RIYADH: Saudi Arabia has seen a remarkable transformation in its fashion industry in recent years, emerging as a vibrant and dynamic regional hub of creativity. Now, thanks to the power of artificial intelligence, more opportunities are emerging rapidly.
With a blend of traditional influences and modern innovation, Saudi designers are captivating a global audience, redefining cultural norms, and showcasing the Kingdom's rich heritage through contemporary fashion.
The establishment of the Fashion Commission in 2020 has led to showstopper events such as Riyadh Fashion Week. A particularly innovative event that coincided with October's fashion week was the photo exhibition.
Created by social media platform Snapchat, Tasawar – or “to imagine” in Arabic – welcomed visitors to explore a virtual reality gallery showcasing the creations of five Saudi designers and allowed guests to virtually try on the clothes.
Abdullah Al-Hammadi, managing director of Snapchat in Saudi Arabia, said the exhibition was the first in the Middle East to combine technology with the world of fashion.
“At the Taswar exhibition, visitors can visit five rooms of Saudi designers where they will learn about their stories and the use of different augmented reality technologies in each room,” Al-Hammadi told Arab News.
By adjusting the filter in a room, the theme can be changed to help immerse visitors in the world of different designers and their sources of inspiration.
Among the five designers participating in the exhibition was Mohammad Khoza, owner of fashion brand Hindamme, who praised the exhibition's innovative use of AI. “A great example of how AI can be effectively used in fashion is photography by Snapchat,” Khoza told Arab News.
“We created a universe for Hindamme and immersed users in a digital and physical space. We created a mirror where users can use digital pieces from Hindamme as well as special filters and lenses that take users on an experiential journey.”
However, as in other creative industries, there are concerns about how AI should be incorporated into the design process and what its excesses might mean for fashion brands and culture in general.
Although Khoja believes that AI can be a valuable tool for research, he says that it should not be used as a primary design tool, as it can “constrain the designer's own authentic identity and creativity.”
“AI is primarily a search tool that predicts what you want to see,” he said. “So when you search for different themes, you get a mashup of what the AI creates for you.
“Suggestions from AI are interesting, but they don't come from your emotions. That's why I think AI won't really replace our natural creativity as designers.
“AI is great, though, when used as a tool to perform routine tasks and can save us a lot of time and energy in that regard.”
Personal stylist and list magazine editor Dalia Darvesh also sees AI as a useful tool for creating mood boards and finding clients based on their body shape, saving significant time.
“When it comes to fashion brands, AI can help analyze trends and customer preferences for future products,” she told Arab News. “In some cases, fashion brands can offer virtual fittings, making online shopping a seamless experience.”
She added: “One of my favorite businesses using AI is Taffi Inc., an online platform that offers personal styling services through an AI assistant in addition to professional stylists.
“I don't like the idea of AI taking over the world, especially within the creative industry. However, if it helps to collaborate and delegate tasks, then it needs to be used.”
Fashion journalist Mohammad Yusuf is also cautious about the application of AI in the industry. “AI can help reduce the number of errors,” he told Arab News. “This can help sustainable brands achieve better results from their eco-friendly and ethical systems.”
However, he added: “Regarding the creative process, I think that designers can lose the core of their work. It is for designers to come up with ideas, choose fabrics and colors. This is what makes them different from each other and makes the identity of the brand.
“I also believe that creativity is a human trait. If AI can be creative, it will not be as authentic and effective as humans.
Asked if AI could allow top fashion designers to create lasting “digital legacies” even after their demise, Yusuf was skeptical. “I don't think programming fashion is a smart idea, because fashion tends to break itself when it repeats itself,” he said.
“Identity is important, but I imagine if Christian Dior had done it. I don't think we would enjoy the work of John Galliano today. The same goes with Coco Chanel and Karl Lagerfeld. They both kept the founder's style in a way that was new in fashion and at the same time Allow them to bring their own creativity.
“So why would any designer decide the future of his brand when you can never predict the future of fashion? Maybe your style won't work later. Many brands we know today would be forgotten if they didn't hire designers with new styles. About Gucci and Tom Ford Think about it.
This has not stopped emerging and established fashion designers from experimenting with technology and incorporating it into aspects of their work.
At the WWD (Women's Wear Daily) Global Fashion Summit in Riyadh on June 6, American fashion designer Norma Kamali said her brand will launch a full AI-powered collection this October, using how it interprets Kamali's past. designs.
“It's not like a copy of Norma Kamali: it's something new, and I can tweak it, I can play on it,” she said. “But eventually, I plan to live to 120, so when I have to pass the baton, my team will be trained to be able to use it as well.”
He added: “I teach it to think the way I do, to act the way I do, to use what I think when creating a collection.”
However, Kamali also has reservations. “AI is not a creative person, and it's hard to replace,” she said. “AI can support a creative person, expand a creative person's possibilities, and a creative person can use AI as a tool.”
Many designers seem to agree that AI's greatest strength when applied to the fashion industry is its role as a research assistant. Rakan Al-Shehri, head of brand and design at Adhlal, believes a key benefit of AI is speeding up the creative process.
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“In the past, creatives often relied on platforms like Pinterest, Shutterstock, Pexels, and social media to create mood boards and visuals on various design topics,” he told Arab News. “With AI, you can now create highly accurate visual references in the early stages of your creative process.
“For example, if I'm designing a brand identity for a fashion retailer that specializes in menswear, I want to translate the brand story into cohesive visual tools for marketing campaigns, social media, websites, and more.
“Once the story is ready, I can just go into Midjourney (the AI generator) and write a prompt that generates lots of visual references. This allows me to gather inspiration and create a mood board in minutes, rather than spending hours searching vast visual libraries for inspiration.
Al-Shehri said another important benefit is “cost efficiency.”
“As a freelance designer, external tools and stock imagery websites can be expensive and often exceed the project budget,” he said. “With AI, you have access to unlimited visual elements that are either free or reasonably priced.”
One program Al-Shehri particularly likes is Midjourney — a generative AI that creates images from natural language descriptions, similar to OpenAI's DALL-E. “In my opinion MidJourney is the best AI visual generating platform available,” he said.
“It has a lot of features that are easy to use. One of my favorites is the '/blend' feature, which allows me to quickly create new styles for exploring by combining old visual styles with modern functionality.
“I use Midjourney almost daily and recommend it to everyone in the creative industry.
Another generative AI popular among fashion designers is Krea.ai. “Crea builds amazing art-driven web-based tools that provide more control over generated visuals, making it ideal for visual arts rather than professional graphics,” said Al-Shehri. “I spend many hours experimenting with it.”
Luma Labs and its “Dream Machine,” which creates high-quality, realistic videos from text and images, have also transformed the creative process.
“Luma Labs specializes in video and motion production, and my favorite photographers and art directors use it extensively,” said Al-Shehri. “This is an extremely beneficial tool for fashion photographers.”
For now, at least, fashion designers shouldn't be afraid to replace AI-Armani or Robo-Rabne. Instead, Al-Shehri says, they can use these tools to streamline and accelerate their work.
“Overall, AI in its current state is an incredible tool that enhances the creative process for artists and designers,” he said.
