June’s live Cloud Wars Expo event featured dozens of industry leaders allowing the Acceleration Economy team access to the inner workings of the greatest growth market the world has ever known.
In this News Desk interview, held on site at Cloud Wars Expo, Analysts Kieron Allen and Toni Witt welcome Apparel Intelligence Co-Founder and CEO Jessica Kim for a discussion on creating hyper-real digital assets, the bridge between digital and physical fashion, and the growing overlap between the beauty industry and the Metaverse.
Highlights
00:01 — Kieron introduces fellow analyst Toni Witt and Jessica Kim from Apparel Intelligence. The company, represented by the acronym A.I., is a digital fashion studio combining fashion and visual effects technology.
00:59 — Presently, the fashion industry falls short of adequate sustainability standards. Apparel Intelligence aims to institute more sustainable processes by replacing physical samples with production-ready, true-to-life digital samples for apparel brands.
01:46 — Kim explains the different phases of her business, which are founded on streamlining the apparel-making process and forming B2C relationships through the Metaverse.
03:24 — By focusing on sustainability, Apparel Intelligence makes it possible to save time, cost, and resources, making sales before ever creating a physical product. “The more real, the better.”
04:07 — Toni asks about the tools and platforms used to create these hyper-real digital assets. Kim explains the combined computer graphics (CG) and digital effects of Clove 3D modeling software, where Kim previously worked as a 3D designer.
05:43 — 3D and CGI have existed for a long time; Kim names several CG software alternatives and explains her previous role working on The Last Jedi with Industrial Light & Magic.
06:33 — Kim details the lengthy movie industry CG creation process from start to finish, including the use of multiple effects tools and proprietary software.
07:36 — Kieron raises the issue of interoperability. Apparel Intelligence’s hyper-realistic rendering of physical clothing is made possible by bridging movie-quality CG with fashion. Kim details the blend of rendering and texturing tools used to make A.I.’s software possible.
09:19 — Making apparel look good on-screen doesn’t require the ability to produce the same effect in reality. Apparel Intelligence aims to digitally represent the real-world product.
09:38 — Apparel Intelligence’s software combines fashion, visual effects, and computer AI.
10:19 — The central goal of the Metaverse is bridging the digital and physical.
11:10 — Kim explains the utility of Apparel Intelligence digital assets compared to traditional NFTs.
12:01 — Toni asks about customization to fit precise body measurements. Through Clove 3D, Apparel intelligence software allows true-to-life avatars to test clothing specs.
13:07 — The company aims to create a 3D fitting platform to replace the traditional Small-Medium-Large clothing size scale with unique, realistic representations of people’s exact figures.
14:27 — Visualization and fitment are crucial for fashion. Proportions, colors, and prints need to be seen together.
15:32 — Kieron suggests entire wardrobes could be cataloged in the Metaverse.
16:53 — A.I.’s clients and key connected brands include Atari Hotels, Fred Segal, and Subnation.
18:04 — Kim describes the company’s participation in Decentraland’s Metaverse fashion week and the technical hurdles digital still has to overcome.
20:09 — Fashion and Metaverse audiences are still mostly separate circles with lots of room to grow.
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