2/2 - Following and end of the interview of Tony Pinville, CEO of Heuritech, on the occasion of the announcement, early September, by this company specialized in artificial intelligence applied to fashion, of a € 4 million fundraising, intended to support its strategic development (read the first part of the interview on Le Boudoir Numérique: "Cross-fertilization between tech and fashion is the strength of Heuritech"). In this second part of the interview, Tony Pinville focuses on the issue of sustainable fashion, subject to which Heuritech just devoted a report in July, explaining how "trend forecasting has its role to play in terms of responsible fashion".

By Ludmilla Intravaia

Le Boudoir Numérique : Last July, you published the first part of your report on sustainable fashion (available here on Heuritech website). Why this study ?

Tony Pinville, co-founder of Heuritech : This subject is important to us because we are convinced that trend forecasting has a role to play in terms of responsible fashion. The ability of a brand to anticipate trends is critical to predict the right quantities to produce and avoid significant waste. Our artificial intelligence solutions can help produce more efficiency to reduce overstocks, whose environmental impact is very heavy. If we can predict the disappearing of a trend, the brand that follows it will be able to adapt by limiting its production to avoid unsold products, which by the way won't be allowed, soon, to be legally destroyed (last june, the french government announced the ban, in the next two to four years, on the destruction of non-food items, including textiles and cosmetics that will have to be donated or recycled, AN). In this sense, artificial intelligence can contribute to the virtuous circle of sustainable fashion.

How did you design this study ?

Our basic question was : are consumers really interested in this issue of sustainable fashion or is it a buzz propagated by niche influencers and some magazines ? It is very difficult to have an objective view on this subject. The first part of the study was based on the hashtags with which people express themselves on ethical fashion, on social networks. We have deciphered how they appropriate this vocabulary to see if there was a difference between the voices of influencers and those of consumers. The analysis covered 400 hashtags in 25 million posts of influencers and consumers over the last three years on Instagram. The second part of our report, unveiled next fall, will deal with brands most associated with sustainable fashion, by analyzing the images on social networks.

So, your conclusion : are people interested in responsible fashion ?

Yes, people have been talking about it for the past five years. Ideas about sustainable fashion are spreading in the population. The voices on this subject are exploding. This is not a com or a buzz effect, it really interests people, in a political context that is shifting, too. In 2018, the United Nations published a report on sustainable fashion and a Fashion Pact has just been presented to the G7 (some thirty actors from the fashion sector have committed themselves to limit the environmental impact of the textile industry, in a fashion pact, transmitted to leaders of the Group of Seven conference in Biarritz, on August 26th, AN). These political initiatives encourage brands to take an even greater interest in this subject and to find solutions, all the more so as they perceive, more and more, the business opportunities behind this problem. All this positive parameters seem to show that we are beginning to move in a better direction.

Your report also mentions the theme of veganism, the fact of not manufacturing and consuming products, derived from animals and their exploitation. Can artificial intelligence, as developed at Heuritech, be useful in this area ?

Our study shows the growing interest of the population for this topic. Our goal is not to tell the brands to adopt this or that solution, such as alternative leathers, for example but to point out that real potential markets, in which to invest, exist on vegan products, especially in cosmetics, which is an important issue for the future. Our expertise is based on technology and how to deliver highly sophisticated analyzes in artificial intelligence. But our goal is not to develop the most beautiful AI in the world. We are interested in using this advanced technology to do things that we could not do before and have a positive impact on the economy and sustainability by reducing pollution through technology. We have a strong expertise to strive for a better future, a perspective that motivates us to the highest degree.

Tony Pinville, CEO of Heuritech, September 2, 2019, Paris (© Lionel Samain for Le Boudoir Numérique)

In terms of fashion tech, are things starting to move in France ?

Yes. In Paris, we have a rich fashion tech ecosystem, compared to other cities. For example, the Adidas incubator is now in Station F (the German sports brand inaugurated, last January, a place hosting thirteen start-ups at the Station F startup campus, Freyssinet hall, in Paris, AN). When we started, brands were not interested in fashion tech, aside from Louis Vuitton, in constant search for innovation. But things have changed since then. Brands have realized that, in a context of rapid emergence of social media trends, complexity is now almost impossible to grasp by the human mind. It is necessary to use new tech tools, such as data analysis, to regain control of the evolution of the market. Innovative textile production, niche cosmetics combining tech know-how and zero waste..., France, a true referent in fashion and luxury, has expertise in technology and artificial intelligence that place itself as a leader in fashion tech subjects.

Looking further into the future, if the capacity of machines to independently learn new know-how is steadily improving, could we imagine one day seeing algorithms create a fashion collection ?

Why not ? But from what moment a machine becomes creative, it is difficult to say, especially since the data on which AI feeds are provided by the same humans who also explains to it how to treat them. I am more interested in how the machine will help human to do new things, through the combination of human specificity with the power of synthesis and analysis of artificial intelligence. The AI is a tool in the service of men that it will support in laborious actions, tasks that they do not necessarily know how to execute or that are generating too much information to treat. It is this man-machine alliance that is stimulating, not their opposition.

To close this interview, would you have some readings to advise, to learn a little more about artificial intelligence ?

Everything and anything are said about AI, in the media world. That is why it is always wise to choose a good popularized science book from an author that has the legitimacy to talk about a subject such as AI. I would recommend reading "L’intelligence artificielle n’existe pas" ("Artificial intelligence does not exist", AN) by Luc Julia, a brilliant French researcher who developed Siri (intelligent personal assistant, launched in 2011, by Apple, AN) and who now works at Samsung (South Korean group, AN). In his provocatively titled book, he fights preconceptions about AI, such as the idea that it will replace humans, as in Terminator (James Cameron's movie from 1984 in which robots threaten humanity, AN). It puts things back in place so that the reader can understand exactly what AI is today. I would also recommend "Le mythe de la singularité. Faut-il craindre l’intelligence artificielle ?” ("The Myth of Singularity. Should we fear Artificial Intelligence ?", AN) by French computer scientist Jean-Gabriel Ganascia who, again, relativizes the preconceived fantasies about this moment when the intelligence of machines would exceed the intelligence of human beings. A book that breaks down lots of misconceptions widely spread in the media sphere by commentators who do not always master the subject of artificial intelligence.

* Find the first part of this interview with Tony Pinville on Le Boudoir Numérique : "Cross-fertilization between tech and fashion is the strength of Heuritech".

* Continue reading on Heuritech with this article from Le Boudoir Numérique : "Will leopard print pleated skirts be trending any time soon ? AI already knows it !".