AI in Fashion: Innovation or Overconsumption?
Sep 17, 2025
This Fashion Week, everyone is talking about AI. It feels like every industry is racing to show how “tech-forward” it is.
Fashion, of course, isn’t staying behind.
Luxury giants like LVMH, Ralph Lauren, and Chanel are pouring billions into AI. They’re building digital stylists, predictive supply chains, AR try-ons, even AI-designed marketing campaigns.
But here’s the question no one’s asking: Can luxury embrace AI without losing its soul?
The AI Rush: A Quick Look
LVMH has built “MaIA,” an AI assistant that processes over 2 million requests each month anf=d supports over 40,000 employees across 75 brands.[1]
Ralph Lauren recently unveiled Ask Ralph, an AI stylist built on Microsoft Azure. Ask questions like “What should I wear to a concert?” and it immediately recommends in-stock items.[2]
Chanel is weaving AI into smart mirrors, virtual try-ons, and personalized product suggestions.[3]
If luxury is using AI to sell exclusivity, fast fashion is using it to sell speed. And they are doing it with terrifying efficiency.
Fast Fashion’s AI Edge
Zara rebuilt its supply chain using AI-powered forecasting that analyzes real-time sales, market trends, and shopping behavior to forecast demand. This helps cut overproduction, reduce emissions, and improve responsiveness.[4]
Nike, focused on hyper-personalization, created tools like the Nike Fit app, which uses AR and computer vision for accurate sizing, reducing returns. Its Nike Maker Experience lets shoppers design custom sneakers using voice input, produced and delivered in under two hours.[5][6]
H&M uses AI to forecast demand and manage inventory, helping the brand improve sustainability metrics, cut waste, and increase profit by 30 percent.[7][8]
Luxury and Fast fashion are using AI to boost efficiency, personalisation, and profit but always with the same risk: fuelling more consumption under the banner of “innovation.”
What Brands Won’t Say Out Loud
On the surface, AI is helping reduce waste, streamline production, and lower returns.
But underneath all the sustainability claims, there’s a truth that brands are not eager to admit.
AI-powered personalization has quietly become one of the biggest engines of overconsumption.
It doesn’t just help you shop. It learns how to make you want more.
The Terrifying Math
Let’s look at Shein, one of the most aggressive adopters of AI in fashion.
It now produces 1.5 million new items every single day, guided by AI models trained on trending content and keyword patterns.[9][10]
Its carbon footprint hit 26 million metric tons of CO₂ in 2024. A number higher than many small countries and more than Zara and H&M combined.[11][12]
Design-to-shelf timelines have been reduced to 7 days, creating a new era of ultra-fast fashion.[13][14]
And all of this happens before you even press “buy.”
Training just one large AI model uses as much energy as five cars over their entire lifetimes. Even when you’re not shopping, servers are running constantly to learn your habits, predict your impulses, and trigger your next purchase.
The Unequal Playing Field
While luxury brands have partnerships with companies like Google Cloud or Microsoft, small ethical designers are left out of the game.
They absorb higher production costs to ensure fair wages and sustainable materials.
They can’t afford to flood social media with ads.
They’re rarely surfaced by algorithm-driven discovery tools.
In other words: AI makes the powerful even more powerful.
But what if AI wasn’t the problem? What if it was just being used the wrong way?
Cause that is what we think and that’s exactly the problem we’re solving at Shezaar.
What If AI Could Work Differently?
At Shezaar, we believe technology doesn’t have to fuel hype. It can be used to surface intention.
We’re building tools that spotlight designers who:
Are transparent about where and how their products are made
Use deadstock, fair labor, or regenerative materials
Create clothing that’s worth keeping, not just clicking
Our upcoming Chrome extension is designed to help shoppers make better choices:
It shows real-time sustainability scores while you browse online stores
It suggests better alternatives from small, values-led designers
We’re not using AI to push more products. We’re using it to help people pause, reflect, and shop more intentionally.
So, What Happens Next?
AI will absolutely change the fashion industry. That part is inevitable.
The real question is:
Will AI make fashion more human and more honest, or just more profitable for the few?
At Shezaar, we’re betting on the former.
If you want to be part of that future, where craftsmanship, transparency, and technology work together, you can download our chrome extension from here.
Because the next era of fashion is coming fast.
Let’s make sure it serves people, not just profit.