European fashion e-commerce giant Zalando is using generative AI to create images for its website and app more quickly, reflecting how artificial intelligence is changing the fashion industry and helping businesses cut costs.
Based in Germany, Zalando operates in 25 European countries and offers a wide selection of accessories, clothing, and footwear. With fast-changing trends on platforms like TikTok and Instagram, the company has turned to AI tools to produce images fast enough to keep up with what’s trending.
According to Matthias Haase, Zalando’s VP of content solutions, the company uses AI to stay flexible and respond quickly to what customers want. What used to take six to eight weeks in photo production now only takes three to four days. On top of the time savings, the shift to AI has helped Zalando cut production costs by about 90 percent. Haase emphasized that while AI content isn’t necessarily better than what humans produce, it’s more about speed and relevance in a fast-moving digital world.
Last year, AI-generated visuals made up around 70% of Zalando’s campaign images in the final quarter. These visuals helped highlight major style moments such as “mob wife,” “brat summer,” and the return of double denim.
The shift to generative AI is especially significant for companies that don’t have massive marketing budgets like luxury brands. Creating content using AI allows for more affordable, faster campaigns without needing elaborate photo shoots in far-off locations.
Zalando is also experimenting with AI-created “digital twins” of models—essentially, 3D versions of human models that can be reused across different platforms and marketing channels. These digital replicas mean a model can appear in both campaign materials and product pages without needing hundreds of separate photos. The concept is similar to one recently tested by H&M in partnership with a modeling agency.
As for how this trend could impact creative jobs in fashion, Haase believes there’s still room for traditional roles like photographers. However, he also suggests that creatives will need to learn how to integrate AI into their workflow. He doesn’t see AI replacing talent, but rather expanding their capabilities—giving them more tools to work with, not fewer.
AI is rapidly becoming a vital tool in fashion and e-commerce, helping brands move faster, operate more efficiently, and reduce expenses. The global market for AI in e-commerce is projected to hit $7.68 billion in 2025 and grow to $37.69 billion by 2032, with an expected annual growth rate of 25.5%.
The changes being made by Zalando illustrate how transformative the AI solutions being commercialized by various actors like D-Wave Quantum Inc. (NYSE: QBTS) can be in the different industries where they are deployed.
NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to D-Wave Quantum Inc. (NYSE: QBTS) are available in the company’s newsroom at https://ibn.fm/QBTS
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