Anna Leighton –AI fashion design winner from AI Fashion Week – Season 1 & 2 (Image Credit: Anna Leighton)
If you’re an ardent follower of artificial intelligence and what this technology means for fashion designers, then you might already be ‘in the know’ about AI Fashion Week. Especially if you have been reading our blog for the past two years. AI Fashion Week was spearheaded by visionary minds at Maison Meta, the world’s first AI generative agency founded in New York City in 2022 by Cyril Foiret, in partnership with next-generation online retailer Revolve Group.
The UoF blog covered the First AI Fashion Week (AIFW-April 2023) and the Second AI Fashion Week, November 30 – December 1, 2023, which is where you would have learned about Anna Leighton, one of 10 fashion design winners from that show. I recently had an opportunity to interview Anna about how foray into AI fashion design and, I’m happy to announce, that Anna will be creating an AI Fashion Design lesson series for UoF. Meet Anna:
The Interview
Francesca: Are you a formally trained fashion designer?
Anna: Yes, I went to Otis College of Art & Design in LA and graduated in 1996. I worked for a variety of companies and then in 2001, I started my own collection, making one-of-a-kind “eco-effective”dresses, called Annatarian. Then, in 2004 I started doing jewelry. With family in the jewelry business for 40 years, they helped me launch my jewelry collection called, Peace, Love, Earth by Annatarian. In 2012, I started working with my husband who is a fine artist,and took a break from making one-of-a-kind pieces. I also realized that I needed business education and began taking business classes in sales and marketing. Soon I got my jewelry line in 75 stores, including Nordstroms.
Francesca: What computer skills are necessary to become an AI Fashion Designer?
Anna: In 1996, I took a Photoshop class at Otis then hired a one-on-one Photoshop expert to teach me and that is what got my foot in the door at a lot of the fashion companies after graduation, since I had really good technical skills. Then in 2015, I got a VR headset because I wanted to start a VR fashion project. I then learned 3D design using Browzwear and got connected in 2020 (I discovered them in 2018 or 2019) with Amsterdam-based The Fabricant, a digital fashion house using CLO 3D, where I did some of their community events, and was asked to become their community manager in 2021. This is where I became more involved in the 3D art world. My husband is a tech genius, artist and filmmaker who created an app whereby through augmented reality, you can see his paintings come to life. Since I started working with him in 2012, I started to see the potential of augmented reality for fashion. I started working in Tilt Brush (an open-source VR painting app) with VR headgear and dabbled in Gravity Sketch (a free 3D sketching and design software), which I think is going to be huge for the fashion industry soon. You can design using your headgear or you can do it online too, you don’t have to be in virtual space.
Anna Leighton and her husband created a public art project for the City of LA which is up indefinitely at Angels Flight in Downtown LA, called Angels in LA. (Image Credit: https://downtownla.com/explore/grand-ave-augmented)
Francesca: What other programs do you use to create AI-inspired fashion?
Anna: Through another community, based out of Amsterdam called LoveKraft, I started working with an AI product called GauGAN and that was my first experience in AI, three years ago. It blew my mind because you could draw a crude little house and get something really magical. A few months later GauGAN got really good. Then along came Midjourney AI (a tool that allows you to create high-quality images from simple text prompts from the browser of your computer or phone, no special software needed), which at the time was invitation only and I was one of the first to use it. Then came DALL-E, an AI system that can create realistic images and art from a description in natural language. I was able to get myself and my community passes to DALL-E. Using DALL-E, my husband and I created a public art project for the City of LA, which is up indefinitely at Angels Flight in Downtown LA, called Angels in LA. We initially generated the imagery using Dall-E. However, as Midjourney AI surpassed Dall-E, we switched to Midjourney.
Anna Leighton is Top 10 winner with her Magical Mystery Core Collection – AI Fashion Week Season 1 (Image Credit: Anna Leighton)
Francesca: How did you become involved in AI Fashion Week?
Anna: Through The Fabricant,I learned about the first AI Fashion Week (April 2023). I had to give them some ideas, get approved, build my collection and then get people to vote on my collection. I did that for both AIFW Season 1 and 2. For AI Fashion Week Season 1, the designs from my Magical Mystery Core Collection made the Top 10.
Anna Leighton’ s Annatarian Harmonia Collection – Makes Top 20 at AI Fashion Week Season 2 (Image Credit: Anna Leighton)
Anna: And then for AI FW Season 2- they changed the ranking to Top 20, from Top 10, and my Annatarian Harmonia Collection made it again.
Inspired by the strength and grace of female athletes, Anna blended couture fashion with the spirit of women’s basketball. (Image Credit: Anna Leighton)
Francesca: Can you discuss how important having ‘hands-on’ design skills is when creating AI fashion?
Anna: While it’s very appealing to do sci-fi and things that can’t exist, because where else can you do that but in AI? However, I really wanted to see these collections come to life. Therefore, my fashion design skills and knowledge are very important to the process. I’d love to have a chance to being the next designer at Chanel. I am also inspired by my mom who was a big vintage person in the 80s, and my grandmother, who is 99 and once worked for Mr. Blackwell and Travilla as a sample maker and is a stickler for sewing properly. I love draping and I love textiles and hand sewing. All of that is important to me. When working with 3D designers on various projects where they were using CLO 3D and were good at putting it together but didn’t know the drape and construction often it would be a bit “off”. I wasn’t as expert on that software, but I was able to say, “I think you need to curve that line right there on the pattern to get it to drape this way,” and it would work out.
Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things- a book by by Michael Braungart & William McDonough
Francesca:Can you describe your inspiration for creating AI fashion?
Anna: I contemplated how I had started my Annatarian dress collection in 2001, when 911 happened, and my jewelry line Peace, Love Earth in 2004. I reflected on my time working in the fashion industry, which had its highs and lows. I got to travel quite a bit, but I also got to see how things were manufactured and wasn’t very comfortable it. What we do to countries, how things get recycled, and how polluting the fashion industry really is. I am more focused on artistic design than traditional career paths. Once I read Cradle to Cradle by Michael Braungart and William McDonough and met William McDonough, I realized that I wanted to create that kind of fashion – using the ideology that raw materials are not thrown away [from cradle to grave] but are reused indefinitely or serve as “food” for new products. Incorporating eco-effective design principles, I often use textiles and jewelry collected from my travels to Egypt, Armenia, Europe, China and Thailand as the story behind my design concepts.
A look from Annatarian’s AI Fashion Week Season 2 Harmonia Collection using DALL-E. (Photo Credit: AI Fashion Week)
Francesca: Can you describe the design concept for your AI Fashion Week Season 2 collection?
I started with a concept. For example, I had just gone to Athens, Greece and saw graffiti everywhere, juxtaposed against ancient walls. It was so beautiful and fascinating to me. At the same time, the crisis in Ukraine and Israel-Gaza was taking place. When I started working on the Harmonia collection, it was about bringing in the textiles that I had collected in my travels and putting stories together and adding the runway with a background of Athens. And what I did with Annatarian was put stories together like making peace within a dress. I’d combine fabrics from combining cultures that were in conflict and make peace. So, the dress above had a story.
A look from Annatarian’s AI Fashion Week Season 2 Harmonia Collection
Francesca: Can you discuss the technical process for creating an AI fashion piece?
Anna: For the Annatarian dress collection, I started by manually inputting specific parameters into the AI, (DALL-E and Stable Diffusion for the face), such as color schemes, model types – what kind of model, my textiles, my Athens location images, lighting, camera angle and design styles. There are positive prompts, negative prompts, image inputs, and so much more. These parameters guide the AI in generating the initial design. And, like ChatGPT, I refine it.
For me, from the first day, I have really been able to speak to AI in a way that is very natural to me and reminds me of when I used to travel to different countries and they would say, “I really understand your English, but when so and so speaks, I can’t understand them.” So, maybe I understand how AI thinks or what it can understand and so maybe that’s it.
Annatarian- Blouse & Pant from AI Fashion Week Season 2 Harmonia Collection (Image Credit: Anna Leighton)
Francesca: Is there much tweaking in AI for a particular design project?
Anna: Yes, sometimes I’ll make a spreadsheet to keep track of what inputs worked and what didn’t. I go through multiple iterations to tweak and refine it. Yes, sometimes hundreds-to make sure the design aligns with my personal aesthetic. Often, the AI-generated designs don’t fit my style initially, so I spend a significant amount of time refining the prompts and making adjustments until the design truly reflects my vision and brand. I will also go into Photoshop to adjust colors, tweak the design, or even change the model’s face.
My alter ego – a woke cowboy named Dusty Trials, came to me in a dream. I created a song and it took me 160 tries. I made it using AI available on iTunes https://music.apple.com/us/album/boy-lost-in-queens/1749932341?i=1749932342 and Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/track/5hsxYJyeNykLPvMDHHakNl?si=dc13868fa9c6493d. I am currently making a Dusty Trials music video.
Francesca: Are these AI generator tools expensive and are they Mac and PC compatible?
Anna: I use both my PC and my Mac to create AI content. Stable Diffusion is free, and I use it and my VR headset on my PC. I use Midjourney on my Mac and it’s approximately $30 a month. I also use DALL-E on my Mac, which is now within ChatGPT, and I pay $20 per month .
Anna Leighton’s Annatarian Magical Mystery Core – AI Fashion Week Season 1 (Image Credit: Anna Leighton)
Francesca: What kind of knowledge base do you need to create AI-inspired fashion?
Anna: You need be computer savvy and have patience. Knowing programs like Adobe Photoshop, have a background in fashion design & costume history, and possess talent & a taste level help a lot.
Francesca: Will you be creating more content for AI Fashion Week – Season 3?
Anna: Yes. I want to create designs that can be easily produced and sold. This next time I will do something that is not as complex and therefore not so expensive to produce.
Francesca: Will AI-generated patterns be next?
Anna: Yes, it’s only a matter of time.
Francesca: What is next on your horizon?
Anna: I’m interested in designing for a major fashion house. Additionally, I’m excited to be creating an AI fashion design lesson series for the University of Fashion. I’m passionate about exploring the intersection of technology and creativity, and these projects allow me to push the boundaries of what’s possible in fashion design. Sustainability is a key focus for me, and I integrate eco-effective design principles into my work, creating fashion that not only sustains but also gives back, makes a difference, and transforms the industry.
So tell us, how excited are you to learn how to create AI fashion?
