(Yicai Global) June 19 -- Artificial intelligence is being more widely used in China’s clothing sector, but it is not yet able to replace designers, insiders told Yicai Global during the 2023 Global Digital Fashion Innovation Conference last week.

Liu Chen, founder and chief executive officer of clothing software developer Linctex Style3D, said creativity and efficiency are both priorities for the clothing industry, so a range of designer types is accepted and there is higher tolerance for the errors that can come when using AI.

Linctex’s customers include Bosideng, Anta, and UR, and the company’s clothing design, pattern-making, and photo-taking are all done in digital 3D. At the end of April, the firm released an AI-generated content model for the clothing industry.

AI-generated clothing design images give designers and companies more choices, Liu said, but it is still “designers who need to judge which one is better, and they also need to make them into physical or digital samples.”

Liu told Yicai Global that AI technology can improve development efficiency in the fashion industry by 20 percent to 30 percent, and the figure will be higher in the future. It may not be able to replace designers, but “people who use AIGC will replace those who don’t use this tool,” he said.

For the clothing industry, digitalization is inevitable, as is the application of AI technology, so people must learn how to use it, Li Jianhua, chairman of clothing brand Wensli, told Yicai Global.

The company has added AIGC-related software to its workflow this year, making the designs more artistic and fashionable, Li said, adding that 50 to 100 silk scarves can be introduced to the market every day. “This is the same number that the company used to have in a year, and now we can do it in a day,” Li said.

While designers are irreplaceable, AI technology is still changing the way the clothing industry works. Linctex’s Liu said that in the past designers used to get design inspiration from various areas such as catwalk pictures, street photos, and research data, but AI technology can make these processes more unnecessary.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Tom Litting