In the early 1990s, I had my hair coloured. That is, I went to a woman named Veronica who had transformed her spare bedroom into a closet full of clothes and cosmetics, advising women on what colours and styles suited them best.
At the time, it was a fairly rudimentary system: spring, summer, autumn and winter in cool, bright or deep tones.
I still have the color swatch I left and I look at it every now and then wondering why my wardrobe is full of black, gray, and navy if the colors that suit me best are bright greens, blues, and pinks.
Colour Me Beautiful was perhaps the most well-known colour consultant back in the day and still remains a leader in the image and styling industry. However, it has now been joined by a plethora of at-home consultants, or should I say home-based, as this resurgence has everything to do with the power of AI.
There are also faceless apps that promise an objective, mathematical analysis of a person’s color palette, body type, and personal style. StyleDNA even lets users scan their clothes so stylists can pair them in the right way for the right occasion.
Generative AI is not the future of marketing, it is already part of its present
Social media (TikTok and Instagram, in particular) is full of human- and machine-assisted advice services that hope to improve people’s understanding of their optimal palette.
And it engages users because for the first time, AI allows these consultants to create “before” and “after” demonstrations of people first in their worst colors, followed by people radiant in their best colors, with a simple swipe of a finger.
Everything we can imagine, we can now visualize. As a result, what we see on social media today is as much fantasy as reality: what “is” is often compared or replaced with what “could be.”
So the color shift is back and it’s not hard to see why. It’s a gloomy time, after all, the days are as gray as our leaders, resources are scarce and hope for the future is even scarcer. Colors brighten the face but also the mind. It’s not for nothing that colorful wardrobes are nicknamed “dopamine.”
But it’s AI that’s driving much of this desire for what is, at its core, what marketers would call personalization. It offers a new level of demonstration for those who lack the imagination to imagine what a person might look like. Users now have that vision on a screen right in front of them: imagination on demand.
Why are brands interested in this?
What is happening now with personal coloring style will be reflected in every product marketed in the future. Just as the world of color is now in the hands of each individual, soon many aspects of the design of many products—their material, their format, their shape—will be customizable as interest in self and self-expression grows over time.
Moreover, the products I might purchase and display in my living room in the physical world are just the beginning. What products will I choose to accompany my avatar at work? What personal style will I adopt for my avatar socially? As the self morphs into many selves, represented (or re-presented) in a variety of digital contexts, we can expect that guidance will also be sought about what is both personal and tasteful in these worlds.
Brands that can use AI to help consumers buy what’s right for them in the physical world will eventually extend that assistance to virtual worlds and liminal spaces as well, increasing not only their services but their profits as well.
McDonald’s CEO: Personalization is key to increasing frequency and spendingStyleDNA is already trying to help consumers with their shopping journey in the physical world. “Shop with an AI stylist at any online store,” it offers, encouraging users to explore online retailers, see if an item matches their personal style, and try that item on against existing ones in their closet. The app claims to cover 231 retailers, 26,000 brands, and filter through 5 million items to find a style formula that’s perfect for “you.” An AI stylist is always on hand to answer any questions and make recommendations if a little more personal guidance is needed.
Five years ago, when I was researching a project on the future of media, one of the interviewees (a fashion student) told me she would really like to have access to an AI-powered personal stylist. She thought she knew her style, but wasn’t absolutely sure, and felt that an objective analytical alternative would give her better style advice than she could give herself.
Today, these AI-powered services are here, and not only do they offer color and image style advice, they’re pointing the way to a future where we outsource parts of our personality to machines so they can mirror it back to us and figure out what we should buy.
Brands used to be our guide, helping us navigate the world of personal taste. Perhaps this will be the role of AI in the future.
Tracey Follows is auturist and CEO of Made for the futureVisiting Professor of Digital Futures and author/host of The Future of You.
