BODY OF WORK

FASHION OF THE FUTURE

Korean fashion label Greedilous debuts the world’s first apparel collection codesigned with artificial intelligence.

By Rachel Gallaher

WHEN KOREAN FASHION DESIGNER YOUNHEE PARK first met with her collaborator to work on the Fall/ Winter 2022 collection for her Seoulbased brand, Greedilous, she found herself sitting across from a computer. Park, who is known for her strong visuals and inventive approach to design, had agreed to partner with consumer electronics brand LG on a world’s-first project: the design of a runway collection cocreated by LG’s latest artificial intelligence, Tilda.

“Tilda is built with a complex technology that can create patterns based on any keywords it is given,” says Park, who founded Greedilous in 2009. “Tilda [is] more than eager to collaborate with designers who could incorporate her patterns into fashion. I saw great possibilities through Tilda’s creations; the rest is history.”

By typing in words and phrases such as, “What do you want to draw in this collaboration?” and “What would flowers look like if they bloomed on Venus?” Park was able to communicate with Tilda, whose digital avatar is a young woman with blue hair cut into a bob with bangs. Collecting this information, Tilda used the AI model EXAONE to create a series of more than 3,000 brightly colored patterns and images that Park drew from to craft her collection.

“EXAONE is a mass[ive], multimodal AI model that basically functions as Tilda’s mind and hands,” the LG AI Research team writes in an email. “In the same way that humans use their senses, Tilda uses this model to collect data from a vast literature of texts and images.”

The resulting collection, Flowers on Venus, comprises 200 items that debuted in February at a New York Fashion Week runway show at Spring Studios. Models, who all sported short, blue bobs as an homage to Tilda, walked the runway in colorful garments (think: cartoony purples, hot pinks, spring greens), many patterned with energetic florals. Bucket hats, loose draping, and puffer coats all nod to the sartorial tastes of Generation Z, a demographic that LG is targeting with its newly released technology. At the end of the show, Tilda appeared on a screen for a final bow with Park.

LG hopes that Tilda will allow established and emerging designers and artists to push the boundaries of their ideas and continue to embrace new platforms for creation. With the dawn of the metaverse and other online realms and marketplaces, it’s a logical next step in the merger of physical and virtual reality.

“It started with a simple idea: We wanted people to feel the tangible results of technological evolution with their own skin,” notes the LG AI Research team. “Fashion is a universally accessible medium that people can tailor to reflect their personal tastes and characteristics.”

Adds Park: “In the future, AIs like Tilda will provide designers infinite information and knowledge, saving us time and energy. Furthermore, big data can analyze fashion and match the brands with fitting buyers and stores, making the process much easier and faster.” h

Korean fashion label Greedilous partnered with consumer electronics company LG to release the world’s first collection codesigned with artificial intelligence. The looks in the Flowers on Venus runway show were designed by Greedilous founder and creative director YounHee Park with textiles based on images generated by Tilda (the AI behind the designs), which specializes in illustration, collage, and pattern design.