Move over Versace. Amazon could be getting its own in-house fashion designer that uses algorithms to work out what looks good.
Researchers at the retail giant are working on machine-learning systems that could potentially shape fashion trends of the future, according to a new report.
Amazon and other retail companies are trying to track trends better and make recommendations based on products popping up on people’s Facebook and Instagram posts.
Amazon and other companies are trying to track trends better and make recommendations based on products popping up on people’s Facebook and Instagram posts (stock image)
A research team at Amazon’s Sunnyvale-based Lab126 has developed algorithms that learn about fashion from images and create their own styles from scratch.
‘There’s been a whole move from companies like Amazon trying to understand how fashion develops in the world,’ Kavita Bala, professor at Cornell University told Technology Review.
‘This is completely changing the industry’, said Dr Bala who took part in an Amazon workshop on machine learning last week where they revealed these projects.
The system relies on a tool called GAN (generative adversarial network).
Researchers at the Google Brain AI lab first developed GAN which uses input to ‘teach’ an algorithm about a particular subject by feeding it massive amounts of information.
It consists of two neural networks that learn from looking at raw data.
They internalise specific properties of a certain style by looking at lots of examples of it being worn.
They then work out what looks good and can apply this information to specific items of clothing.
This knowledge can then be used for a specific task – fashion is just one example.
This algorithmic fashion finder is just Amazon’s latest thrust into fashion and many fashion retailers already use social media to track and respond to changing fashions.
The retail giant is testing the new service for Prime members called Prime Wardrobe which allows them to try on the latest styles before they buy at no upfront charge
The company recently launched its Echo Look smart camera.
The app lets users create a personal lookbook, browse your outfits, and use computer vision-based background blur to make your outfits pop.
The feature, called Style Check, uses advanced machine learning algorithms and advice from fashion specialists to let users know whether their choice in clothing was a do or a don’t.
The research from Lab126 would make these algorithms even more sophisticated.
For example by analysing labels it could provide feedback or recommend adjustments.
Amazon’s new service is a threat to newer, online businesses as well; clothing subscription services like Stitch Fix, which charge a styling fee of $20 (£16)
The retail giant is currently testing the new service for Prime members called Prime Wardrobe which allows them to try on the latest styles before they buy at no upfront charge.
Customers have seven days to decide what they like and only pay for what they keep.
Amazon’s new service is a threat to newer, online businesses as well; clothing subscription services like Stitch Fix, which charge a styling fee of $20 (£16).
Amazon is poised to surpass Macy’s this year as the largest US clothing seller, according to Cowen & Co. analysts.
The industry observer expects Amazon’s share of the US clothing market will increase from 6.6 percent last year, to 16.2 percent by 2021.