TOP10 NEWS / 01.19.24
This is the daily review, where we share must-read news and stories crucial for the architects of the future fashion landscape. We outline the five foundational elements of the upcoming metaverse fashion world, essential knowledge for anyone shaping it. As the Metaverse remains open and agnostic to factors such as politics, religion, design direction, specific technology, generative AI foundation models, blockchains, or metaverse platforms, our stream of knowledge reflects this inclusive approach.
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VALUE PROPOSITION (investment, decentralized finance): Understanding the financial aspects and decentralized finance crucial for the future metaverse fashion economy.
TRUSTRACE SECURES $24 MILLION GROWTH INVESTMENT
TrusTrace, the traceability and compliance solutions provider, has completed a 24 million US dollar growth investment led by Circularity Capital, with participation from previous investors Industrifonden and Fairpoint Capital. In a statement, TrusTrace said that the funds would be used to accelerate its global ambition plans by strengthening its presence in key markets, deepening product innovation and expanding collaborations to help create a global network “where all value chains are traceable, circular, and fair”. Shameek Ghosh, chief executive and co-founder of TrusTrace, said: “A growing number of fashion and textile brands are adopting supply chain traceability to support their sustainability goals and ensure competitiveness in the face of mounting regulatory and consumer pressure. The completion of this growth investment is further evidence that businesses see traceability as critical to achieving their sustainability goals.“Backed by new funding, TrusTrace will further cement its position as the fashion industry’s trusted partner for identifying and managing supply chain risk, ensuring compliance and driving sustainability across value chains.”Circularity Capital invests in traceability and compliance solutions provider TrusTraceTrusTrace, founded in 2016, offers supply chain traceability and compliance, enabling global fashion brands and suppliers to standardise how supply chain and material traceability data is captured, digitised and shared. Through providing access to validated supply chain data, TrusTrace empowers brands to identify, understand and improve the impact of their supply chain to drive sustainable change, manage ESG risks and ensure compliance. Anders Brejner, investment director at Circularity Capital, a specialist investor in businesses that enable the circular economy, said: “We see a growing number of global fashion brands looking to transition away from today’s linear ‘take-make-dispose’ model of production and consumption to one that is more sustainable and equitable. We believe this is only possible at scale with the right digital backbone to provide transparency and traceability across complex global supply chains.“TrusTrace is a clear leader in this field, with an excellent team, solution and blue-chip client base - and a great fit with our strategy to back global leaders enabling the circular economy. We are excited to be supporting TrusTrace as it continues to expand worldwide.” Ghosh added: “We are delighted to be partnering with Circularity Capital for the next phase of our growth, the combination of their specialist expertise in the circular economy and powerful international network makes them a strong value-added investor for us.”
FASHION SYSTEM (metamorphosis of the old-fashioned economy into the new and singular one): Observing the transformation of traditional economies into a novel and unified system within the realm of future metaverse fashion.
THE TECHNOLOGIES THE RETAIL INDUSTRY IS BETTING ON
The Technologies the Retail Industry Is Betting OnArtificial intelligence dominated the new ideas on display at NRF in New York this week, but it wasn’t the only technology shaping what retail could look like in the future.The next era of?retail?will be filled with?artificial intelligence, robots and even some holograms, at least if NRF was any indication.The National Retail Federation’s gargantuan annual conference again took over New York’s Javits Center this week, drawing vendors and guests from around the world. As in years past, it included an Innovation Lab dedicated to new technologies NRF says show what retail can be now and in the future.
The ideas spanned everything from the latest in warehouse robotics to augmented-reality mirrors that let shoppers virtually try on products, in case they don’t want to make the trip to the fitting room or an item isn’t in stock. Two different companies had hologram displays. But the tech that dominated all others was undoubtedly AI.Of the 50 or so companies that were present, around 20 included some form of AI in their pitches to retailers and attendees. There was AI for analysing which foot traffic in stores actually yields conversions, for personalising product recommendations according to a shopper’s psychographic profile, for predicting consumer demand and more.Generative AI, the newest widely hyped technology, took its share of the spotlight. Companies were selling services that could?give shoppers styling tips, create text and image content for marketing campaigns and e-commerce sites, produce blog posts to boost a brand in Google search, generate backgrounds for product photos and power chatbots to help online shoppers, among other applications.None of the ideas on their own seemed ready to revolutionise retail. But together they painted a picture of an industry that’s growing more efficient, data-driven and optimised for even the smallest tasks. A perennial objective for retailers is to get better at targeting the right shopper with the right product at the right time in order to turn them into paying customers. It’s one area where AI can potentially help since it’s able to process large amounts of data to make predictions. Onebeat, for instance, which was among the companies in the Innovation Lab, uses AI to help retailers better manage and allocate inventory so they have the correct products in their stores based on what customers are likely to buy. Another company, Psykhe, uses AI to help retailers recommend products based on the shopper’s psychological profile.
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METAPHYSICS (web3, metaverse, AR/VR/XR/MR): Exploring the metaphysical aspects involving web3, metaverse, and various extended reality technologies like AR, VR, XR, and MR.
TOMMY HILFIGER'S MOBILE FASHION GAME FASHIONVERSE LAUNCHES
Fashion Network: Tommy Hilfiger’s previously-flagged fashion game, called FashionVerse, has been unveiled with Hilfiger Ventures calling its debut a “breakthrough”.It’s an interactive fashion game for mobile platforms from the private investment vehicle co-founded by the designer, as well as by game publisher Tilting Point and by Brandible. It can be accessed via iOS and Android devices, as well as through Netflix’s mobile app.The game comes from an idea originated by Hilfiger himself who “wanted to scale fashion through an immersive, community-based game that capitalises on the most current technology”.It features Brandible’s proprietary AI model, “which creates photorealistic avatars, settings and props, to provide a stunning virtual experience where everyone is a creator”.
FashionVerse?sees players taking on design challenges to “create perfectly curated fashion sets in?Stylist?mode or mood boards in Trendsetter mode, each of which other players vote upon”.There are plenty of sharing opportunities as well as the chance to win rewards and discover trends from real-world fashion brands.The developers also said “diversity and inclusion are cornerstones of?FashionVerse,?which features models across a wide range of size diversity, ethnicities and abilities”.?It will feature an ongoing series of virtual event Pop-Ups in collaboration with major fashion, entertainment, art and beauty brands to be announced in the weeks following launch.The Pop-Ups will feature dedicated challenges focused on participating brands’ campaign themes, garments from their latest collections, and special rewards for players who complete all of the branded challenges.
UNITY - WALMART PARTNERSHIP REDIFINES GAMING AND RETAIL COLLABORATION
Street Fight: In recent years, we’ve seen an increasing comfortability with traditional retailers and the gaming industry. Fortnite may have been the first to really make this big business – through can’t-miss concerts and exclusive in-game and IRL shoe sponsorships with 耐克 – but the industry has certainly grown its ability to attract high-end partnerships like Unity and Walmart.
The?Unity-Walmart collaboration?is a game-changer, thrusting us into a dynamic fusion of gaming and retail that demands attention. This isn’t just about integrating e-commerce into gaming; it’s a seismic shift towards a metaverse where social, entertainment, and commerce collide, creating an unmissable shared space.This strategic alliance isn’t merely about growth; it’s a paradigm shift in how gaming studios approach revenue. Picture an immersive user experience where in-game purchases seamlessly merge with real-world products, enticing both the gaming community and a broader audience seeking an unprecedented shopping encounter.What sets this collaboration apart is its innovative monetization models. Virtual items and exclusive content tied to real-world purchases create irresistible incentives for players and rich insights that lay a foundational data layer for commerce marketing. It’s not just gaming; it’s a symbiotic relationship between gaming and e-commerce, where success in one realm feeds into the prosperity of the other.The Path ForwardIn 2023 alone, there were a number of innovative and creative campaigns rolled out that showed the deepening ties of gaming companies with retailers and global brands. Riot Games, the makers of League of Legends, had two massive partnerships in 2023. They expanded their relationship with Coca Cola with the?League of Legends x Coca-Cola Ultimate Zero Sugar, and also launched a new in-game skin with Louis Vuitton. In turn, Louis Vuitton created a collection inspired by League of Legends.Look beyond the gaming realm, and you’ll see the Unity – Walmart partnership propelling us into a metaverse future where the boundaries between virtual and physical are vanishing. Users will effortlessly navigate between digital experiences and real-world transactions, marking a strategic response to the ever-evolving landscape of online interactions.This isn’t just a strategic move; it’s a response to the transformative dynamics of digital experiences and the dramatic changes in how marketers must collaborate to address their customers and acquire new ones. Unity and Walmart’s integration showcases the synergy between gaming and e-commerce, unveiling uncharted territories for growth, audience expansion, and a reshaping of the metaverse landscape.
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AI / SINGULARITY (generative artificial intelligence, foundation models, prompt engineering): Delving into generative artificial intelligence, foundational models, and prompt engineering contributing to the concept of singularity in the metaverse fashion realm.
GOOGLE UNVEILS VICTORIA'S SECRET AI LINK-UP, NEW AI TOOLS
Fashion Network: Google?Cloud has announced?a strategic partnership with?Victoria’s Secret & Co., as well as the launch of new AI products for retailers, plus new research on UK retailers showing that 81% of decision-makers feel the urgency to adopt generative AI technologies, with over half ready to deploy generative AI in the coming year.?The Victoria’s Secret link-up will see it bringing generative AI tech to the brand’s shopping experience. The lingerie retailer will be using Google Cloud’s AI capabilities to launch a generative-AI powered conversational assistant for its website and mobile app, as well as new virtual-try-on capabilities to provide shoppers with tailored product recommendations.Meanwhile its?customer service modernisation solution integrates generative AI capabilities with existing management systems to streamline internal tasks and deliver personalised customer service.Then there’s the?catalogue and content enrichment solution that “accelerates product cataloguing by generating product descriptions and fine-tuning language for search engine optimisation (SEO)”.?And while that UK retailer research shows a huge majority feeling that adopting generative AI in their business is an urgent need, as many as 55% also feel ready to deploy the tech today. Some 80% anticipate their organisations will start prioritising hiring data scientists.
Researchers commissioned by Google spoke to 104 UK C-suite executives, information technology leads, and business development managers, and they’ve clearly been impacted by the publicity around AI last year. It emerged as one of the fastest-growing technologies to date in 2023. And while some have suggestive AI is over-hyped, 71% of those surveyed believe generative AI can be practically deployed in their business. Almost all respondents said they expect it to have an impact on customer experience.The areas they see it impacting the most include customer service automation. Some 66% of respondents want to use generative AI to streamline customer service with less human intervention by providing conversation summaries, automating tasks, and ultimately driving conversion.?Product descriptions will be another key area with 48% wanting to use generative AI to accelerate product categorisation and generate great customer-centric marketing copy.Meanwhile, 39% want to use it to “empower retail creative teams to curate bespoke images and creative content for campaigns and editorial placements and also enable 1:1 personalisation”.As for those AI-based product launches, they include a new conversational commerce solution designed to bring AI-powered virtual assistants to more online stores and mobile apps. Plus there’s Vertex. AI search for retail that enables large language models (LLMs) to be custom-tuned to a retailer’s unique catalogue and customer search patterns.
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SAMSUNG SEES CHANCE TO LEAPFROG APPLE WITH AI ENHANCEMENTS
Fortune: Smartphones could get much smarter this year as the next wave of artificial intelligence seeps into the devices that accompany people almost everywhere they go. Samsung, the biggest rival to?Apple?and its iPhone, provided a glimpse of how smartphones are evolving during a Wednesday unveiling of the next generation of its flagship Galaxy models. The sales pitch for the Galaxy S24 lineup revolves around an array of new features powered by AI.“We will reshape the technology landscape, we will open a new chapter without barriers to unleash your potential,” TM Roh, the president of Samsung Electronics’s mobile experience division, vowed to a crowd gathered in a San Jose, California, arena usually used for hockey games and concerts.Besides featuring some of Samsung’s own work in AI, the Galaxy S24 lineup will be packed with some of the latest advances coming out of?Google. The technological improvements will also usher in a higher price for Samsung’s top-of-the-line phone, the Galaxy S24 Ultra, which will be priced at $1,300 — a $100, or 8% increase, from last year’s comparable model. The increase mirrors?what Apple did?with its fanciest model, the iPhone 15 Pro Max, released in September. Samsung is holding steady on the prices for the Galaxy S24 Plus, which will sell for $1,000, and the basic Galaxy S24, which will start at $800.
NOW DECIDES NEXT
Deloitte: Explore findings from the Deloitte AI Institute's report tracking generative AI trends, business impacts, and challenges throughout 2024.Generative AI: Optimism now.What's next? The defining time for generative AI is now. How we train, apply, govern and work with generative AI will determine its impact.?
The State of Generative AI in the Enterprise: Now Decides Next?is a survey series tracking trends in use cases, sentiment, adoption, and challenges throughout 2024. Explore findings now, and stay tuned for what’s next.The arrival of generative AI heralds disruption and opportunity across industries. Organizations are exploring how generative AI can be used to unlock business value, supercharge efficiency and productivity, and open the door to entirely new products, services and business models.
As business leaders contend with this new technology and make decisions about the future of the enterprise with generative AI, it is helpful to keep one’s finger on the pulse of adoption. To that end, The State of Generative AI in the Enterprise: Now decides next, captures the sentiments of 2,835 business and technology leaders involved in piloting or implementing generative AI in their organizations. In this inaugural release of the quarterly report series, leaders indicated persistent excitement for using generative AI and many expect substantial transformative impacts in the short term. Yet, they also acknowledged uncertainty about generative AI’s potential implications on workforces and society as the technology is widely scaled, calling for greater investment in talent, governance and global collaboration. From these wave one insights, we can gain a clearer picture of how leaders are using generative AI, challenges, and lessons learned thus far. This helps reveal some of the essential questions leaders should be asking now and actions they should be taking to prepare their enterprise for what comes next. There is still much to discover with generative AI. As it matures and is deployed at scale for a litany of applications, new questions and challenges will become clearer. Our quarterly reports will be available to help you make sense of this fast-moving space, consider practical guidance based on what we have learned, and take a forward-looking view in your business future with generative AI.?
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METAVERSE (power of community, policy, decentralized society): Understanding the metaverse's influence on community dynamics, policy, and the formation of a decentralized society.
THE TELEGRAM CHANEL FOR DAO MFC IS NOW OPEN ??
We are continuously shaping the future of fashion and extend an invitation to subscribe to our Telegram Messenger channel ?? In the realm of metaverse fashion, decentralization isn't just a concept; it's the very essence of our community ?? This is why we cherish Telegram Messenger – the messenger #1 for the world of innovations, blockchain, and crypto. All decentralization enthusiasts are embracing Telegram ??Join our METAVERSE FASHION COUNCIL Telegram channel and be the first to gain knowledge about everything that matters to the builders of the Metaverse - https://lnkd.in/gakMN3i6
AI: WE'RE ALL ABOUT TO GET TRAMPLED BY HERD OF GREY RHINOS
Artificial intelligence (AI) is fundamentally transforming all aspects of society, including the world of work. With the convergence of generative AI, automation, and increasing computational power, the AI market is?projected to reach $407 billion by 2027, with an expected annual growth rate of 37.3% between 2023-30.?Our survey of 1,900 top executives?found that the integration of AI is at the top of the list of critical factors executives at Fortune 500 companies plan to consider in 2024–and?Upwork platform data?reveals the newfound growth of roles in areas like prompt engineering, natural language processing (NLP), and AI-generated content creation. As AI technologies and skills continue to become a high priority for businesses, the question looms large: Is AI a Gray Rhino, an obvious yet often underestimated risk, or could it potentially manifest as a Black Swan, a rare and disruptive event that takes us by surprise? To understand how AI, geopolitical environments, and shifting labor markets are shaping the future of work, we have also gathered opinions and insights from over 20 global experts, spanning various academic and business disciplines.
Spotting the AI Gray Rhino
Although the change may be prolific, AI’s arrival was relatively predictable. After all, the technology was?first introduced in the 1950s?and has progressed at a steady clip throughout the ensuing decades.Partnering with Wikistrat and bringing together over 20 global experts across 10 industries and 8 countries, our research unveiled that many believe AI will interact with other forces to create a Gray Rhino effect–a slowly emerging and somewhat obvious event many ignore. These events are often high-impact, yet neglected threats. Unlike Black Swan events that are improbable and hard to predict, Gray Rhino events are highly probable and can often be mitigated with positive leadership action and change. The research and dialogue among experts also indicated that AI was not a single Gray Rhino, but a herd of Gray Rhinos. This means that AI has ushered in other related developments that have altered our outlook on the future of work. These forces are already changing the longstanding social contract of the employer-worker relationship, and as a result, it is also changing what it means to be a strong leader.
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DAVOS LEADERS ADDRESS FASHION'S WASTE PROBLEM
The Business of Fashion: This week’s round-up of global markets fashion business news also features Dubai Duty Free, Mexican garment workers and Hong Kong beauty giant Sa Sa International.
???Fashion industry waste problem in focus at the World Economic Forum um.?Political, business and culture leaders from around the world have been descending on Davos, Switzerland for the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum, taking place from Jan. 15 – 19. Rubbing shoulders with the heads of state, billionaire moguls and celebrities at the elite event will be a handful of fashion industry leaders for a session on Thursday called ‘From Waste to Wardrobe: Making Circular Fashion Fashionable.’ Speakers will include Suchitra Lohia, deputy group CEO of Thailand’s wool fibre and chemical manufacturer Indorama Ventures, US-based Ralph Lauren Corporation CEO Patrice Louvet and?Vogue?China editor-in-chief Margaret Zhang, according to the NGO’s website.
EU AGREES TOUGHTER AML RULES FOR CRYPTO FIRMS
Decrypt: Under the new rules, crypto firms in the European Union would need to conduct due diligence checks on transactions over €1,000.
The EU Council and Parliament has reached a provisional agreement on parts of an anti-money laundering (AML) package that would require crypto firms to follow stricter due diligence requirements. In a?statement, the European Council said that the new rules will cover "most of the crypto sector," requiring crypto-asset service providers (CASPs) to conduct due diligence on customers carrying out transactions of €1,000 or more. The rules also include measures to "mitigate risks in relation to transactions with self-hosted wallets," the announcement said.CASPs will also be required to conduct enhanced due diligence on cross-border correspondent relationships as part of the rules.Another provision establishes an EU-wide maximum limit of €10,000 for cash payments, which the Council claims "will make it harder for crimials to launder dirty money." Businesses will also be required to identify and verify the identity of individuals carrying out occasional cash transactions between €3,000 and €10,000.The deal will now be finalized and presented to the European Parliament for approval. "If approved, the Council and the Parliament will have to formally adopt the texts before they are published in the EU’s Official Journal and enter into force," the statement read. The provisional agreement comes as?part?of the EU's?sixth Anti-Money Laundering directive?and the?EU single rulebook regulation. Lead MEP on behalf of the ECON Committee Luděk Niedermayer said in a statement that, "We will close the plethora of loopholes that exist and which make life far too easy for money launderers." He added that, "In [the] digital age we must also make sure that data are available quickly and can be processed effectively." Last year, the EU?passed?the Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) legislation, a wide-ranging legal framework that imposes a unified approach to crypto asset regulation across all 27 member states. Among its provisions, MiCA establishes clear rules for CASPs, requiring them to adhere to common standards regarding security and AML protections.