AI’s Influence on Design, Supply Chain, Commerce in the Spotlight at Next e-P Summit
NEW TECH: The next e-P Summit fashiontech conference organized by Pitti Immagine will spotlight AI as the current big thing in fashion.
The event — which has been held annually since 2011 — is hosting the 2024 edition on April 9 and 10 at Florence’s Stazione Leopolda venue, drawing more than 25 speakers, 47 exhibiting companies, as well as eight carefully selected fashiontech start-ups competing for a related award.
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“AI and digital innovation are increasingly key in the development of companies especially at a complex time such as the one we’re living in,” said Raffaello Napoleone, chief executive officer of Pitti Immagine, unveiling the agenda for the two-day event.
Rinaldo Rinaldi, professor of the department of industrial engineering at the University of Florence and the head of the scientific committee of e-P Summit, highlighted how AI is trickling down to different operations in the fashion industry and the summit is poised to address all of them providing attending professionals and companies knowledge and tools to embrace the “game-changing innovation.”
The two-day agenda includes roundtables on how AI is retooling and influencing the fashion and luxury industries, with speakers from Roberto Cavalli, Vibram and Meta, among others; the potential of AI in furthering transparency and traceability within the fashion supply chain; the new opportunities it provides in the retail and commerce space, with speakers from Slam Jam, Rinascente and beauty retailer Kiko, as well as its help in favoring the industrial transition towards “smart factories.”
A dedicated area mounted inside the venue will showcase companies advancing the “smart factory” concept displaying machinery and innovation geared at leather goods and apparel manufacturing. They include Atom SpA, Brustia Alfameccanica Srl, Fratelli Alberti Srl, Newlast Group, Omac Srl and Sagitta SpA.
The scientific committee comprises C-suite executives working in IT and digitalization across different fashion players, from Prada and Loro Piana to Gucci, Ermanno Scervino, Etro and Tod’s, among others.
In tandem with its partner bank Unicredit, e-P Summit is also hosting the second edition of Innovation Call, a fashiontech start-up award granting a 5,000-euro prize to the best fashion start-up out of the eight the scientific committee has shortlisted.
They include virtual showroom provider Arxy; content marketing platform Brandplane; secondhand solution provider Cloov; FashionChain, which transforms fashion memorabilia into NFTs; chatbot solution provider Indigo.ai; Proke, which developed an app-enhanced jumpsuit allowing to take body measurements remotely; virtual fitting tool WeWear, and ZeroW, a platform to sell, donate and recycle deadstock.
In addition to the start-up winning the e-P Summit Innovation Award, UniCredit will select one to be granted access to its Start Lab support system.
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