The public beta launch of Daydream, the world’s first AI-powered shopping agent created particularly for fashion, ushers in a new era in the digital fashion industry. This unique retail chat uses powerful natural language processing and multimodal AI to provide a personalised and conversational purchasing experience. Daydream analyses the user’s true wants, adapts to unique preferences, and serves as a trustworthy shopping advisor.
Julie Bornstein, a seasoned e-commerce operator, spearheaded the idea, which resulted in a platform that is built to adapt and learn over time. The natural language interface avoids the common hassles of online buying, such as complex searches and miscommunication about client preferences. The system adjusts constantly to user behaviour, and each interaction contributes to its improvement, including updates, new features, and brand collaborations.
“Today’s e-commerce landscape is too overwhelming, and search engines can’t capture the nuances of style,” Bornstein argues. “Daydream employs massive language models and deep fashion insights to help individuals locate just what they’re looking for. This is only the beginning; our goal is to make Daydream the smartest source of fashion knowledge and inspiration on the internet.”
A wide selection and clever technology
At launch, Daydream will offer access to one of the largest online fashion product databases—nearly 2 million items from over 200 retail partners representing 8,000 brands globally. These include both established brands and new designers. Co-founder and Chief Brand Officer Lisa Yamner Green is leading the brand collaborations, integrating their full product catalogs into the platform. Launch partners include: Net-A-Porter, Nike, Alo Yoga, Uniqlo, MyTheresa, LoveShackFancy, Casablanca and Mejuri.
Daydream has a strong AI engine designed exclusively for fashion. It blends OpenAI and Google Gemini with proprietary and open-source models, each addressing a particular issue, such as style, material, purchasing behaviour, and fit. Unlike typical online businesses, customers may freely interact with the site, post photographs, and receive recommendations based on their style and tastes – all without obtrusive filtering.
As CTO, Maria Belousova oversees the technology’s development. She emphasises that Daydream’s AI engine was designed with a thorough understanding of style, brands, and trends, allowing for natural and exciting shopping conversations and providing unique experiences for each user.
Style passport takes personalisation to a new level
Each Daydream user is given their own “Style Passport,” which is a dynamic profile that stores their preferences for styles, cuts, favourite brands, pricing ranges, and a variety of other criteria. The technology analyses behaviour in real time, so two persons asking the same inquiry may receive very different recommendations. This is mass personalisation, made possible by the system’s ability to constantly learn.
Purchases are completed on the websites of brands or retailers. Sellers can integrate for free, and the platform makes money by charging a percentage on sales. Importantly, Daydream prioritises the relevancy of results for the user over advertising, considerably improving the quality of recommendations.
People, vision, and finance
Behind Daydream is a team of professionals from firms including Google, Meta, Amazon, Microsoft, Pinterest, Nordstrom, Stitch Fix, and Farfetch. Their mission is to change the way consumers buy for fashion online, from an impersonal and hectic environment to a joyful, intuitive, and inspiring one.
In addition to Bornstein and Green, the co-founders are Dan Cary (CPO) and Richard Kim (CSO). The initiative has garnered $50 million in funding from investors including Forerunner Ventures, Index Ventures, True Ventures, and Google Ventures. Karlie Kloss, a well-known model and the founder of Kode With Klossy, is also a significant investor. It is worth noting that Forerunner and True Ventures had previously invested in Bornstein’s business, THE YES, which was bought by Pinterest in 2022.
Source: PR Newswire
