Artificial Intelligence

Technology was forced to prove its worth this year as businesses sought practical use cases for AI and data analytics amid a tough consumer environment that brought a few high-profile businesses crashing back down to earth.

The sports brand is letting Manchester City fans create their own designs for the team’s uniform — no drawing skills needed — with one design to become the club’s third kit for the 2026 season.

AI-powered curation across content and search is helping shoppers overwhelmed by choice to find the items they want, with benefits for brands and retailers, according to the BoF-McKinsey State of Fashion 2025.

An AI start-up working with a major sneaker resale platform believes it has found a way to authenticate footwear and potentially other products through the chemical signatures in their scent.

Arcade lets shoppers design their own jewellery with AI and then produces it. It highlights both the potential in letting users turn their ideas into reality and how much labour is required behind the scenes to make it possible.

The technology is already transforming e-commerce, from search and product recommendations to understanding shopper intent, creating new opportunities and challenges for brands and consumers alike.

The search giant is rebuilding its shopping experience around AI, rolling out new features like personalised product feeds and AI-powered shopping guides, beginning this week.

To boost sales and create a better customer experience, companies are revamping the e-commerce search bar to make it easier for shoppers to find products or even shop in new ways.

Concerns are growing that the technology’s transformative power has been oversold. Kamali, on the other hand, is as convinced as ever that, for her at least, it marks the start of a new creative era.

As generative AI is incorporated into our everyday lives, most recently through Apple’s introduction of the technology into its latest iPhone, it stands to affect how consumers research, discover and buy products online.

As competition for customers’ discretionary spend intensifies, smart assortment planning — from size predictions to demand forecasting — can help brands and retailers stay ahead. BoF sits down with Style Arcade CEO and co-founder Michaela Wessels to learn more.

The magazine publisher is licensing its content to OpenAI, even as other publishers sue the company. We’ll know soon enough which approach can provide a path forward for the media industry as the technology reshapes the internet.