One fashion company’s ready to show off its “boss” status when it comes to artificial intelligence.
Jan Philipp Wintjes, executive vice president of global omnichannel at Hugo Boss, shared on his LinkedIn that the company had started using generative AI to create images and video.
“Today marks a major milestone for us at Hugo Boss as we launch AI-powered product content live across our e-commerce platforms globally,” he wrote Thursday, sharing a video of an AI-generated, human-looking model sporting an all denim outfit embossed with the company’s Happy Hugo logo.
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A spokesperson confirmed that the German fashion and footwear purveyor has been using the technology to develop content—and even garments.
“Hugo Boss remains committed to exploring digital innovations that align with our vision of becoming the leading premium tech-driven fashion platform worldwide. For the first time, we are incorporating fully AI-generated content, including still images, video and garments, on our global e-commerce site,” the spokesperson told Sourcing Journal via email.
Companies like WHP Global, Adore Me, Eileen Fisher, Mango and others have experimented with using generative AI to create digital models for their product detail pages (PDPs). They have partnered with a range of third-party companies, including AI.Fashion and Veesual.
The major difference between Hugo Boss’s use of generative AI in this context, when stacked up against other fashion companies, is its ability to use video. To date, the majority of AI-generated content created for well-known fashion and apparel companies’ PDPs, advertising campaigns or marketing strategies has been composed of still images. Often, technology providers struggle to make a garment look realistic on a moving AI-generated model; it has historically been easier to show accurate fit and style renderings in images, rather than on video.
Hugo Boss did not comment on whether it partnered with a third-party vendor to create the images and videos it has released thus far.
Philipp Wintjes said the company enlisted AI for a hyper specific use case, rather than using technology for technology’s sake. For that reason, he and his team expect the new systems to drive business improvements, especially on the customer side.
“This launch represents a future where technology seamlessly meets creativity and precision. This is AI in action, not as a concept, but as a catalyst for growth, efficiency and improved customer experiences,” he wrote.
The announcement isn’t Hugo Boss’s first foray into emerging technologies; last year, the company announced that its Hugo brand would celebrate the launch of its Hugo Blue denim collection in the metaverse with Roblox.
Still, this endeavor marks a more definite step into the technology realm for the company; rather than driving users to another company’s platform to interact with digitally rendered avatars, Hugo Boss has brought AI-generated models onto its own site.
In the past, other brands have taken heat from consumers for choosing AI-generated content over human-first content; in 2024, Selkie’s decision to use AI to help design a Valentine’s Day collection saw criticism from consumers. In 2023, Levi’s saw anger from consumers after saying it would use AI to generate images of models with more diverse body types and a wider variety of skin tones.
Still, brands seem to have an interest in using the technology as it proliferates. Some companies, like G-Star Raw, have even started selling ready-to-wear garments made in tandem with AI systems.
The Hugo Boss spokesperson said the company believes that using generative AI to present its products will provide a stronger customer experience, particularly as it continues to iterate.
“This new development not only enhances the experience for our customers but also demonstrates our dedication to integrating the transformative potential of AI. Moving forward, incorporating AI-generated content will also be a lever for us to further increase efficiency, flexibility and personalization in future content creation,” the spokesperson said.
