ChatGPT was an unexpected guest at Marc Jacobs' New York fashion show

A limited number of guests at the Marc Jacobs Fall 2023 Runway Show at New York Public Library, also featured ChatGPT as a special guest. June 26, 2023 in New York City.
 Image: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for Marc Jacobs

In three minutes flat, and with only a few dozen guests, Marc Jacobs presented his Fall-Winter 2023-2024 collection outside of the traditional Fashion Week schedule. The show seemed to invite the select people present to reflect on the frantic pace of fashion and a daily life shaped by new technologies. Between nostalgia and innovation, the show featured one special and unexpected guest in the form of ChatGPT, tasked for the occasion with providing the title and description of this new collection.

Is artificial intelligence poised to send shockwaves through fashion? It's a vast question that is likely to be answered in the near future, as the industry seems to be open to all the possibilities offered by new technologies. This has been seen for several months with the metaverse, a parallel world that fashion brands have largely embraced, and this enthusiasm looks set to continue with the ChatGPT AI chatbot, which is a current focus of attention. At his Fall-Winter 2023-2024 fashion show, held at the New York Public Library, Marc Jacobs called on the now-famous chatbot to write the collection description given to the lucky guests present.

Fashion meets AI

Unlike many initiatives designed to showcase the science behind these new technologies, this one seemed, according to a number of the media outlets present (including Vogue and the New York Times) to reflect on the frenetic pace of the fashion calendar, with its multitude of annual collections, and on the weight and impact of digital technology on people's daily lives. A phenomenon that could rapidly be accentuated by the advent of artificial intelligence. As proof, ChatGPT featured as a special guest at this show, despite the number of guests being relatively limited compared to the typical fashion show.

Also read: Fashion is embracing artificial intelligence with computer-generated models

For the very first time in a show of this scale, it was the famous AI chatbot that generated the title of the collection -- Marc Jacobs: A striking fusion of masculine tailoring and feminine elegance -- as well as the description provided to the guests in attendance. Nothing extraordinary, you might say, except that this is ChatGPT's latest foray into the world of fashion, and for a fashion show nonetheless. Admittedly, the text was only partially in keeping with the collection, which was showcased in just three minutes, and thus demonstrates the limitations of artificial intelligence.

This isn't the first time this type of new technology has found its way into the fashion world. This spring saw the organization of the first AI fashion week, as well as Zalando's announcement of plans to launch a fashion assistant powered by artificial intelligence. The aim is to answer all its customers' queries, and enable them to find suitable outfits according to their tastes, desires, or specific occasions. Marc Jacobs has thus achieved a new milestone in this race for innovation. All that remains now is for the first designer to use ChatGPT to create their new collection.