Issue link: https://viewer.e-digitaledition.com/i/1492065
Months before the new year officially arrived forecasters were already sizing up what 2023 would be "the year of." With Q1 underway, a handful of trends are starting to take shape. It's anybody's guess which cultural cues will define the year ahead. But based on what we're seeing, hearing and reading, these developments are areas to watch: AI COMES OF AGE Asked if Artificial Intelligence (AI) is going to change the way we design and manufacture, physicist Dr. Zina Cinker responded "Absolutely. ere is no way that AI is not going to have a direct impact." Cinker, the chief creator/director general of Puzzle X at the company Matter Inc., expressed her reply while in conversation with Dr. Andrew Dent, EVP research, Material ConneXion, during a talk on the topic of "e Evolution of Our Material World As We Know It." e execs agreed that when used in combination with high-tech computation, AI will play a role in finding new and potentially better material solutions, allowing us to broaden our eco-responsible textile options by approaching innovation in a different way. In the meantime, AI is available at our fingertips: Fashion Snoops staff member Carolina Uribe Cervera kicked off her New Year presentation with a shout out to @ai_clothingdaily and cookup.ai, highlighting these sites as culturally relevant indicators. With 35.2K followers, @ai_clothingdaily posts artificially generated designs for a range of apparel and footwear looks, while app builder cookup.ai invites users to "Cook up your AI app in 1 minute." n RESALE REALIZED 2022 was a banner year for resale with shopping for used clothing more fashionable than buying new. Trove, a business model built on technology to help brands recover and resell their goods – in 2016 the company helped to launch Patagonia's Worn Wear line and REI's resale program – went from 31 to 120+ brand partners with dedicated resale programs last year. Recently Trove posted its Resale Predictions for 2023 on LinkedIn. Here are three of the top takeaways: "Brands with newly launched resale programs move to build resale businesses. is requires a path to scale and profitability and will ultimately require logistics; Brands further integrate the customer journey more fully, realizing the power of resale and trade-in. We saw this start in 2022 with integrated carts, order history, store trade-ins, and returns, and that trend will accelerate; And new innovation models that mix historically different ideas such as resale, rental, and discovery. ese lines are blurring, and more companies will start to pioneer on the backs of what brands are now doing." n textileinsight.com Winter 2023 ~ Textile Insight • 7 AI Photo: Andrea De Santis/UnSplash