NEW YORK, April 23, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The Fashion Institute of Technology's (FIT)
FIT/Infor Design and Technology Lab (DTech Lab) and IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced a
collaboration that will transform how the fashion industry
operates, and will help build the creative fashion workforce of the
future.
FIT will leverage IBM's artificial intelligence (AI) for fashion
capabilities – a suite of application programming interfaces (APIs)
developed and trained for the fashion industry that leverage deep
learning, natural language processing, and computer vision to help
fashion companies improve customer experience, enhance their
product design, development, and merchandising/planning activities,
and augment merchandise performance analysis.
These APIs can be delivered individually, incorporated into
existing applications, and/or be leveraged to develop new retail
applications, such as trend identification or analysis, product
design, development, and merchandising.
FIT's initial experience with IBM AI for Fashion was in 2018
when Tommy Hilfiger teamed with IBM
and the DTech Lab on "Reimagine Retail," a project to show how AI
can give a fashion brand a competitive edge with market insights,
product design, personalization and supply chain optimization. The
tools also equipped the next generation of retail leaders with new
skills using AI in design.
"Reimagine Retail was a powerful example of what happens when
fashion partners with a global tech leader to advance challenging
innovations," said Michael Ferraro,
director of the FIT/Infor DTech Lab. "Embedding emerging technology
into our lab where faculty and students are solving industry
problems is the next step in our evolving relationship with IBM.
We're leveraging the fresh perspectives and new ideas of talented
creative students in an agile research environment."
Due to the success of Reimagine Retail, FIT and IBM are taking
the collaboration further, to encompass:
- DTech Lab: FIT will use IBM AI for Fashion
capabilities within its DTech Lab, an innovation center that
partners with industry to engage in innovative research that drives
changes in the $2.5 trillion fashion
industry. Through projects that combine coursework with
professionally guided learning, the lab leverages the fresh
perspectives and new ideas of talented, creative students. Here,
FIT students from Fashion Design, Textile Development and
Marketing, International Trade and Marketing for the Fashion
Industries, and Fashion Business Management will work directly with
the APIs, developing new use cases and providing input on end user
functionality and experience.
- Partner Projects: IBM and FIT will work together to help
leading fashion companies develop solutions to address challenges
in product design and development, merchandising, planning and
allocation, and customer sales and service. Because the DTech Lab
can help to "de-risk" innovation for large brands by testing in a
safe environment, it helps enable companies to explore new emerging
areas that they'd like to develop into and gain direct experience.
Working with IBM's AI and related tools and technologies provides
opportunities to explore projects that address specific brand
challenge(s) in customer experience and engagement, supply chain,
and/or enterprise operations.
- Enhanced Curriculum: FIT faculty are currently
exploring opportunities to integrate IBM's AI tools into existing
courses in Math, Science, Creative Technology and Design, Fashion
Design, and Fashion Business Management, helping students
throughout the college prepare to lead the workforce of the
future. IBM will contribute to this coursework, and offer
opportunities for students to engage directly with its industry and
AI team.
- Joint Research: FIT faculty and students will
collaborate with IBM Research to solve key industry challenges in
areas such as supply chain effectiveness, fashion sustainability,
and the development of fashion ontologies. Specific examples may
include identifying whether or not children's products contain lead
or other harmful materials, recognizing silhouettes in pattern and
texture, or using AI tools to identify and develop new approaches
to fabric combinations.
"FIT is an educational force that continues to innovate and
ensure the future of the creative industries, including fashion,"
said Dr. Joyce F. Brown, president
of FIT. "We are proud to partner with IBM. Together we can look
forward to many breakthroughs in resolving the challenges of today
and tomorrow."
"After a successful IBM-FIT project for Tommy Hilfiger last year, formalizing our
relationship with FIT is a natural next step to accelerate our
development of AI solutions for the fashion industry," said
Luq Niazi, IBM's Global Consumer
Industry Managing Director.
Since its inception in the summer of 2017 through the current
spring 2019 semester, the DTech Lab has taken on 19 projects
involving 76 students and 21 faculty. "I learned how interesting
and rewarding it is to try new things," said Amber Saca, an FIT Packaging Design student.
"Working with the Lab gave me the confidence to design on a wide
range of subjects that are outside of my comfort zone."
About IBM
For further information please
visit: www.ibm.com.
About FIT
FIT, a part of the State University of New York, has been a leader in
career education in art, design, business, and technology for
almost 75 years. Providing its 9,000 students with an uncommon
blend of hands-on, practical experience, theory, and a firm
grounding in the liberal arts, the college offers a wide range of
affordable programs that foster innovation and collaboration. Its
distinctive curriculum is geared to today's rapidly growing
creative economy, including fields such as computer animation, toy
design, production management, film and media, and cosmetics and
fragrance marketing. Internationally renowned, FIT draws on its
New York City location to provide
a vibrant, creative community in which to learn. The college offers
nearly 50 majors and grants AAS, BFA, BS, MA, MFA, and MPS degrees,
preparing students for professional success and leadership in the
new creative economy. Among notable alumni in fashion are
Calvin Klein, Michael Kors, Reem
Acra, Brian Atwood, Dennis Basso, Francisco
Costa, Norma Kamali,
Nanette Lepore, Bibhu Mohapatra, Ralph
Rucci, John Bartlett, and
Michelle Smith. Other prominent
graduates include Leslie Blodgett,
creator of bareMinerals; international restaurant designer
Tony Chi; and Nina Garcia, editor in chief, Elle.
Visit fitnyc.edu.
About FIT/Infor Design and Technology Lab
The
FIT/Infor DTech Lab is a public-private partnership between Infor,
an industry leader in Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software,
and the Fashion Institute of
Technology, with a mission to engage faculty and students as
the solve industry problems with design and technology. The
Lab was created to explore the impact of emerging technology on
design, manufacturing and retail. It is organized around four core
initiatives: enhance education with experiential learning, engage
industry through innovative partnerships, empower entrepreneurs by
directly engaging emerging designers, and envision the future
through projects that explore new ideas for business and
creativity.
Alexandra Mann
Media Relations Specialist
212 217.4722; alexandra_mann@fitnyc.edu
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SOURCE Fashion Institute of
Technology