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Business of Fashion
05-05-2025
- Business
- Business of Fashion
AI Is Coming for Fashion's Creative Class
Earlier this year, when Veronica Zhai was preparing to launch her bespoke luxury brand Zhai, she knew her marketing budget would be tight. Agencies and seasoned brand strategists charged anywhere from $5,000 to $30,000 a month, beyond what she could afford before she'd brought in any real revenue. So Zhai turned to ChatGPT. 'AI does a lot in terms of the digital marketing effort,' said Zhai, a New-York based designer who previously worked as a trader at JP Morgan. 'I'm working with ChatGPT every single day to draft and refine my social posts.' Bootstrapping designers like Zhai are far from the only ones employing AI this way. Across the fashion industry, brands and retailers are routinely using the technology for everything from building websites to crafting social media captions. For a time, AI mostly handled routine tasks such as generating product blurbs, sorting inventory or answering customer service chats. But increasingly, it's stepping into creative roles, too. H&M said in March it would create AI-generated visuals starring digital twins of real models. There are whispers that some brands are exploring the idea of 'AI creative directors' — roles built around crafting prompts in tools like Midjourney or Runway to generate visuals at scale. An AI generated image for Veronica Zhai's bespoke luxury brand. (Courtesy/Courtesy) Such talk usually generates a backlash from fashion creatives: surely AI can't capture the nuance that comes from a human's lived experience and cultural knowledge. It's this spark that separates the work of photographers, stylists, illustrators, PR strategists, writers and brand architects from AI's output. Will that always be true though? As AI gets better and better, it's undeniably taking on more tasks once seen as inextricably human. But creatives still have a powerful edge — if they adapt. That can mean running toward AI, not away from it, and treating it as one tool among many. The key to staying competitive lies in doubling down on the 'distinctly human skills' machines can't replicate like emotional intelligence, storytelling, cultural fluency, authenticity, craftsmanship and the ability to build connections, said Yvonne Pengue, founder and director of Spot On Minds, a London-based executive search firm and consultancy focused on luxury brands. 'I understand the worry, and we are always worried about the unknown,' Pengue said. 'But to stay competitive, people need to push themselves to really want to bring that added value.' Defining the Human Spark While the hopeful refrain — that AI may be fast, but it can't replicate the 'human spark' — is increasingly being put to the test, experts argue that AI remains unlikely to fully replace human labour anytime soon. Instead, it is reshaping how companies value it, forcing both employers and creative talent to define what that 'spark' actually means. The answer is emerging through AI itself. As creatives and brands push the limits of these tools, they're also exposing their boundaries — and, in doing so, helping to clarify what remains uniquely human: the nuanced but distinctive blend of emotional intelligence, intuition, personal connection, and cultural experience that gives AI something to build on. For South African fashion and arts writer and photographer Nabeela Karim, those boundaries came into focus when she began working directly with AI. After being laid off in September 2024 from her role as PR and communications officer at a luxury-fashion focused marketing agency, she re-entered the job market to find PR copywriting roles replaced with listings for 'AI editors' — jobs focused on cleaning up machine-generated copy. She reluctantly accepted one, only to find the results frustrating for both her and the client, a nonprofit focused on humanitarian issues. 'They kept telling me they didn't like the copy,' she said. 'It still feels generic. It doesn't feel like it's written by people.' She soon realised the real issue wasn't grammar or polish — but rather voice and perspective, she said. Instead of relying on AI to draft the content, Karim began writing it herself, drawing on her knowledge of South African culture, photojournalism, and storytelling to create more authentic material — then used AI only to clean up typos and tighten the language. In doing so, she helped the organisation recognise it wasn't just an editor it needed, but a human voice. Later, she brought that insight to a fashion designer struggling with website copy and convinced her to scrap plans to use AI in favour of hiring a human writer — Karim herself. 'It worked,' she said. She landed a paying gig creating the site's content. Zhai, meanwhile, has been using AI as an assistant for tasks like content ideation, social media posts, and even building her brand's website. But it hasn't replaced her need for human collaborators. She recently hired two interns — not for their technical skills, but for something less tangible. 'I care less about their [hard] skills because AI can do a lot of execution,' Zhai said of the interns, who help with copywriting and more hands-on tasks like preparing for trunk shows. 'I care more about their intuition, their attitude, their humanity and connection with me, their concept and strategy.' As her brand grows, she said she plans to 'pay up' for one 'very elite senior brand creative' who has a few other things AI doesn't: 'the network and the knowledge … and has actually [built a brand] before,' she said. Working With AI The bottom line: when brands hire for creative roles, they're looking for people who bring original ideas to the table. But in a head-to-head scenario, the creative who uses AI to enhance their process and/or end results will have the edge, said Cyril Foiret, founder of Maison Meta, a generative AI agency that builds custom tools for brands like Moncler and Dolce & Gabbana. As AI becomes more embedded in creative workflows, best practices are also starting to emerge — especially around where human creativity ends and machine input begins. Brands encouraging artists, photographers and designers to use AI are also beginning to put up guardrails: with some now requiring talent to 'show their work' by logging the steps they took (often the prompts they used) to demonstrate the creative process, Foiret said. 'In Europe when you do AI work, it has to be announced [and] you have to be able to prove the amount of human work,' he said. Even in places like the US, where regulation is for the most part nonexistent, Foiret believes low-effort creativity that stems from simply plugging in 'a few artist names as inspiration' and pressing a button — without deeper thought or skill — will eventually weed itself out. Things like craftsmanship (sewing and handmaking items like luxury handbags or garments) or photography, where a sharp eye, emotional intelligence, and timing matter, aren't being replaced by machines. But AI can supercharge those processes, helping creatives ideate, drill down on ideas, and sharpen their results, experts say. 'As an artist or a designer, before, you used to see things in museums or online … and then design from that,' he said. ' 'AI now has those [ideas] inside of it already.' Designers looking to protect their vision while using AI to enhance it are also exploring ways to maintain creative control — like working off the cloud (i.e., on local servers rather than shared networks), which can help safeguard intellectual property. Norma Kamali, for example, worked with Maison Meta to train a custom AI model on her design language, with the goal of preserving the artistry that defined her career even after she steps back. 'Norma is the epitome of jumping in — testing, learning by herself,' Foiret said. As more brands adopt AI, creative professionals will be expected to bring not just raw talent, but also the ability to work with these tools. Prompt engineering — the skill of guiding AI to generate useful results — will be increasingly valuable, Pengue said. 'AI can produce more ideas, but there has to be a human element to evolving it,' she said. 'The [creatives] need to become masters in using the prompts correctly to generate the right outcome, and to constantly nurture AI and guide it so that it can help us.'
Straits Times
29-04-2025
- Business
- Straits Times
Some Chinese exporters hasten US dollar conversion amid trade war
The onshore yuan has clawed back some of its losses this month as doubts over US exceptionalism pummeled the dollar. PHOTO: AFP HONG KONG – Some Chinese exporters are speeding up conversion of their US dollar income into yuan on bets the worst of the tariff-led loss in the local currency may be over. In a Bloomberg survey of 18 Chinese exporters this month, all of them said they'd already converted, or will immediately switch, their greenback holdings into the yuan, as they see the current yuan exchange rate of around 7.3 per dollar as favourable. The companies in sectors ranging from furniture, ceramics, decorative lighting, and gardening to garments were interviewed at the Canton Fair in Guangdong province earlier this month. They had an annual export revenue ranging from US$10 million to US$300 million. Exporters' move to switch out of the greenback is in contrast to their strategy since late last year of hoarding dollars on concern that US tariffs on China will weaken the yuan. Those bearish yuan wagers may have already played out as the currency fell to the weakest level since 2023 following Washington's move to impose tariffs of as much as 145 per cent on Chinese goods this month. 'The yuan is unlikely to fall much further as a 145 per cent US tariff is the worst thing, nothing will be worse than this,' said Albert Zhai, chairman of Aroma International Trade, an exporter of Halloween decorations, based in China's northern province of Liaoning. Yuan fluctuating around 7.25 to 7.35 per dollar is beneficial for the company's cross-border trade, Zhai said. The onshore yuan has clawed back some of its losses this month as doubts over US exceptionalism pummeled the dollar. The yuan rose by as much as 0.2% in both the onshore and offshore markets to around 7.27 on Tuesday, the strongest since early April. Still, the yuan remains the third worst performing currency in Asia this year behind the Indonesia's rupiah and the Hong Kong dollar. It's also near a 21-month low against a basket of its trading partners' currencies. Yuan weakness is providing an opportunity for exporters that were holding out of converting their dollar proceeds to finally act. The cash could come in handy at a time when higher tariffs skim margins, thereby raising the demand for funds to purchase raw materials and pay salaries. 'Chinese exporters may intend to reduce FX exposure given the low visibility of FX trends, shifting away from FX hoarding in the prior year,' Ken Cheung, chief Asian foreign-exchange strategist at Mizuho Bank Ltd. wrote in a note. The exporters surveyed said the People's Bank of China won't allow the yuan to weaken too much. China has defied forecasts for currency devaluation to bolster exports, instead opting to smooth out any market volatility via the daily reference rate for the yuan. Beijing vowed to provide more support for exporters affected by the US tariffs on Monday as it laid out plans to ensure troubled firms get the loans they need and boost domestic consumption. BLOOMBERG Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Business Times
29-04-2025
- Business
- Business Times
Some Chinese exporters hasten US dollar conversion amid trade war
[NEW YORK] Some Chinese exporters are speeding up the conversion of their US dollar income into yuan on bets the worst of the tariff-led loss in the local currency may be over. In a Bloomberg survey of 18 Chinese exporters this month, all of them said they'd already converted, or will immediately switch, their greenback holdings into the yuan, as they see the current yuan exchange rate of around 7.3 per US dollar as favourable. The companies in sectors ranging from furniture, ceramics, decorative lighting, and gardening to garments were interviewed at the Canton Fair in Guangdong province earlier this month. They had an annual export revenue ranging from US$10 million to US$300 million. Exporters' move to switch out of the greenback is in contrast to their strategy since late last year of hoarding US dollars on concern that US tariffs on China will weaken the yuan. Those bearish yuan wagers may have already played out as the currency fell to the weakest level since 2023 following Washington's move to impose tariffs of as much as 145 per cent on Chinese goods this month. 'The yuan is unlikely to fall much further as 145 per cent US tariffs is the worst thing, nothing will be worse than this,' said Albert Zhai, chairman of Aroma International Trade, an exporter of Halloween decorations, based in China's northern province of Liaoning. Yuan fluctuating around 7.25 to 7.35 per US dollar is beneficial for the company's cross-border trade, Zhai said. BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up The onshore yuan has clawed back some of its losses this month as doubts over US exceptionalism pummelled the US dollar. The yuan rose by as much as 0.2 per cent in both the onshore and offshore markets to around 7.27 on Tuesday (Apr 29), the strongest since early April. Still, the yuan remains the third worst-performing currency in Asia this year behind Indonesia's rupiah and the Hong Kong dollar. It's also near a 21-month low against a basket of its trading partners' currencies. Yuan weakness is providing an opportunity for exporters that were holding out of converting their US dollar proceeds to finally act. The cash could come in handy at a time when higher tariffs skim margins, thereby raising the demand for funds to purchase raw materials and pay salaries. 'Chinese exporters may intend to reduce FX exposure given the low visibility of FX trends, shifting away from FX hoarding in the prior year,' Ken Cheung, chief Asian foreign-exchange strategist at Mizuho Bank wrote in a note. The exporters surveyed said the People's Bank of China will not allow the yuan to weaken too much. China has defied forecasts for currency devaluation to bolster exports, instead opting to smooth out any market volatility via the daily reference rate for the yuan. Beijing vowed to provide more support for exporters affected by the US tariffs on Monday as it laid out plans to ensure troubled firms get the loans they need and boost domestic consumption. BLOOMBERG
The Star
24-04-2025
- Business
- The Star
China's port city eyes deeper cooperation with Britain
LONDON, April 24 (Xinhua) -- An investment and business promotion event for China's northern port city of Tianjin was held in central London on Thursday, with enthusiastic participation from both Chinese and British stakeholders. Tianjin, a key coastal hub in northern China and a strategic gateway to Northeast Asia, was a prime destination for investment as the city boasts a strong industrial base, rich educational and scientific resources, and world-class infrastructure, said Zhai Lixin, vice mayor of Tianjin. Zhai highlighted the solid foundation of cooperation between Tianjin and Britain as the import and export trade between Tianjin and the United Kingdom (UK) reached 1.49 billion pounds (1.99 billion U.S. dollars) in 2024, marking a 7 percent year-on-year increase. The city looks forward to strengthening cooperation with British enterprises in fields such as AI, biomedicine, clean energy, finance, trade, and smart cities, said Zhai. Chinese Ambassador to the United Kingdom Zheng Zeguang said Tianjin presents ample opportunities for businesses from around the world to carry out mutually beneficial cooperation. The ambassador reiterated China's determination to continue expanding high-standard opening up, noting that China's overall tariff level had been reduced to 7.3 percent, and that the negative list for market access would be further shortened. Zheng expressed hope that the Chinese and British governments would work together to create a predictable, just, fair, and non-discriminatory business environment to facilitate cooperation between companies from both countries. He also called for deeper cooperation in key sectors, including financial services, clean energy, and AI, to deliver visible and tangible benefits to both peoples. Sherard Cowper-Coles, chair of the China-Britain Business Council, noted that Britain and Tianjin have many areas of complementarity, ranging from green technology and sustainable innovation to education and professional services.
Muscat Daily
17-02-2025
- Business
- Muscat Daily
China reaffirms commitment to IOC at Oman Conference
Muscat – China has reaffirmed its commitment to strengthening cooperation with Indian Ocean nations, with Special Envoy Zhai Jun highlighting Oman's vital role in regional diplomacy at the 8th Indian Ocean Conference held in Muscat. On the sidelines of the event, Zhai met with Omani Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr bin Hamad Al Busaidi to discuss enhancing bilateral ties. He highlighted the 47-year relationship between China and Oman, stressing Beijing's vision for a 'maritime community with a shared future.' He also emphasised China's role in ensuring maritime security, citing its naval escort missions in the Gulf of Aden since 2008. Additionally, he highlighted China's contributions to economic development, disaster relief, and climate action through the Belt and Road Initiative. Calling for deeper cultural ties, Zhai proposed greater intellectual cooperation through forums, think tanks, and training programmes. He reaffirmed China's commitment to making the Indian Ocean a hub of peace, cooperation, and prosperity.
