Consumers Say Selkie’s AI-Aided Valentine’s Drop Lacks Heart
Selkie, the viral, folklore-inspired women’s apparel brand seems to be getting ripped away from its fairytale by its once-loyal fanbase.
The size-inclusive brand, most famous for its Puff Dress, launched its Valentine’s Day collection this week. The drop features dresses and crew neck sweatshirts that the brand’s site notes were partly made with the aid of artificial intelligence.
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“This print was created by founder and artist Kimberley Gordon using a mix of digital hand painting, AI, and vintage art,” the product descriptions read.
The garments boasting AI-aided designs range in price from $139, the price of the sweatshirts, to $399, the cost of the most expensive dress in the collection.
The brand did not specify how AI played a role in the design process, nor did it indicate it used an open-source AI platform, like Midjourney, to create the garments. But it quickly became clear that the choice to use it at all soured fans, potentially rendering the collection, called Home Is Where the Heart Is, a one-sided love affair.
The brand’s post about the collection garnered a mixed-bag of comments, the majority of which slammed the brand’s choice to use generative AI.
But despite the backlash, Selkie stood by its decision to use AI as a design aid for the collection, which it said was ideated a year ago.
“The topic of AI art continues to be a polarizing one that some artists are for and others are against. Our founder is an artist herself and has utilized many different techniques in Selkie designs over the years. She is a watercolor painter, illustrator, graphic designer and more. As an artist who enjoys technology, and seeing AI already being used by other brands in different ways, it felt important to learn this new medium and how it may or may not work for Selkie as a brand, and herself as an artist,” Selkie wrote in a comment on its Instagram post featuring the collection.
Artists have varying viewpoints on using AI as a tool. Some argue that, because many companies creating AI image generation tools currently scrape the internet to train the models, the output from the models is “stolen.”
Artists have filed several lawsuits against Stability, the maker of Stable Diffusion; Midjourney and other AI-powered image platforms for infringing on copyrights and intellectual property. The outcomes of those cases may determine whether open-sourced AI-generated images have a future in fashion and apparel.
The Los Angeles-headquartered brand isn’t the first brand to hear backlash on its use of AI. Last year, denim giant Levi’s took heat when it announced it would be using AI to create representative, diverse avatars as models, rather than hiring models, photographers and artists.
According to new data from Talkdesk, which surveyed 1,000 American shoppers between the ages of 18 and 54, ethical, transparent use of AI matters deeply to consumers.
Best practices on AI ethics remain shaky, and as brands and retailers continue to implement the technology for a slew of use cases, consumers lack confidence in their ability to appropriately address biases, diversity and inclusion—both for use cases like Selkie’s, but also for use cases that target improved customer experience and personalization.
Forty-four percent of surveyed respondents indicated that they worry AI will “make the shopping experience less inclusive because brands aren’t deploying it responsibly,” per a release from Talkdesk. And 86 percent of consumers said retailers should work to ensure AI is more diverse, equitable and inclusive.
Shannon Flanagan, general manager and vice president of retail and consumer goods at Talkdesk, said if brands don’t step up to meet consumer expectations, they could face consequences.
“Retailers operate in an environment where every single customer interaction matters,” Flanagan said in a statement. “If their AI strategy does not ensure the application of this technology is responsible and ethical, they risk losing their customer base.”
Selkie and Gordon did not return Sourcing Journal’s requests for comment.
