ARTISTIC INTELLIGENCE

THE DAY BEFORE POSTING FASHION SHOW FOR ELDERS

Malik Afegbua had 3 000 followers on Instagram. Within days that number doubled, then tripled, then quadrupled as his virtual reality runway images enthralled social media users around the globe. The AI fashion show was a hobby project aside from his day job of producing commercials, documentaries and films. But it was one that he worked on with fervour because of what it meant personally.

Inspiration for the show came after Malik’s mother suffered a series of strokes, leaving the two unable to have their daily check-in conversations. Thinking about how difficult it must be for his mom being unable to communicate sparked an idea to portray senior citizens as kings and queens ruling their lives and the runway with wisdom and dignity. The images went viral and have since opened many doors of creative opportunity for Malik. He’s currently working on a docudrama about Nigerian textile designer and global fashion icon, Nike Davies-Okundaye, and has a slate of exciting projects coming up – including one for Marvel.

ON PURPOSE: “I am very particular about being unique and intentional about what I do. I simply don’t do things for art or entertainment. There’s always a story that backs it up. Every single thing I do has an underlying message.”

TURNING A NICKNAME INTO A BUSINESS NAME:

“My friends have always called me Slick. By the time I was at university and ready to start a company, the name Slick City was a no-brainer.” Malik studied business at the University of Sussex, but felt a strong pull to the arts. His first business focused on apparel and he customised t-shirts, belts and bags, first for himself, and then for friends and clients who wanted his distinct eye. A few years later he shifted focus from his clothing line to production and film, and he came up with the name Slick City Media.

ON ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: “I will always love using technology because it will continue to evolve. Whether people like it or not, it will always get better, which excites me. I’m happy when there is a particular innovation to use for telling stories or capturing data.” In the past few months there have been concerns about the use of AI in art and whether it could eventually replace or replicate human creativity. Malik understands the reservations, but believes that technology isn’t inherently bad.

NIGERIAN-BORN DESIGNER AND FILMMAKER MALIK AFEGBUA USES TECHNOLOGY TO TELL STORIES THAT HONOUR THE PAST WHILE IMAGINING THE FUTURE

A CAREER HIGHLIGHT: While they may have looked like they were walking at New York or Paris Fashion Week, the models in Malik’s virtual reality fashion show were all entirely his own creation, and their Afro-futuristic outfits were garments that he conceptualised from scratch. The whole runway show was created through AI software, with Malik using three different AI image generators to create the looks he wanted. Oscar-winning costume designer Ruth Carter saw the images of Fashion Show for Elders on Instagram and commented, “This is so dope!!”. This brief exchange has led to a collaboration on a project for Marvel that Malik isn’t yet allowed to talk about. “It still feels like a dream,” he says.

THE JOYS OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP: “I love the fact that you can grow, evolve, innovate and be a solution to something.” While he describes it as bittersweet, freedom is another benefit of self-employment that Malik relishes. “I am in control of my own time, but if I misuse it, I have to pay for it one way or another.”

ON CREATIVITY: “I draw inspiration from my personal experiences and those of other people. I live in my head and imagine things that exist mixed with things that don’t.”

HIS ASPIRATIONS: “I’ve got a few projects coming out that I’ve directed or co-produced on Netflix, but ultimately, I’d love to work on my own feature films and series.”

Follow @slickcityceo for more from Malik. ■ yourluxury.africa

WORDS FAEEZA KHAN HEAD OF RESEARCH AT FLUX TRENDS

FROM ENABLING BRANDS TO GENERATE NEW DESIGNS faster and allowing for quicker prototyping and testing to drastically reducing lead times from product ideation to launch, generative AI is proving to be revolutionary for brands, especially those in the luxury sector. By using AI-generated content like chatbots and virtual assistants, luxury brands can provide seamless and personalised customer experiences around the clock, providing additional value and convenience.

The use of generative AI has also enabled brands to create engaging and interactive in-store experiences that are immersive and personalised. Additionally, it improves the accuracy and speed of trend forecasting and inventory management, allowing labels to gauge consumer preferences and, ultimately, reduce clothing waste.

According to McKinsey, generative AI has the potential to generate around $275 billion in operating profits for the apparel, fashion and luxury sectors over the next three to five years. And this is where it’s heading…

Product Innovation

Human craftsmanship and the use of high-end materials will maintain the exclusivity of luxury brands. However, generative AI will begin to perform the function of design assistants while experienced designers oversee and curate their work. “Generative AI is like having an infinite number of design assistants, each with their own unique perspectives and ideas,” says designer Stella McCartney. AI can generate a myriad of design variations, some of which may not have occurred to the designers themselves, leading to heightened innovation.

Customer Experience

Customer data – like consumer profiles and online real-time interactions – can be used to curate better product recommendations on the retailer’s website and app. It can also provide a hyper-personalised styling service. To date, many chatbots have been frustrating to deal with and can often only provide very limited responses. However, AI chatbots will have the ability to answer more complex requests and can keep the conversation going, even giving styling recommendations after a shopper leaves the store. These would also enable more sophisticated virtual try-ons.

HYPER-BESPOKE

The extensive range of customer data that generative AI has access to can enable the hyper-personalisation of the products, creating an increasingly bespoke shopping experience. A customer can specify things such as colour, fabric and mood and the designer could use AI to assist in coming up with designs meeting those requirements. Glasses, for example, can be customised to the exact topography of a person’s face using facial-recognition technology. The AI platform Cala even enables users to design clothing for themselves. One starts with a basic silhouette, chooses ‘adjectives and materials’ and ‘trims’, and the software generates a variety of designs. This technology is relatively nascent, but demonstrates its potential. Designers could use such technologies to generate an initial set of designs which are then fine-tuned for the client, keeping the human touch.

Diversity

There has long been a call for the fashion industry to be far more representative of its target market, which includes a large diversity of individuals of different races, shapes and sizes. Generative AI can create an endless supply of diverse fashion models – more so than human models could –that serve a wide range of customers. This way, a customer will be able to see exactly what a certain product would look like on them. Levi’s just announced a partnership with Lalaland.ai, a studio that creates AIgenerated models, to increase the number and diversity of its models. Since the announcement, however, there has been significant backlash for not using diverse human models instead.

But will generative AI ever actually replace designers? Probably not. Will it dilute the luxury fashion industry? Not anytime soon. Final decisions will always require human judgement and taste, but learning how to work with AI will be a valuable skill for designers. The London College of Fashion, for example, has already introduced an AI module. This technology is here to stay and it’s exciting to see how it transforms the fashion industry. ■