunds, order shipments. And then people are there to create those real shine and delight moments. And that's actually what, you know, if you, if you go to a brand and you talk to their team, that's what they want to be doing. They don't want to be doing the boring, mundane, repetitive things.
No. Well, that's all the time we have for questions, but please do ask these geniuses any question you want afterwards, and, and let's give them another hand. Thank you so much. Thank you so much.
