AI &
Fashion
A veteran of luxury fashion’s most exclusive rooms takes inventory of the AI entering the studio — what earns a place in the workflow, what’s noise, and what she’s protecting as the boom accelerates.
In the author’s words Neue Alchemy
Field Report · Fashion-Tech
Lately, I’ve found myself chatting with more and more designer friends—some buzzing with ideas about AI, others feeling behind, a little resistant, or just totally overwhelmed by where to start.
If that’s you, I get it (truly)—there’s a LOT going on. Here’s a peek at what’s become part of my toolkit lately, along with some new faces in the AI/fashion world that have caught my eye.
- Midjourney: Where I go when I want the ideas to flow quicker than my sketchbook (and yes, the uncanny valley weirdness is finally melting away). Mood boards and wild concepting? Chef’s kiss.
- Raspberry / Prome: These are my “when you wish you had a Ctrl+Z for reality” tools. Midjourney gets me started, but when I need to nudge, tweak, or obsess over the details, these step in. Gemini’s image tools are catching up, but honestly, nothing nails fashion-trained quirks like these two for me.
- Photoshop Beta/Firefly: If you know me, you know: I live in Photoshop. The new AI-powered tools blend right in—so, you’re learning new tricks without losing the comfort zone. (Also, am I the only one who lost it over the “Nano Banana” feature? Unreal.)
Sometimes I step back from the “making” to see what’s shifting in the wider world—and it’s wild.
- Ask Ralph: Ralph Lauren’s AI stylist. The first time it suggested a look built around “my” vibe, I cackled and then… weirdly, got inspired. The future of the fitting room might just be a chatbot with perfect taste.
- Beni: Adds instant secondhand options while I’m browsing for new. It’s like The RealReal’s ghost just politely interrupts my online shopping.
- Daydream: This one’s like your smartest, most emotionally intelligent shopping friend. The prompts it “gets” (“revenge dress… wedding… ex…”) are scarily accurate. Also, for fellow R&D obsessives, it’s a goldmine of references when I need something more “mood” than literal.
- Trendalytics / Glimpse: Where I go to geek out over the macro trends—their dashboards are basically fashion fortune-telling.
Because I can’t not tinker, here’s what’s catching fire:
- The New Black: Imagine everything from first sketch through to e-comm magic and competitor snooping, all blended by AI—kind of feels like the creative director’s secret weapon.
- Heuritech & Designovel: Bots that watch the world’s runways, streets, socials, and tell you what’s coming, trend-wise, before it hits mass. If you’ve ever dreamed of reading the future… this is that, but in Pantone and silhouette.
- Botika: Need a photoshoot, but your models called out? Botika is the new “it girl”—AI photo, AI everything.
- Syte.ai: Raise your hand if your camera roll is made of shoe screenshots. Syte lets you find those pieces in real life.
- DressX: For anyone living a bit online (aren’t we all, now?), AR/3D try-ons and direct-to-avatar drops are finally not just hype.
- Refiberd: Maybe the unsexiest and most important—AI untangles textiles for recycling, so your last collection doesn’t just disappear into a landfill.
- Notes to self
- Stay curious about trend data, even if you’re a “gut feel” person—machines can spot what our eyes miss (and vice versa).
- Give yourself permission to play: The best combos I’ve found usually come from mixing generative tools with my own awkward sketches and some spreadsheet wizardry.
- Proprietary style lexicons sound fancy, but really—it’s just about teaching your AI what your taste is.
- Don’t lose sight of the human—AI can flood the field, but your quirks and craft are still why people care.
There’s no one way in. The tech is moving at warp speed, but so is our community’s creativity. Whether you’re deep in the matrix or still team ironed-pleats-and-pencil, there’s a place for you in this new mix.
But I’m curious—what AI are you actually loving, loathing, or just starting to try? Anyone else got stories of weird wins or epic fails? Drop ‘em. I’d love to learn from you.
Maggie McGowan is a veteran design leader whose career bridges luxury fashion, creative systems, and emerging technology. As Executive-in-Residence at Neue Alchemy, she explores how AI, aesthetic intuition, and cultural memory shape the future of design.
Maggie spent nearly a decade at Michael Kors Collection, where she helped define the brand’s high-fashion identity — leading everything from runway collections to VIP commissions and private clients, including a former First Lady. She oversaw the brand’s most exclusive line, owning seasonal concept development, fittings, and team leadership for NYFW.
In parallel, she has become a leading voice at the intersection of AI and design. She co-authored The Banner Test with 2nd Set AI, a widely discussed visual-reasoning experiment examining whether generative models can accurately reconstruct historical fashion silhouettes — work that sparked conversation across the fashion, tech, and design communities.
At Neue Alchemy, Maggie brings deep industry experience into dialogue with generative tools and next-generation creative workflows, working at the edge of fashion, technology, and cultural systems.
The Dispatch, Visualized
- What a shared base model does NOT give you
- A point of view distinct from every other prompter’s.
- The reference library only your work has built.
- The read on a feeling a spec can’t capture.
- A reason for the customer to care that it’s you.
- Anything that survives the moment competitors get the same model.
“Proprietary style lexicons sound fancy, but really — it’s just about teaching your AI what your taste is.”
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