Ahluwalia Partners With Microsoft For Her New AI-Led Platform Circulate

Understanding the power of technology to harness a more sustainable fashion industry, and going beyond digital shows, Priya Ahluwalia has turned her attention to a relatively unexplored path concerning sustainability - one that requires the help of AI (artificial intelligence) to better the designer's upcycling production methods.

Partnering with Microsoft to create a new digital experience that pushes the boundaries of sustainability in fashion using technologies rooted in AI, Ahluwalia's new platform, Circulate, invites anyone to be a part of the designer's up and coming collection. The process is simple: users donate a used piece of clothing to the app; Microsoft then uses Computer Vision API to analyse and sort the garment into its database while the Ahluwalia team then send a shipping label to the user so that the garment can be mailed to their warehouse, in return, receiving points that can be redeemed on the site.

In regards to how the idea came about, Ahluwalia told British Vogue:

'About a year ago, Microsoft approached me to collaborate on a virtual reality or digital fashion show, but I just felt that if I had the chance to collaborate with a tech giant, I wanted to develop something that would actually solve a business issue. Showing fashion digitally is amazing, and some brands have done it fantastically, but it isn't going to help with the nuts and bolts of producing my collections.'

While the platform benefits the climate, it also helps the fashion industry itself, by introducing the Ahluwalia brand to a broader audience, encouraging accessibility from all angles.