Fast fashion brands are using algorithms to decide what to make

In short: Fast fashion and mall brands are increasingly using algorithms and AI to choose designs, based on real time online signals instead of runway trends.

What's going on

Fast fashion brands used to take cues from runway shows, trade events, and trend reports, then remake those looks for cheaper stores. That pipeline is weakening. More brands now treat social media and online shopping data as the main source of ideas.

In practice, this means software systems scan huge amounts of posts, images, and videos on apps like TikTok and Instagram to spot patterns, like a certain color, skirt shape, or fabric showing up more often. Brands also look at what people search for and what shoppers click on, add to carts, return, or buy. Think of it like a constant focus group where people vote with their thumbs and wallets.

Some ultra fast fashion companies, including Shein and Temu, are described as leaning especially hard on these systems. Reports say they use their own internal algorithms to pick which items to produce and how many, sometimes turning trending images into early design drafts. Many mainstream mall brands are adopting similar tools to adjust what they stock by region, weather, and sales patterns.

What to watch

A key question is how this changes what ends up in stores. If many brands chase the same online signals, clothing can start to look more alike, because everyone is responding to the same trend feed. Another thing to watch is speed, since this approach can push more new items into shopping apps every week, and it can make it harder to tell when a “trend” is real demand versus a short lived spike boosted by social media platforms.

Source: NYTimes