Personalised Fashion
BoF: Do you think Google’s Boutiques.com effectively leverages Web 3.0? Is anyone in fashion doing this well?SM: No, Boutiques.com is not set up to do what I am talking about. You need an expert system powering the backend engine, not just “I like this” and “I don’t like this” type of input from consumers. Frankly, I haven’t seen any site that is really doing a good Web 3.0 implementation in fashion.
BoF: Offline, the best personal shoppers have up to the minute knowledge of fashion and can offer intelligent recommendations based on complex inputs like your personal taste or a specific event you might be shopping for. How exactly might a Web 3.0 service tackle a problem like this?
Sramana Mitra: The entire expert system needs to have a data structure against which the merchandise gets categorized and a rules engine that does the matchmaking based on that characterization. In other words, all the parameters — user, mood, size, event, location, time — need to be clustered, categorised and tied to a rules engine that is the personal shopper.
Interview with Sramana Mitra on Web 3.0 and The Science of Personalised Fashion on The Business of Fashion
Two reactions:
- I’d argue that Boutiques.com does leverage an expert system, in that it showcases curation from influencers such as celebrities, stylists, and fashion journalists - this certainly more than the ‘likes’ / ‘dislikes’ input that she mentions.
- I do love that she includes “mood” as a parameter which needs to be taken into account into the personal shopping experience. My dream experience: daily outfit recommendations, based on my mood, weather, events on my gCal…horoscope…