38. Intelistyle

Ecommerce Award Shortlisted

For businesses showing evidence of genuine innovation in the competitive ecommerce space to support seamless consumer experience.

Startups 100: Ecommerce Awards

Founders: Michael Michelis and Kostas Koukoravas
Founded: 2018
Website: intelistyle.com

Deciding what outfit to wear is both a frustrating, yet uniquely human experience. So you wouldn’t be a fool to think computers can’t offer better fashion advice than a living, breathing, professional stylist.

Intelistyle, however, begs to differ. Founded in 2018 by Michael Micheli and Kostas Koukoravas, the startup uses AI-powered styling to personalise shopping experiences for customers of fashion retailers such as H&M, Tommy Hilfiger and D&G.

Intelistyle harnesses information about outfits customers already own, or have indicated they would like to purchase, to make recommendations on what they should buy next.

One of the biggest challenges, when we started Intelistyle, was to educate stakeholders and decision-makers about the benefits of using AI

Mechanising the process in this way allows Intelistyle to make detailed outfit recommendations based on customers’ body types, skin tones and personal style – and can also empower users to discover outfits from their existing wardrobe.

Convincing an industry full of accomplished, human stylists that artificial intelligence could do a better job wasn’t exactly plain sailing.

“One of the biggest challenges, when we started Intelistyle, was to educate stakeholders and decision-makers about the benefits of using AI,” says founder Michael Michelis.

But from the get-go, the benefits have been near-instantaneous – Intelistyle managed to deliver 10% more revenue for the company’s very first client than one of the biggest fashion recommendation providers in the industry could manage.

More proof-of-concept came in 2019 at London Fashion Week, where Intelistyle’s AI programming was able to outperform professional stylists, which caught the attention of the likes of Forbes.

In the past couple of months, we developed a Virtual Try-On solution where users can visualise an entire outfit before buying it

With new uses cases for artificial intelligence across almost all sectors of the economy popping up all the time, it’s no surprise to hear that Intelistyle are continuing to innovate within the fashion industry.

“In the past couple of months, we developed a Virtual Try-On solution where users can visualise an entire outfit before buying it,” Michelis explains. “We see in the future people shopping in AR or VR and Intelistyle powering fashion retailers’ ecommerce stores.”

Intelistyle’s faith in its AI has paid dividends so far, for both company and client. Their pioneering attitude – and fascinatingly useful technical stack – should ensure they’ll be at the cutting edge of fashion styling for years to come.