Fashion Inclusivity: How Technology Drives A Human-centric Trait In A Gated Industry

GM!

Happy last-month-of-the-year!

I scheduled addressing this defining industry behavior towards the year-end; I hope the article inspires to carry forward solution-based conversations into the new year.

The fashion industry is consciously reinventing itself by visiting its value systems, and Inclusivity is the industry’s most recent sentiment, positioned on par with the system’s sustainability concerns. One can, in fact, claim that a sustainable fashion business model is one that applies equity to its product design, marketing strategies, and work environments.

“Access to clothing is a matter of dignity. When a designer offers their clothes in sizes that everyone can wear, it makes a statement that says that the customer is welcomed, seen, and considered worthy of that product.“

- Late Alexandra Waldman, co-founder Universal Standard.

The subject of inclusivity in fashion is exhaustive, and body size discrimination is one of several core bullet-points; biases also factor in age, ethnicity, skin color, gender, orientation, and disability. According to a 2021 research and analysis by McKinsey and Company, fashion brands targeting a healthier consumer growth need to broaden their brackets of size, age, gender, and ethnicity, in their collections and brand build. Equal opportunities within the work environment, and diverse representation on fashion ramps and campaigns also feature on their list.

Forbes confirms, “Gen Z applauds inclusivity in fashion. There’s no better proof of this than SKIMS, whose social campaigns showcase models and celebrities of various sizes, shapes and ethnicities. The brand’s commitment to inclusivity has paid off: According to a report from Launchmetrics, SKIMS was the top-performing premium brand in 2023, amassing an impressive $638 million in media impact value (MIV). That’s a staggering 407% growth since 2020.”

Like sustainability, inclusivity is a human-centric solution to a progressive fashion system.

So, how does technology fit in?

• Data Analysis of existing and potential consumer demographics for product design and development that caters to a wider client base. Artificial Intelligence tools collect, sift through, organize, and output data information (also forecast) at a significantly faster and larger scale than human intelligence.

• Product Customization adhering to consumer specifics of age and size, using 3D design software and body mapping.

• Utility-focussed Adaptive Design for consumers with disabilities.

In February 2021, Nike released the first-ever hands-free sneaker, the GO FlyEase, designed specifically for athletes with disabilities. The sneakers carry no fastenings like Velcros, zippers, or shoelaces, but are equipped with an elastic band for tension and a hinged sole, that together allow a user to wear and take off the shoe without stressing the front or back of the footwear. The functionality of the sneaker gradually extended to all consumers, making the purchase experience not uncomfortably exclusive for buyers with disabilities. (Refinery29).

• Diverse Representation in advertising campaigns with the assistance of Artificial Intelligence trained on unbiased data.

• Equal Opportunities, Global Voices, and Collaborations between diverse members across the fashion industry facilitated by web platforms.

CaSandra Diggs, President of Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) shares, “I know someone who often refers to fashion as ‘a little island that not everyone can fit on.’ So, one of the things we’re trying to do differently is make the tent wider.”

Tech tools that create space for everyone on that little island:

Artificial Intelligence and 3D software

Inclusive sizing:

Kudos to fashion brands like Universal Standard for their extensive 0-40 size offerings. Accessibility to a wide range of size labels, however, is not the only criteria for size inclusivity. It is imperative that the graded size fits well (incorporating pattern adjustments like darts). Also important is a standardized pricing tagged across the size range. For example, plus size buyers are often expected to pay the additional cost of material and processes required to produce that size. This is discreet judgement that says the size, and thereby the consumer, does not fit within the brand’s “regular” parameters.

• Fit accuracy:

  Body mapping tools enabled by AI and 3D software scan a user’s body for precise measurements and shape to generate their digital avatar. With access to consumers’ real body data, brands draw out better informed designs and fit patterns. On their online shopfronts, brands offer size and style recommendations by the AI tool, based on the buyer’s body-mapped data.

Mobile Tailor by 3D Look

• Standard pricing:

  Efficient garment pattern layouts during fabric cutting can control material wastage. While 3D design software like Clo3d enables precision in pattern making, CAD’s marker making software optimizes fabric usage by maximising the possibilities of pattern placements.

The Fenty Effect:

Radical as Rihanna’s unprecedented marketing campaign “Beauty For All” may be by signaling inclusivity in the high-walled beauty industry, advertisement photo shoots are not logistically accessible to all fashion creators and brands. AI generated campaigning is a powerful advertising medium trained to a brand’s specifications. A brand message of inclusivity is generated on unbiased data, and would showcase virtual models with diverse specifications of age, size, ethnicity, gender, orientation, and disabilities. With recent AI apps producing hyperrealistic outputs as photo images and motion, the creative role of AI is earning traction in the advertising industry, and is at the disposal of every fashion maker and brand across the globe.

Like any tech innovation that suggests to displace human-centric systems, AI-generated models instigate a fair amount of cynicism. Vogue Business reported feedback on Levi’s announcement to employ AI-generated models to promote diversity on their e-commerce channels, “Creating an avatar of a person of color - rather than hiring a real person - seemed like a way to profit from the appearance of diversity without having to invest in it. It also raised a debate over whether AI could be used to improve representation in fashion in a way that benefits marginalized groups. […] what representation is actually “real” versus manufactured.” Dale Noelle, founder of True Model Management, offers a solution, “Empowering diverse models by giving them the means and protection to capitalize on their digital twins through licensing agreements is essential.”

Virtual Try-ons

Virtual Try-ons create an artificial experience of wearing a fashion piece. An advanced app like Zero10’s Augmented Reality mirrors for the footwear industry, map body movements along with physical metrics to give a realistic semblance of what the wear experience looks like. While the tool helps buyers narrow down their purchase decisions, the app is particularly favorable to clients with disabilities, providing ease to “try on” various styles.

Social Media and Online Retail Platforms

Social media platforms have democratized fashion. No medium is as powerful to inspire, share, and market inclusivity as a real movement. These apps are open mic platforms connecting individuals and corporates from the fashion industry to identify and innovate solutions.

Diverse voices, one call:

In 2012, the Body Positivity movement (originally, Fat Rights Movement in 1969) overloaded Instagram with images and captions by real-sized women challenging (and shaming) the unrealistic ideals of “perfect” size, shape, and skin, and promoting “body love”. The hashtag continues till date, and finds itself referenced on all web mediums of social interaction.

Universal support:

The outreach available to representatives and influencers from the varied groups, is global. Brands advertising inclusivity on their social channels inform not only their direct consumer base, but also deliver to a compounded audience size. This is the scale of support available to a cause or brand image.

Equal Opportunity:

Today, fashion creators and brands bypass the industry’s infamous entry barriers when they retail from their online store or choose e-commerce platforms. The free to use “Shops” feature offered by social apps: Instagram and Facebook, has proven to be a successfully viable storefront and retail outlet for fashion start-ups, homegrown businesses, and newcomers. These platforms are channels that build a personal bridge between a brand/creator and their audience. The Originals of the industry also employ these platforms to convey the personality of their brand to a wider audience and forge direct relationships with their consumer base. Such is the success of social and retail platforms.

However, technology, alone, might not be the solution

Despite the achievements stacking up, technology, by itself, cannot bring in the inclusive change we wish to see. According to Stephanie Thomas, Founder of Cur8able, “[Every tech-driven solution] is only going to reach so many people because everyone doesn't have access to tech."

Inclusivity in a fashion business model is a human-made decision and effort. McKinsey experts say, “We are confident that a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive fashion industry is within reach - but it will take individuals, companies, and other institutions in the fashion ecosystem all doing their part.” Thomas has also pointed out that “the issue with most tech companies making adaptive fashion is that they lack a real understanding of the community they’re selling to and many are not taking the necessary time or effort to get to know the disability culture.” (Refinery29)

When Nike designed the GoFlyEase sneaker for athletes with disabilities, the brand realized the universal functionality of the design and announced it accordingly. When a technology is adopted by mainstream fashion consumers, the original target consumer is more likely to purchase it - it is no longer a design that addresses the disability, it is a fashion product.

My thoughts?

With technology, inclusivity is not a matter of possibility, but of intent.

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Thank you for reading.

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