Last Sunday I spent an hour building a GPT that creates prompts for fashion mood boards.

Honestly? I thought it would be a quick experiment. Maybe help a few designers save some time.

But it led me down this rabbit hole that completely changed how I think about AI in fashion. And frankly, made me pretty angry about what most companies are building.

Here's the problem nobody talks about

I started digging into what AI fashion tools actually exist. Google, Amazon, LG - all the big players have these fancy "AI garment design" tools.

Sounds impressive, right?

Wrong.

Most of them are basically expensive trend analyzers that spit out pretty images. They completely ignore how designers actually work.

I found this research in Fashion and Textiles journal that broke down nine major AI tools. The results? Pretty depressing.

How designers really work (spoiler: it's not just making pretty pictures)

Real fashion design has five stages:

1. Data analysis - What sold last season? What do customers actually want?
2. Concept development - Setting the mood and theme for a collection
3. Design generation - Creating the actual garments
4. Design iteration - Refining and improving (this is HUGE)
5. Final selection - Choosing what goes to production

Guess what? Most AI tools only do stage 3. They make pretty pictures and call it "fashion design."

Only 4 out of 9 tools even bothered with analyzing brand data. And barely any supported the modification stage - you know, the part where designers actually make things work.

It's like building a car that only has an engine. Sure, it looks impressive. But you're not going anywhere.

Why my simple GPT tool actually works

My mood board prompt creator does something different. It understands context.

You tell it the season. The garment type. The brand inspiration you're working with.

It doesn't just throw random fashion words together. It knows that spring activewear needs different prompts than fall outerwear. It gets that a Zara-inspired piece should feel different than something for The Row.

And here's the key - it enhances what designers already do instead of trying to replace them.

The tech that actually makes sense

The best AI fashion tools use something called StyleGAN2. It's specifically designed for fashion images and lets you control different style elements:

• Early layers handle the big stuff (silhouette, length, neckline)
• Later layers do the details (color, pattern, texture)
• You can modify specific parts without starting over

But here's what I learned - the technology isn't the hard part. The hard part is understanding how designers actually think and work.

What happens when you build AI that designers want to use

That research I mentioned? They tested their system with 8 professional designers.

Initial expectations: 2.44 out of 5 (basically "this will probably suck") After using it: 3.81 out of 5 (actually pretty good)

This matches exactly what I saw with my tool. When AI understands real workflows, people actually use it.

The three things that make AI tools work for fashion

1. Start with designer needs, not tech capabilities

Before you build anything, understand how designers actually work. All five stages. Not just the Instagram-worthy parts.

2. Make it modular and flexible

Designers don't work linearly. They jump around, iterate, change their minds. Your tool needs to handle that chaos.

3. Keep humans in control

AI should amplify creativity, not replace it. My tool generates prompts that designers interpret and modify. The final decisions stay human.

Where this is all heading

The AI fashion market is supposed to hit $39.71 billion by 2033. That's insane growth.

McKinsey says a quarter of generative AI's value in fashion will come from design and product development. 73% of fashion executives say AI is a priority. But only 28% have actually tried using it creatively.

There's a massive gap between hype and reality.

What's coming next

• Integrated systems that handle the full workflow - from trend research to final production files
• Real-time collaboration where designers, merchandisers, and product managers can work together using AI as a shared language
• Brand-specific intelligence that learns your aesthetic and customer preferences

If you're working in fashion, here's what to do

Evaluate tools against your actual process

Don't get distracted by flashy demos. Ask: does this support how I actually work from start to finish?

Look for fashion domain knowledge

Generic AI tools miss the nuances. Seasonal cycles, garment construction, brand positioning - this stuff matters.

Start small

My GPT took an hour to build and immediately helped people. You don't need to wait for the perfect solution.

Why this matters for fashionINSTA

Everything I learned from this experiment confirmed what we're building at fashionINSTA.

We're not trying to replace designers. We're building tools that understand fashion workflows and enhance human creativity.

Our approach:

• Deep fashion industry knowledge (not generic AI)
• Tools that fit real design processes
• Human creativity stays in control
• Practical value from day one

The future belongs to AI that makes designers better, not AI that tries to replace them.

And honestly? We're just getting started.

Want to see what real AI fashion tools can do? Join 800+ designers already on our fashionINSTA waitlist

PS: Comment if you want the link to the mood board tool!