Dive Brief:
- GameOn Technology, an AI-powered chat platform, joined forces with Italian luxury brand Valentino, marking GameOn’s first foray into fashion, according to a Thursday announcement.
- Customers will be able to use the AI-powered chat on Valentino’s mobile app in several ways, including making requests about customer service, returns and shipping details, and using the interface to complete a style quiz.
- GameOn has provided similar experiences for other company brands, including Riot Games, Travel + Leisure and more than a dozen sports franchises. Though the partnership with Valentino marks GameOn’s entrance into fashion, Richard Cheng, the company’s president, said the firm is eager to work with fashion brands.
Dive Insight:
GameOn partnered with the Italian fashion house for its S/S23 collection, called Unboxing Valentino. To drum up interest, the brand teamed with 10 stylists to create visual storefront displays across cities worldwide, including London, Paris and Milan.
Valentino’s AI-powered chat allows customers to take a style quiz matching them to one of the 10 celebrity stylists, including Clement Lomellini and the recently retired Law Roach.
Once matched, users can browse stylist-curated looks from Valentino’s S/S23 collection, as well as listen to Spotify playlists the stylists made. Customers can also ask the AI-powered chatbot to give them some fashion inspiration, such as showing them archived runway shots and photos of celebrities wearing Valentino at red carpet events
“It’s an honor to partner with Valentino on its Unboxing collection,” Cheng said in a statement. “As a leader in providing authentic brand-to-fan interactions for a bevy of major league sports teams, we’re excited to bring our expertise to retail — starting with an iconic international fashion label.”
Valentino and GameOn will continue their partnership after the campaign. Valentino may use the AI chat in different ways, such as through new style quizzes and more content, a spokesperson for GameOn said in an email.
Cheng said in an email that the company is piloting programs for several other fashion houses in Milan, though he didn’t name them. Early data shows these programs are leading to higher conversion rates, improved shopping experiences and deeper engagement, he said.
The partnership highlights the vast number of ways AI is changing how fashion companies conduct their business, from how they engage with customers to how they showcase their clothes on their e-commerce platforms.
Levi Strauss & Co. recently announced it was planning on testing AI-generated models so that products could be seen on a wider range of body types, skin tones and ages. Although a company executive touted the initiative as a way to provide a more inclusive customer experience, it drew backlash from critics who accused Levi’s of using technology as a way to avoid hiring a greater diversity of models.
Meanwhile, supporters of image generators, such as Cala, say they will help brands generate ideas for their collections. The head of the company recently told WWD that several fashion brands have been using the platform, though he declined to name them.