How Threadicated is making the Clueless closet a reality with AI

Welcome back to Neural Notes, a column where I dig into some of the most interesting AI stories of the week. In this edition: How Threadicated is using AI to bolster its online personal stylist platform.

Many of us elder Millennials may remember the sense of envy that Cher Horowitz’s wardrobe computer invoked in the movie Clueless.

For the uninitiated, our mid-90s heroine gets ready for school with the aid of a digital closet that cycles through her real-world clothing, deciding which items do and don’t match.

It was the dream – and one that Danielle Johansen, the founder and CEO, has made a reality with her online personal fashion stylist platform, Threadicted.

Johansen founded the business as a side hustle right before Covid hit, but was running it full-time within a year.

“I’m always the friend who gets called to help people with their style crises,” Johansen said to SmartCompany.

At first, she was manually styling clients over the Internet, but the business quickly grew, leading her to explore ways to scale while maintaining affordability.

Being a proudly purpose-driven founder rather than a technical one, Johansen went to her team for help.

“It didn’t initially start with AI. I don’t think I even knew what AI was when I started Threadicated,” Johansen said.

“I went to our developers and asked if we could create something like Netflix for clothes. They suggested developing AI, and that’s how it all started.”

How Threadicated combines AI and human expertise

Threadicated’s platform has two main offerings – Styled Parcels, where AI-selected items are refined by accredited human stylists and sent to users, and Curated Collections, which allow clients to browse tailored selections online.

According to Johansen, the AI collects information from users through their profiles, which is derived from 60 data points. This includes style preferences, body shape and budget. The AI then matches these data sets to recommended clothing items

“The AI continuously creates and refines ‘recipes’ to better understand each customer’s style. Whether a customer is browsing through Curated Collections or receiving a Styled Parcel, the AI learns from their interactions to improve future recommendations,” Johansen said.

“The AI narrows down 50,000 products to a shortlist, but the stylist makes the final decision based on their expertise and the nuanced information they have about the client,” Danielle says.

But while it has become a time and cost saver for the business, it wasn’t without its challenges.

Integrating AI into Threadicated was a complex process that required building specific ‘recipes’ for all shapes, styles and colours.

And that’s important, because colourways aren’t as simple as the colours named in the rainbow. The world is made up of roughly 10 million colours and shades.

As Meryl Streep reminds us in a scorching monologue in The Devil Wears Prada:

“But what you don’t know is that that sweater is not just blue, it’s not turquoise, it’s not lapis, it’s actually cerulean.”

Johansen recalls having to fine-tune everything, which during the testing phase certainly had some interesting results.

“I remember we got it to a place where we felt comfortable… and then it just kept showing maternity dresses for men – 60-year-old men,” Johansen said.

“It just takes another tweak and another tweak, and you change one thing and the next day it’s all shoes. Shoes for everyone!”

Fortunately, it worked out eventually. Threadicated’s clothing retention rate has increased from 50% to 78%, with an expectation to reach 85% in the near future.

The company has also seen two consecutive years of 65% revenue growth and a 77% client return rate.

Despite the post-glitch success of AI in the business, Johansen is passionate about the importance of keeping humans in the loop element.

For the founder, having a human touch ensures the pieces are truly curated and thoughtful, rather than automated. She has also learned from personal experience that clients are far more likely to connect with a human stylist than an AI.

“Our service charges about one-fifth of what traditional personal styling services cost thanks to AI. But having a human in the loop is crucial because people connect with people. AI assists us and makes our lives easier, but human stylists build relationships with customers, offering expert opinions and emotional support,” Johansen said.

“Once you share your underwear size with someone, things can get personal pretty quickly,” Johansen said.

“You probably feel more comfortable saying, ‘Hey, I’ve gone up a size,’ or ‘I’ve got my best friend’s wedding,’ or whatever it is, and you feel like a human can comprehend that in a better way.”

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