Fashion Designer Leverages IBM Watsonx AI for Interactive NYFW Presentation with Virtual Try-On Experience

Fashion designer Kate Barton is set to present her latest collection at New York Fashion Week this Saturday, integrating cutting-edge artificial intelligence technology into the runway experience. In collaboration with Fiducia AI, Barton has developed a multilingual AI agent powered by IBM Watsonx on IBM Cloud infrastructure, enabling attendees to identify collection pieces and experience virtual try-ons in real-time.

According to Barton, technology is intrinsically woven into her creative process. She approaches AI not as a gimmick but as an immersive set design element—a portal that extends the narrative of her collection. "Today, tech is a tool for expanding the world around the clothes, how they are presented, and how people enter the story," Barton explained, emphasizing that the goal is to create moments that inspire curiosity and visual intrigue.

Ganesh Harinath, founder and CEO of Fiducia AI, detailed the technical architecture behind the presentation. The solution leverages:

• IBM Watsonx for AI model development

• IBM Cloud for infrastructure and deployment

• IBM Cloud Object Storage for data management

The implementation features a Visual AI lens built with IBM Watsonx that can detect and identify specific garments from Barton's collection. The system supports multilingual interaction through both voice and text interfaces, and delivers photorealistic virtual reality try-on experiences. "The hardest work wasn't model tuning; it was orchestration," Harinath noted, highlighting the complexity of integrating multiple AI components into a cohesive production-grade system.

This marks Barton's second consecutive season incorporating AI technology into her presentations, having previously experimented with AI-generated models in collaboration with Fiducia AI. The designer observes that while many fashion brands are deploying AI technologies, most are doing so quietly—primarily for operational purposes—due to concerns about potential reputational risks associated with public AI adoption.

Barton draws parallels to the early resistance fashion houses showed toward establishing web presence. "Then it became inevitable, and eventually the question shifted from 'should we be online' to 'is our online presence any good?'" she reflected, suggesting AI adoption in fashion is following a similar trajectory.

While acknowledging that current AI deployment in fashion often remains surface-level—limited to chatbots, content generation, and internal productivity tools—both Barton and Harinath envision more sophisticated applications. These include enhanced prototyping capabilities, advanced visualization tools, optimized production decision-making, and immersive consumer experiences that complement rather than replace human creativity.

Barton emphasizes the importance of responsible AI implementation, advocating for clear discourse, transparent licensing, proper attribution, and recognition that human creativity represents core value rather than overhead cost. "If the technology is used to erase people, I am not into it," she stated firmly, adding that audiences can distinguish between genuine innovation and technological avoidance strategies.

Harinath projects that AI in fashion will achieve normalization by 2028, becoming embedded in retail operations by 2030. "Most of this technology already exists—the differentiator now is assembling the right partners and building teams that can operationalize it responsibly," he explained.

Dee Waddell, Global Head of Consumer, Travel and Transportation Industries at IBM Consulting, reinforced this perspective: "When inspiration, product intelligence, and engagement are connected in real time, AI moves from being a feature to becoming a growth engine that drives measurable competitive advantage."

Barton's vision for the future remains human-centric: "The most exciting future for fashion is not automated fashion. It is fashion that uses new tools to heighten craft, deepen storytelling, and bring more people into the experience, without flattening the people who make it."

Sources:

Kate Barton Official Website

Fiducia AI