It’s the question buzzing through the corridors of fashion weeks, PR offices, and influencer meet & greet events, is artificial intelligence here to take our jobs, or to make them easier?
When I asked fashion designer Amit Aggarwal, he didn’t blink: “AI is a friend to us designers, not a threat.” For him, technology is an enabler, not a rival. But when I spoke to some bridal couturiers, the tone shifted. They admitted they were intrigued but also a little unsettled, wondering what exactly AI might mean for the industry, having built their career on. And then there are labels like Papa Don’t Preach by Shubhika, who jumped headfirst into the metaverse long before the rest of us stopped gasping. For her, embracing tech isn’t a debate, it’s a runway strategy.
No one, however, is pushing harder than Reliance. Their Azorte stores already have AI powered styling screens that size up your body type and skin tone to serve up outfit options. Smart trial rooms make it feel like Siri has suddenly become your personal shopper. Over at Tira beauty, AI plays dermatologist and perfumer with skin analyzers and fragrance finders. Shopping now feels less like browsing and more like being politely bossed around by an algorithm.
Although where and what is the macro agenda at hand? We know there’s always the oligarchs of the world telling us what to do by setting trends. which makes me realise, AI isn’t just creeping into our closets, it’s reshaping the global balance of power. In the US, AI is being positioned as a way to ease labour battles and future proof industries without the constant fear of outsourcing. Instead of panicking about China’s manufacturing or India’s talent pool, America is selling AI as its ace tool that will let it stay ahead without relying on cheaper hands abroad. And fashion, as always, is a reflection of that larger tug-of-war. A way to save budgets but a credibility minefield fore sure. In an industry that once worshipped words like ‘handmade,’ ‘couture,’ and ‘exclusive,’ we’ve already shifted from hand-dyed to digital prints, from painstaking embroidery to laser cutting and now AI looms at the door, threatening even the sketch artist at the very first step of the design process.
Influencers aren’t immune either. With Google Gemini and similar tools able to spit out hyper-realistic campaign shots, why book a studio, stylist, and photographer when a laptop can conjure content overnight? The resolution only gets sharper with every update. In an AI first economy, we will see people losing jobs as countries and industries struggle to hold their economies, America is using AI to sidestep labour fights and leapfrog rivals, can we afford to dismiss it as a gimmick? or is it a crisis waiting to happen?
Here’s the catch: styling, PR, and influencing have never been just about fitting rooms and filters. They’re about relationships, nuance, and trust. AI can guess your shade of foundation, but it can’t anticipate the cultural subtext of a red-carpet look or broker peace between a diva and her designer. Most designers learning the tools offered are right, AI can be our friend. But only if we stop treating it like a looming enemy and start mastering it as a tool; Otherwise, the professionals who adapt will win the gigs, while the rest of us scroll in frustration like we once cringed at influencers we now look up to. And maybe that’s the real punchline: the fight between humans and machines won’t crown a victor. It will leave us all standing a little dazed, a little diminished. A classic Pyrrhic win, where both sides gain something but lose just enough to wonder if it was worth it.