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A lot of uncertainty surrounds artificial intelligence (AI). What are its limitations? How many human jobs will it replace? Can it be trusted with our private information and security? Will it eventually outsmart us and take over the world? The answers to those questions are still unknown, but one thing is certain: Some businesses in the textile industry are using AI to create truly impressive results.

The interview with Daina Burnes, CEO of Bold Metrics, discusses how the company uses AI to reduce clothing returns and waste by improving the accuracy of size recommendations. The conversation highlights the importance of data in refining the shopping experience and the future of AI in the apparel industry.

Released in The Interline’s AI Report 2024, this executive interview with Bold Metrics is one of a fourteen-part series that sees The Interline quiz executives from companies who have either introduced new AI solutions or added meaningful new AI capabilities into their existing platforms.

Bold Metrics, a fit technology company based in San Francisco, conducted an analysis of more than 18 million data points—or nearly five million data points each year—to help determine whether the effects of the so-called Ozempic Economy have started to appear in a way that would be meaningful to fashion and apparel brands and retailers. 

While virtual try-on through augmented reality is sophisticated enough to realistically portray items such as eyewear, shoes and other accessories, it typically still doesn’t cut it when it comes to luxury fashion. But an alternative method has emerged.

Small, medium, and large: These sizes can vary widely when it comes to actual fit, and that can be a significant challenge if you sell clothing.

The problem is that whether you sell apparel with generic sizes or numerical sizes (dress size 2, 4, or 6, size 38 waist, etc.), none of them are completely standardized. Any savvy shopper will tell you that a size 6 dress in one store could fit very differently from a size 6 dress found at a competing shop. This is particularly a problem if you sell exclusively online—your customers don’t have the opportunity to try on items in a physical store.

An online specialty retailer of school uniforms is increasing conversions and reducing returns with a custom artificial intelligence-based sizing solution.

It's becoming clearer than ever that AI will soon impact every industry in one way or another, especially as every technology company adds AI to its existing products. The result is the conflation of things like personalization and AI—industry agnostic in many ways, yet intricately intertwined in some industries, like e-commerce and apparel.

Every apparel retailer is looking to boost conversions and reduce returns, but fit and sizing are often overlooked tactics that make an impact.

These five companies are providing solutions for the denim industry’s biggest questions.

Bold Metrics and Mizzen+Main partner to redefine the fit of performance menswear using AI-driven sizing solutions. Customers can now easily find their ideal size and preferred fit, reducing bracketing and improving conversion rates.

Shoppers on the Girlfriend Collective website can now use the Find My Size solution powered by Bold Metrics' AI-driven Smart Size Chart to find the best size for their preferred fit quickly and accurately.

Bold Metrics the artificial intelligence (AI) company specializing in advanced sizing solutions for the apparel industry, is excited to announce that it is now powering online sizing for leading sustainable apparel brand, Pact.

The Bold Metrics-powered 'What's My Size' tool aims to revolutionize how healthcare professionals find their ideal size when shopping for Jaanuu apparel online.

Bold Metrics and French Toast partner to simplify sizing for online schoolwear shopping.

The company, used by brands like French Toast and Vuori, provides apparel brands and retailers with artificial intelligence-powered body modeling technology for better design of clothing. On the consumer side, the tech guides shoppers so they can better determine if an item will fit.

Bold Metrics’ approach to fit-tech eschews long quizzes or fussy phone-measuring features, and instead, applies data intelligence to determine fit with just four or five questions, and offers tools like its AI-powered Smart Size Chart that include inventory algorithms to leverage real-time data and address supply chain issues.

Bold Metrics, a San Francisco-based A.I.-based fit and sizing solution company, raised $8 million in Series A funding led by Bessemer Venture Partners and was joined by investors including Lytical Ventures, ValueStream Ventures, and Nanban Ventures.

The San Francisco startup's service uses artificial intelligence to predict people's body measurements based on just a few data points, including their height and shoe size.

Companies using Bold Metrics — including Canada Goose, Tailored Brands (Men’s Wearhouse, Jos A. Bank), SuitShop, Blue Delta Jeans, UpWest and SIMMS — also get body metrics insights. This helps them create products that are better tailored to their customer’s actual body sizes.

The round was led by Bessemer Venture Partners. Also participating: Lytical Ventures, ValueStream Ventures, and Nanban Ventures.

Shoppers with a Bold Metrics Body Data NFT in their Coinbase, MetaMask or other Ethereum wallets can instantly get apparel size recommendations.

Bold Metrics unveiled one potential answer to the sizing problem Thursday. Powered by the company’s pre-existing body modeling technology, the Body Data NFT records a consumer’s various body measurements in a token that resides in the owner’s crypto wallet. When visiting a participating retailer’s e-commerce site, Body Data NFT holders will be able to connect their crypto wallet and immediately receive size recommendations that are mapped to the brand’s own sizing charts. When sizing varies within a brand, the tool will be able to recommend the appropriate size for each individual item.

Most tuxedos rented online at Men's Wearhouse use Bold Metrics measurement technology, which the retailer says drives a 27.4% reduction in exchange rates. Bold Metrics leverages a proprietary body-data warehouse containing millions of learned data points on body measurements and tuxedo fit to produce tailor-accurate size predictions for shoppers.

Bold Metrics' Contactless Fit technology, which was rolled out in a limited number of stores at first, has now been implemented in over 650 Jos. A. Bank and Men's Wearhouse locations. With the technology, consumers receive poll questions, and Bold Metrics’ platform finds important points of measure and body shape to form a special 3D avatar, creating more than 50 body measurements.

In fact, major retailers like Adidas, Canada Goose and Levi’s enlist Bold Metrics’ platform. With virtual sizing and try-on technology, customers can ditch the error-prone process that follows after pulling out the measuring tape. I’ve seen firsthand how we were able to reduce our fit-related returns by as much as 73%.

(Bold Metrics and Forma)...which have joined forces in a new partnership, aim to boost accuracy while lowering the friction for consumers. Their model doesn’t ask for permission to crawl through hundreds or selfies, force people to measure themselves or sit through a body scan, nor does it require lengthy surveys. Just four to five short questions.

Shoppers can use Contactless Fit™ either in the store or at home, with the solution accounting for individual fit and style preferences in an effort to deliver a more personalized retail experience.

Stores across the U.S. are slowly starting to open. But consumers are concerned about the safety of in-store shopping and using fitting rooms. Tech companies are helping retailers find solutions to bring back consumer confidence.

Trusted by some of the largest apparel brands in the world, Bold Metrics has quickly become a core part of ongoing fit initiatives led by brands that are trying to keep up with changes in consumers’ buying habits and body shapes.

Contactless Fit™ is a first-to-market solution by Bold Metrics that easily integrates into the in-store experience to help shoppers find the right size without ever physically trying on the clothes.

[Bold Metrics] can actually predict over 90 body measurements at literally a higher level of accuracy than you could probably measure yourself.

This technology creates an exciting immersive in-store experience for shoppers to experience AR.

Unlocking human body data is paramount in understanding how a garment will fit.

Machine learning algorithms can enable brands to help shoppers more easily find the answers to their fit questions.

Technology meets the tape measure. Fashion Metric’s products can map consumer’s body measurements to brands’ garment data to cut down on costly returns. It can also help brands personalize the online apparel shopping experience.

Fashion Metric has the opportunity to completely change the way we buy clothes and create markets not tapped due to the clunkiness of the status quo.

Fashion Metrics brings tailoring into modern times using data to offer one of the quickest, most accurate services on the market.

This is where Fashion Metric comes in - their SaaS helps businesses gain better bodily measurements from their customers, decreasing returns and increasing customer satisfaction.

...with the Smart Sizing Chart, shoppers don't have to wait for something to be made just for them. They can find out what first best and looks best without spending an afternoon in-store fitting rooms.

Chosen among a select group of world-class technology startups from around the globe, Bold Metrics and Cappasity will be presenting to hundreds of Japanese corporations and venture capital firms, meet one-on-one with Japanese business leaders and investors, and participate in a private tour of Xport, Osaka’s new Open Innovation Lab.

Apparel brands are in for a tough year. Stores are sitting on a record $732 billion of merchandise - a result of excess inventory and slowing consumer demand triggered by high inflation. Supply chain challenges, shopper spending slowdown and overstocked inventory are compounding the pressure apparel companies are under to drive sales and hit revenue targets. For clothing-based brands and retailers, a vital way to boost conversion is by personalizing fit and sizing for shoppers and creating an easy way for customers to accurately find their size.

In today’s rapidly evolving apparel landscape, technology is playing an increasingly pivotal role in how apparel brands approach size and fit. From digital twins to virtual try-ons and avatars, there’s a wealth of innovative solutions available to help brands better understand and meet the needs of their customers.