Harvard Design Engineering Alumni Ask: How Will AI Change Fashion?

Why It Matters

By turning unused clothing into fresh designs, Upstyle demonstrates how AI can drive circular fashion, delivering both environmental benefits and new business opportunities for the apparel sector.

Key Takeaways

• Over 100 million textiles discarded annually worldwide in the fashion industry.
• Upstyle app uses AI to repurpose existing wardrobe items.
• Image‑assisted AI suggests redesigns and local tailoring options.
• Harvard GSD faculty collaborated to integrate sustainability and AI research.
• Extending garment lifespan reduces waste and supports circular fashion.

Summary

Harvard Graduate School of Design alumni Yichien and Wembo Zang unveiled Upstyle, an AI‑driven mobile platform that transforms a user’s existing closet into a source of new outfits, aiming to curb the fashion industry’s staggering waste.

The app leverages image‑recognition to catalog each garment, then applies a trend‑aware generative model that proposes redesigns, repairs, or accessory pairings. Users can either craft the suggested piece themselves or connect with nearby tailors for custom alterations, creating a seamless loop from discard to redesign.

Developed in partnership with GSD faculty member Karen Royer, Upstyle exemplifies the school’s broader initiative to harness artificial intelligence for systemic environmental challenges. The prototype demonstrated that AI can surface viable style alternatives while preserving the garment’s original material value.

If adopted widely, the technology could accelerate a circular fashion economy, lower production costs, and open new revenue streams for local artisans, while delivering measurable reductions in textile landfill contributions.

Original Description

At the GSD, faculty, students, and alumni are harnessing AI to design systems that address many of the world’s pressing problems.

Global textile waste is projected to reach 150 million tons annually by 2030. Driven by the growth of the fast fashion industry, clothing makes up the bulk of these discarded items, which end up in landfills or incinerators.

As students in the Master in Design Engineering program, offered jointly by the GSD and the John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Yiqi Yan and Wenbo Zhang (both MDE ’24) used generative AI to reimagine fashion as more sustainable and democratic. Working with Karen Korellis Reuther, GSD design critic in architecture, they developed UpStyle, an image-assisted app that lets users create new garments from preowned clothes—reducing waste and extending the life of one’s wardrobe.