Rows of glowing screens flicker in the darkness, their hum merging with the distant clicks of mechanical keyboards. The air is thick with anticipation as models glide through a labyrinth of high-speed processors and tangled cables, moving like avatars in a hyper-modern landscape. True to form, Coperni’s AW25 Paris Fashion Week show is no ordinary catwalk; it’s a complex commentary on our relationship with technology.
Gaming enthusiasts and digital futurists sit shoulder-to-shoulder, immersed in a world where fashion meets the tech frontier. At the center of it all? The Ray-Ban Meta x Coperni limited-edition Wayfarers–AI-powered smart glasses that allow the wearer to capture photos hands-free, translate speech in real-time, and seamlessly integrate the digital with the physical. It’s a bold vision of what’s to come: fashion that doesn’t just dress the body, but enhances the way we interact with the world around us.
Coperni has built its reputation on moments like this. From that viral spray-on dress – applied directly onto Bella Hadid’s body on the runway to its Air Swipe bag made from NASA-developed silica aerogel, the brand is relentlessly pushing the boundaries of what fashion can be. And Coperni isn’t alone. Houses like Gucci, Valentino, and Moncler are racing toward the future too, using AI-generated campaign imagery, creating NFTs to sell in Web3, and launching personal shopping tools that leverage ChatGPT. These activations have been eye-opening and provocative, offering glimpses of a high-tech fashion future, but they’ve sometimes run the risk of feeling gimmicky—more spectacle than substance.
The Coperni autumn/winter 2025 show
By contrast, many of fashion’s most storied houses, particularly those under the LVMH umbrella, have taken a more measured approach. Rather than chasing social media’s ephemeral ‘viral moment,’ they’ve integrated AI and digital tools in ‘quiet’ ways that feel almost invisible to the average consumer. “Luxury is about appreciation of product quality and craftsmanship,” says Gonzague De Pirey, the chief omnichannel and data officer at LVMH. “Tech and innovation are not a goal in themselves; they are in service of our mission.” This philosophy prioritizes refinement over drama, ensuring that technology works behind the scenes to enhance, rather than distract from, the luxury shopping experience.
So, what does this mean for the future of luxury shopping? How does AI elevate, rather than cheapen, the most exclusive retail experiences in the world? If the latest developments are anything to go by, the answer lies in ‘quiet tech’—subtle but game-changing innovations that work behind the seams to make everything feel smoother, more personal, and effortlessly luxurious.
1. Online shopping will be curated by a stylist
…just not a human one. Luxury eCommerce is in the middle of an AI-powered glow-up. If you’ve ever browsed sites like Net-a-Porter, Moda Operandi, or Farfetch, you’ve probably noticed the slow shift towards hyper-personalized shopping. But in the next five years, AI will take things up several notches.
Expect virtual try-ons that actually work (goodbye, awkward AR filters), AI-driven styling services that learn your taste over time, and predictive inventory that ensures the pieces you love are never unavailable in your size. Net-a-Porter, for example, has been experimenting with AI-powered personal shoppers that can refine recommendations based on past purchases and browsing behavior. Moda Operandi is using machine learning to predict emerging trends before they explode, helping buyers snap up exclusive pieces before they become impossible to find.
And let’s not forget about Farfetch, which is leading the charge in AI-driven logistics — meaning faster deliveries, smarter stock distribution, and a more seamless checkout experience. The goal? A shopping journey that feels almost psychic in its ability to understand what you want before you even know it yourself.
2. Your in-store assistant will feel like your best friend
Luxury shopping has always been about VIP treatment. The held-open doors, a whiff of rich leather, a glass of champagne while you browse and somebody helpfully carrying your pieces to the changing room for you. As counterintuitive as it might sound, the teams at many leading luxury brands are focused on getting more people offline and back into the practice of shopping in brick-and-mortar stores, by making it an enriching and unforgettable experience. At LVMH, AI-powered clienteling apps help sales associates anticipate a VIP’s preferences before they even step foot in the store. They could, for example, set the temperature, have pre-designated desirable pieces on a bespoke rail, have your favorite snacks waiting, or anticipate language requirements and ensure that the right people look after you. “AI should not replace people but augment the relationships between people,” says De Pirey. “All our developments in AI are made to help people perform better, but always to focus on human relationships and human craftsmanship.”
Designer shopping experiences could soon look far more advanced
Similarly, Loewe has implemented an algorithm that generates one-to-one product recommendations for clients based on their previous purchases and style inclinations. “We like to call it ‘augmented intelligence’ because it enriches, rather than replaces, the expertise of our in-store staff,” says Paloma Juncos, the brand’s head of omnichannel growth.
3. AI could fuel your favorite designer’s biggest ideas
The role of AI in fashion design has sparked fierce debate. Critics argue that automation risks diluting the artistry that makes high-fashion special, with concerns that AI-generated designs could replace human creativity.
For those designers willing to embrace it, however, AI isn’t the death of creativity–it’s a tool to push fashion forward. “Like so many inventions that have accompanied the history of mankind and facilitated its progress, I like to think of artificial intelligence as a new handmaiden that accompanies human beings to inspire and renew their genius and creativity,” wrote Brunello Cucinelli in 2023. “I expect the contemporary Leonardos of technology to look to humanistic values as the source of their creations, for only in this way will artificial intelligence achieve the highest levels of good for mankind.”
Norma Kamali believes AI can serve as a catalyst to creativity, rather than something that can stifle it
For the designer Norma Kamali, AI isn’t a substitute for design talent but a catalyst for fresh ideas. “It doesn’t have passion, a soul, or emotion—it cannot replace original creativity,” she says. “But it can take what’s already there and push it somewhere new.” She has already incorporated AI into her creative process, feeding decades of archival designs into a bespoke AI software that can generate new iterations in her signature. Often, she doesn’t use any of the ideas generated by her AI tool, but in watching the software at work, seeing the references it pulls from and even taking note of some of its mistakes (which tech experts refer to as ‘hallucinations’), she is inspired in her own creations.
This is particularly valuable in an industry that constantly reinvents past trends. AI-generated mood boards, material explorations and silhouette variations can offer designers a new lens through which to view their own creative instincts.
4. You’ll be able to design your own bespoke pieces
For centuries, luxury fashion has thrived on customization, but soon there will be technology that can take bespoke experiences to an entirely new level. As it stands, custom couture comes with a lofty price tag, because of the time commitment and physical undertaking involved in producing it, meaning it’s only accessible to the small percentage of the population who can afford it. Now, inventions like Clo 3D fashion software are already being used to visualize and refine custom garments before they’re physically produced. In the near future, expect this to go mainstream, particularly for once-in-a-lifetime pieces like wedding dresses.
Imagine being able to input your exact measurements, style preferences, design references, and fabric choices into an AI system that then generates a made-to-measure gown, ready for robotic fabrication. AI tools conversing with robots is a fascinating and unnerving prospect, and yet, in this context, it might be an important solution for wasteful overproduction. Plus, for you, it’s a chance to own something absolutely unique.
5. Your favorite designers’ aesthetic will live on
One of the more fascinating ways AI is making its mark on luxury fashion? Ensuring that famed designers’ creative visions can outlive them. “Karl Lagerfeld, when he was hired to design for Chanel, he went right to Coco Chanel’s archive,” says Kamali. “He made it fantastic and beautiful, but it was a testament to the archive.”
Kamali has developed an AI system that can generate ideas similar to her design style
With this in mind, Norma Kamali, who has spent more than 57 years crafting a distinct aesthetic, has developed an AI system that understands her design DNA and can generate new pieces in her signature style, even when she is no longer around to produce them herself.
“AI can be my Karl Lagerfeld,” she says. “It will respect the work, because it’s only been fed my own archive, so it will only ever be referencing my work, not using other influences.”
As with any leap forwards in technology, the future relies on how we embrace and use the tools available. With due care and consideration, the future of luxury shopping will be quietly seamless, intuitive, and, most importantly, tailored entirely to you.
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