2026 is approaching fast. FashionUnited asks six AI experts what they expect from artificial intelligence in fashion and retail:

2026 AI Predictions for Fashion and Retail: FashionUnited’s Expert Outlook

1. Carmen Martínez Ferrer, senior data analyst at Farfetch and founder of @thedatafashionbrief

As Senior Data Analyst at luxury webshop Farfetch, she integrates AI into marketing analysis and campaign optimization to drive data-informed growth. Ferrer is also the founder of the Instagram and TikTok account @Thedatafashionbrief with fashion news from a data perspective.

Looking ahead to 2026, I expect that AI will redefine how customers discover and shop for fashion, especially in the rapidly growing second hand and resale market. Reports from McKinsey and the Boston Consulting Group point to booming demand, yet the space remains fragmented and full of friction.

Startups are emerging that use AI to authenticate products, personalise discovery and build more conversational, community-driven shopping experiences that resonate with younger luxury consumers.

With sustainability becoming a core purchase driver and search behaviour shifting from browsing to natural language interaction, retailers face a major opportunity to reinvent product discovery and build platforms that feel human, intuitive and connected.

The brands that embrace this shift will bridge the gap between technology, personalisation, community and conscious consumption.

2. Louis-Philippe Kerkhove, founder and CTO Crunch Analytics and professor of operations management at UGent

Prof. Louis-Philippe Kerkhove is the founder and Chief Technology Officer of Crunch Analytics, a Ghent & Rotterdam based company that develops AI and data-driven solutions for retail and logistics. He holds a PhD from Ghent University, where he lectures in operations research, bridging academic research with practical business applications.

After the surge of experimentation with artificial intelligence in 2025, the fashion and retail sectors are heading toward a year of reflection. Many companies adopted AI hastily, often without clear objectives. I expect 2026 to bring a wave of disillusionment, as firms confront the downsides of using language models such as ChatGPT for calculations or automating workflows without human oversight, mistakes that can rapidly magnify operational errors (a reminder to proceed with caution).

On the other hand, this experimentation phase was also necessary progress. The flurry of pilots helps reveal where AI truly delivers value. Rather than in customer experience- and personalisation tools, I believe the real breakthroughs will happen in the back office - in collection planning, pricing and inventory management. AI applications will make operations more efficient, strengthen the business case for sustainability, and align with trends such as nearshoring and the introduction of digital product passports for traceability. Regulation will push for better data quality, while AI innovation will make processes leaner and returns higher.

On the creative side, intuition alone is no longer enough. AI’s accessible, “human-faced” tools allow designers and buyers to translate creative instincts into measurable insights. In my view, there will soon be no valid excuse for building collections without quantitative support, a sign that data and creativity are finally converging in the fashion business.

3. Paul Vidal, head of sales at e-commerce provider Kleep AI

Paul Vidal is Head of Sales at Kleep AI, a Paris based company specialising in artificial intelligence for fashion and e-commerce. Kleep helps brands improve conversion, reduce returns and deliver more personalised customer journeys through its sizing and product discovery technology. The company works with leading brands such as Lacoste, Kenzo, Victoria Beckham, Rabanne and Intersport. Vidal regularly shares updates and insights on AI and retail on his LinkedIn account.

This year, the biggest shift has not been the rise of AI agents or the promise of full automation, but something more fundamental: the return to desire. AI can accelerate an intention, but it cannot create one. In 2025, brands have invested heavily in accuracy, personalization and richer product experiences, especially through AI-generated video and improved fit technologies. The transaction is becoming a technical routine. What truly drives performance now happens upstream: identity, inspiration and emotional relevance.

The main transformation in 2026 will be full omnichannel integration. Retail and e-commerce can no longer be managed as separate universes. The strongest players will operate with unified data, unified stock and, in practice, a single profit-and-loss structure. AI will strengthen this continuity, not replace it.

Retailers who win are those who combine precision with experience. Automation will matter, but memorability will come from the brands that give customers a real reason to prefer them.

4. Justin-Caine Cavanas, XR & AI lead at Playar

Justin-Caine Cavanas, is a creative technologist and XR & AI expert focused on blending technology with the physical world to create meaningful human experiences. As XR & AI Lead at Playar, an immersive studio in Antwerp, he brings this vision to life. His work has contributed to immersive projects for major brands including Dior, Chanel and Harrods.

As AI becomes invisibly woven into our workflows, experiences and decisions, the hype will fade away. Yet its impact deepens. The pressure that has been building quietly for years will suddenly emerge: it’s a collective hunger for the unmistakably human. This movement has already begun. Brands abandoning sterile sans-serifs in favor of heritage serifs, surreal letterforms and bold playfulness. Such as Dior returning to its 1946 signature, joining a quiet rebellion against the algorithmic sameness that makes everything look like everything else. This isn't for nostalgia's sake. It's a search for soul, authenticity and realness. The winners of 2026 will use AI to amplify what machines can't replicate: personality, craft and meaningful human connection. The technology that succeeds is the technology we forget is there. So the real transformation isn't technological, it's philosophical.

At the same time, two tectonic shifts are underway: tools to collaborators and screens to space.

First off, AI will evolve further from generative to agentic. We'll no longer just prompt, but we’ll orchestrate systems that understand brand ecosystems, suggest variations based on cultural shifts and adapt experiences dynamically. Creatives become conductors, not instrumentalists.

Secondly, spatial computing approaches its tipping point. Eyes-up computing, will lift our gaze out of screens and up to the space around us. We're in the pre-iPhone moment of AR/AI glasses. Yet the paradox remains: the more our world becomes programmable, the more we'll crave what can't be computed. The brands that understand this tension and use AI to deepen human experience, will define what comes next.

5. Kirsten Jassies, a social media, Tiktok and AI strategist and speaker

Kirsten Jassies is a social media expert, delivering training sessions and presentations on emerging trends, short-form video content and AI-powered content creation across platforms such as Instagram and TikTok. She is also the author of Instaproof (2018), Tiktologie (2022), and 'Het is allemaal de schuld van social media' (2025).

In 2026, I envision fashion and retail brands utilizing AI as both a strategic and creative assistant, but success depends on sharper choices around target audiences, messaging and aesthetic direction. As social platforms become hyper-personalized, brands must be crystal clear: who is the audience, what need is being addressed, and what is the intended mood?

AI helps (teams) define these parameters by analyzing search behavior, terminology, and stylistic trends on TikTok and Instagram. Social search will drive discovery as consumers look for styling solutions, style inspiration and product categories directly within video-first platforms. Brands that maintain visibility, stylistic consistency and audience/demographic clarity in these spaces will stand out.

Simultaneously, AI will be embedded in all creative tools, accelerating and enhancing content production. From image retouching to video formatting and from scripting to styling proposals: AI supports brainstorming, design and refinement. Creators will spend less time on manual tasks, producing more, testing variations faster and adapting content based on algorithmic feedback. Brands are establishing streamlined internal workflows or AI agents to monitor trends, organize concepts, and provide direction to creators. This results in content that is both visually compelling and perfectly aligned with the intended audience.

6. Janice Wang, CEO Alvanon

Janice Wang is CEO of Alvanon, a fashion-tech company that defines sizing and fit for global fashion brands. They use data‑driven body scans and technology such as physical mannequins and 3D avatars to define fit standards and make clothing better fitting. Alvanon also hosts an annual Tech Fest, featuring talks on AI and other innovations in fashion technology.

AI offers huge opportunities. It can save teams time, improve decisions, and make systems more responsive and consumer-focused. But AI is only as powerful as the data behind it. Without consistent, high-quality information, AI can create unrealistic virtual experiences, poor fit, dissatisfied customers and higher returns.

In 2026, the challenge lies in having courage to examine the processes no one likes looking at, because that is where transformation truly begins. The focus must remain on human elements such as trust and authenticity. Too much critical information is still locked in siloed departments or with vendors that don’t communicate. To unlock AI’s full value, information must align with processes, and processes with each team member’s goals and KPIs.

By building AI on strong foundations - shared standards, clean data, and human-focused workflows - brands can create a smarter, more resilient, and more trustworthy fashion ecosystem.

This information was provided in writing.