- 21 hours ago
On Wednesday, leaders in business, art, fashion, and technology gathered on the 102nd floor of New York’s One World Trade Center for a TIME100 Impact Dinner. The event orbited around a panel, moderated by TIME’s editor-in-chief Sam Jacobs, that discussed how AI could shape the future of fashion—particularly from a customer’s perspective.
The panelists were David Lauren, chief branding and innovation officer for Ralph Lauren, which sponsored the event; Shelley Bransten, corporate vice president, worldwide industry solutions, at Microsoft, which also sponsored the event; and artist and researcher Sougwen Chung, who founded Scilicet, a studio exploring human and non-human collaboration.
The panelists were David Lauren, chief branding and innovation officer for Ralph Lauren, which sponsored the event; Shelley Bransten, corporate vice president, worldwide industry solutions, at Microsoft, which also sponsored the event; and artist and researcher Sougwen Chung, who founded Scilicet, a studio exploring human and non-human collaboration.
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00:00Thank you for joining us for this elevated conversation.
00:06If you're like me, you spent the ride up here staring at your feet.
00:10And if you're not like me, I'm envious.
00:13Just a couple of thoughts to sort of set the stage for the conversation we're going to have tonight.
00:19One, we started Time 100 AI three years ago
00:23with the aspiration that time could be your trusted guide to this technological transformation.
00:31And so our hope is that as everyone in this room tries to make sense of this moment,
00:35that you can look to time to help better understand what this technology means for you and for your life.
00:41And the second point, which I think this stage really exemplifies,
00:46is our belief that progress has made solutions happen through bringing people together
00:51and through bringing us out of our silos.
00:53We really can't achieve what we want to achieve at this moment
00:57without picking our heads up out of our companies, our businesses, our worlds,
01:02and looking across to other worlds to better understand the future.
01:06So with that in mind, I'm very excited to introduce tonight's panel.
01:11Starting on the end, we have, just so I have my cards and the title's correct,
01:16because I know titles are important.
01:17Shelley Branson, the Corporate Vice President of Worldwide Industry Solutions at Microsoft.
01:23And the technology partner for Ask Ralph.
01:26Welcome, Shelley.
01:29David Lauren is the Chief Branding and Innovation Officer at Ralph Lauren.
01:35That's right.
01:37And Sue Wencheng is an award-winning artist and best known to those of us at Time as a Time 100 AI honoree.
01:43David, since we are here on the occasion of Ask Ralph, I'm going to ask David the first question.
01:55You started at Ralph Lauren 25 years ago.
01:59Congratulations on that milestone, although I believe your affiliation with Ralph Lauren extends earlier in your life.
02:04You were one of the first brands to bring, luxury brands, to really move into digital retail.
02:10And I'm curious, as you look back to that moment, are there lessons that you learned then that you think apply to this moment?
02:19First of all, thank you for having us.
02:21Thank you to Time, and thank you for what you do, because you inspire us every day to do what we do.
02:27And thank you, Sam.
02:31When we started our website 25 years ago, it was not a popular thing to do.
02:36It was considered high-risk.
02:38It was considered a place where people wouldn't shop for a luxury item.
02:44And you would wait for AOL to get started.
02:48And you'd see all these little pictures.
02:50But we connected with you guys at Microsoft.
02:54And we took a gamble to do something that would be different and new.
03:00And I think the idea for us is to always push forward, no matter what you're doing.
03:05Our company started as a tie company.
03:07It evolved into men's, then women's, then children, then home, hospitality, retail.
03:13No one ever thinks that where you are is where you can possibly be.
03:19And I think the idea that you constantly reinvent yourselves is the key.
03:24And that's the learning, is that anything can happen.
03:27And you just sort of put your foot forward.
03:29And artificial intelligence is going to bring that speed of risk-taking and change.
03:36Into the future.
03:38And it's exciting.
03:39Shell, you worked with David and his team on this.
03:43Are there specific challenges to fashion and retail when it comes to creating an AI experience for consumers?
03:50Well, and I also just want to build on something David said, which is polo.com was really the first.
03:57And David himself appeared 25 years ago at Comdex with Bill Gates, who apparently said, people are going to buy suits on the internet to you.
04:09And so I think, I just really think, you know, the sort of the history of being first and things that we can't even imagine today that technology can do or seem so obvious now.
04:22But your question about sort of what's hard about this, I mean, there's a lot of pieces that I would say we're still learning side by side with retailers and brands.
04:37When we came in and first started to think about the partnership, David had a strong vision for Ask Ralph.
04:46But, you know, sort of the technology for technology's sake is a fool's errand.
04:53And so I think the most important piece was the partnership piece.
04:57You know, I joked with my team.
04:59We had so many slides and so many demos when we found out that Ralph Lauren was inviting them into their offices to talk about Ask Ralph.
05:07And David said, we're going to take you to our store and we're going to spend three hours and you're going to meet our sales associates.
05:15You're going to watch our customers shop.
05:17You're going to feel our product.
05:19And so I think what's hard is actually making sure you're applying the technology to the experience of the brand and making sure that the AI, which I think, you know, we're incredibly proud of Ask Ralph at Microsoft.
05:34Because I think it starts to bring the front door of Ralph Lauren to so many consumers around the world.
05:44Su-Wen, how can art help us better understand the potential for AI?
05:49And then maybe how has AI helped you better understand the potential for art?
05:53I think that's a great question.
05:58I love hearing kind of your stories about how to integrate something like an AI system or a responsive system into your work.
06:07Because I think there's so much fear in the world today about that kind of implementation and translation.
06:13Definitely in the sectors of art and culture.
06:17And I think for me, art has been able to really shine a window into how we build these very human experiences into something that remains a very human experience.
06:28It just has this other layer of interpretation and data and technology.
06:32For how it's worked with my work is I started collaborating with a robotic system that I built, trained on two decades of my own data about 11 years ago as a way of really understanding about how it's affecting my own creativity, how to improve as an engineer.
06:49And I think what you said about just trying to implement and learn step-by-step has been a really, I think, a way of gathering knowledge through just experimentation that I think is useful for any sector.
07:06David, we launched Time 100 AI because we really wanted to emphasize the role that people play in this technology.
07:14But we find that many people find AI to be really dehumanizing.
07:17And I'm curious how you think about a brand like yours, how you can use AI to better connect people to Ralph Lauren.
07:28Well, first of all, I'm here with a team that helped to execute this.
07:33Some are at this table.
07:34Some of you guys are spread out.
07:36You know, the truth is we start with what we as people feel we need.
07:43And if AI is the right technology to help solve those challenges, then that's very rewarding.
07:51Sometimes it's not.
07:52And there are other technologies that we'll explore to help us solve our problems.
07:56But it doesn't start with the technology usually.
07:59Although we look at what technologies are out there, we might find something that we say, oh, that's cool.
08:04We could use that for this.
08:06But it generally starts with the challenge or the problem.
08:08And that's a very human thing.
08:10For us, it was very simple.
08:12We're a company that has grown around the world.
08:15We've got salespeople in stores.
08:17And they don't know how to put the clothes together.
08:19So that's like a simple thing.
08:22Could technology help you get dressed in the morning?
08:25And could you do it in a way that is simple enough that you won't feel overwhelmed and you won't find it confusing and it will be live in real-time experience?
08:37What technology works?
08:39And AI works.
08:40This idea started 25 years ago.
08:44It has had iterations over the years.
08:47But we finally found the right marriage with the right technology to bring an age-old question to life.
08:54Shelly, I won't ask you to look ahead 25 years.
08:58I won't have the answer.
08:59You're welcome.
09:01But look ahead five.
09:03What is the potential for this technology?
09:06What do you think it's going to be able to do for consumers?
09:08Yeah.
09:09I mean, I think, you know, David tipped it.
09:12I mean, the reality is that people are there already.
09:15You know, like 60% of consumers now in the U.S. are using AI for product recommendations, for finding deals, and for more information about products themselves.
09:29So, you know, I think that I have an interesting, you mentioned background because I lived in retail for a long time and now technology.
09:38But we've been, websites themselves have not changed in terms of the fundamental structure for 25 years in terms of sort of, you know, the top navigation, the left navigation.
09:50Someone on my team calls the search bar the universal symbol of disappointment because people are searching, you know.
09:56And so, I do think the traditional marketing or retail funnel of, like, search, click, checkout is changing dramatically.
10:09And so, what I love about the vision for Ask Ralph and where I think, you know, maybe not 25 years out, I think it's sooner.
10:18I really do.
10:19But I think the conversational way in which Ask Ralph works, where you go from, like, the old world of kind of clicks and carts to conversation, which is the thing as old as time, is where retail's going.
10:41And the conversation between the customer and Ask Ralph on what should I wear to an event that Time Magazine is hosting can open the door to all sorts of other conversations about, you know, where's my package?
10:56Or all sorts of other things that will bring down the barriers between consumers and brands.
11:00So, that's where I think we're going.
11:02And I think it's going to happen a lot faster than any of us will have expected, which is why this is such an exciting moment for us.
11:10So, when we're talking about one name tonight, Ralph, and I'm curious if you could tell this group about another one name, which is Doug.
11:18Would you tell everyone what you've learned from Doug?
11:20Sure, sure.
11:21So, Doug, Drawing Operations Unit, Generation 1 to 6, is the name of the collaborative drawing system that I built, that I've been building over the past 10 years.
11:35And I think each generation evolves with the technology that I think is just really interesting in that present day.
11:45So, in 2015, it was recurrent neural networks.
11:48And 2018, it was optical flow algorithms.
11:51And I've learned so many interesting things about working and building the system.
11:56But I think one of the ones that apply most to this conversation is that these systems are creative catalysts.
12:03It's a different way to engage with the creative process of picking out what to wear, of expressing yourself.
12:10And I think it can be the start of a really interesting dialogue between your customers and, like, the model, right?
12:19They can sort of rate – I haven't used the app yet, but I will.
12:24But I think there's an interesting feature and a communication layer there around communicating user preferences in a way that I reinforce with my own drawing systems.
12:36So, it's a different type of sculpting of data and technology, but I think it's one that opens up a really vital and contemporary conversation about how we feed back to these systems.
12:49So, yeah, it's just very exciting to find these other layers.
12:54David, these tools are jumping up everywhere right now.
12:57Why build one within Ralph Lauren?
13:00Why not just, you know, access some – you know, put your data on OpenAI or wherever it can go.
13:05Why was it important for you to have your own owned and operated tool?
13:10Well, I don't think it did exist.
13:12And I don't think that it was going to help us the way we want it to be helped.
13:18This is something you didn't see out in the world.
13:20We didn't see it out there.
13:21You could go online and do a Google search and say, like, how do I put a look together?
13:25But we're dealing with real-time inventory.
13:28So, like, if the shirt sold out five minutes before, it's not helpful.
13:33You know, so you want to know exactly what I can do.
13:36I'm going out tonight or I'm going out this weekend.
13:39How do I pull together, you know, something for a wedding?
13:43It's going to be in a hotel in Vermont.
13:45You know, this is – it's going to keep getting smarter also.
13:49It'll tell you now the temperature and maybe someday it'll tell you the style of that street that it's on.
13:55And here's the attitude.
13:56But ultimately, you know, what does exist is new technologies to use in new ways.
14:03We were looking at technology today where, you know, maybe you can see it, but now you can see yourself standing in a hotel in Istanbul.
14:10Or you can see yourself, you know, in a million looks and it just keeps changing it with your face there.
14:16All the things we imagine, it's all happening slowly, but it's happening.
14:21And, Jellie, what are the risks and rewards for the type of data that's used to process and support the vision that David's describing?
14:30Yeah.
14:30I mean, I think, you know, obviously the relationship that Ralph Lauren has to their customers and the trust that customers put in the brand and the experience.
14:40I mean, I think to your other question, consumers want to have a relationship with Ralph Lauren.
14:46And then the rich history of data, whether it's, you know, all the content that they have and the way in which items get styled together.
14:56That's really all part of the brand.
15:00And so, I mean, I know for us on the Microsoft side, and there's been a lot written about it,
15:05and Art, I think, has been a fantastic way to challenge technology companies in this area is around the responsible use of AI.
15:14And so, I mean, that was one of the earliest conversations that we have, you know, on our side, six AI responsible principles.
15:23And it is all about, you know, privacy and security and transparency.
15:27Like, you can't let the machines get ahead of the people.
15:32And so, you know, that has to be a principle and a principle we've had from the beginning.
15:38Because if that happens, then, you know, it's a very different experience.
15:42I think, Sue, in one of the threads running through this conversation is about collaboration, which is a key theme of your work.
15:48And I'm curious how you think about both the collaboration between the human and the machine,
15:53but also specifically, you know, between an artist and a luxury housework that you've done before.
15:57What makes for a successful collaboration?
16:00I haven't done so many collaborations with fashion.
16:05I'm very interested in that.
16:06But I think I did do a collaboration with Bulgari a few, I think, two years ago.
16:12And I think when values align, like with any partnership, it's really easy to move forward.
16:19I think it's, for that collaboration, it was really thinking about what artisanal technology and craft is in 2025.
16:29Really thinking about what is kind of timeless in how we create these works of art and how we create jewelry that's also a work of art.
16:43So I think those alignments are really at the center of what we're interested in.
16:49I think also brands that are really pushing forward and setting great examples for how to use emerging technology is also really key.
16:58Because we've seen a lot of the kind of not-so-interesting actors out there.
17:02But I think we're really, when we support and collaborate with kind of the right approach, I think we're sending the right message.
17:11David, you started to talk about this when you worked with the Microsoft team.
17:14You took them to a store.
17:16And everyone knows what it feels like to be in a space that's created by Ralph Lauren.
17:20How do you think about that in a virtual or digital setting?
17:24What are your priorities?
17:25How do you make sure that when I access this tool, it feels like, to your point, that I'm walking into one of the spaces that you've built?
17:32It's a good question.
17:34And when we started, we realized that the experience inside of a store is what makes it special.
17:41Clothes are just clothes.
17:45But what we try to do is create a movie, create an experience with how you wear the clothes, the context that you wear the clothes, the world that inspires you, that we build around the clothes.
17:56Because you're stepping onto a stage set, and you want to live out that movie.
18:01And if you go to the Internet, and it's a flat screen, and it's just a shirt, and it's just a pair of pants, no one needs a shirt, and no one needs a pair of pants.
18:10But what you have to do is to inspire them by building the dream.
18:13We do it through movies, we do it through videos, we do it through advertising campaigns.
18:19But online, you need to build the whole gestalt.
18:22And so we try to create voices and stories that build that context.
18:29So when you're reading about a pair of old jeans, there's a story about an old barn that maybe inspired those jeans.
18:35And when you're reading about the look of that woman, maybe there's an interview with a celebrity or a personality who literally lives out that story that inspired us, and she will inspire you.
18:48With Ask Ralph, in reality, it was consumer is one type of person we're trying to talk to.
18:57It's also we want to train and develop our own employees.
19:00We want them to understand the culture of what we're doing, because you can wear things a million different ways.
19:07It's just clothes.
19:08It's boring.
19:10But when you are making a movie, it gets exciting.
19:12Doesn't sound like a new tagline, but...
19:14I like clothes.
19:15But it gets exciting when you use technology to bring it to life.
19:21And all of a sudden, you've rethought what it is you're making.
19:25And that's our job, is to take a classic and put it through a new lens, a modern lens.
19:31And then all of a sudden, people see it in a new way, and it evolves your entire brand and your entire culture.
19:39Shelley, I'm curious, as someone whose career has taken her across retail and fashion and then enterprise technology,
19:44how would you rate luxury's ability to innovate?
19:47Oh, well, I mean, I think it does go back to what David was saying.
19:55Like, you have to stay true to your brand and what your brand stands for.
20:00You know, in sort of the old world, luxury was more fast follower in terms of e-commerce.
20:08And there was a lot of concern about how could you bring a luxury experience to a flat screen?
20:15Were you going to disrupt the physical store business?
20:20But what we saw definitely through many customers, not just luxury,
20:27is that between COVID as, like, really teaching brands about how important the online experience was,
20:36and now fast forward to where we are with AI, I'm not seeing, I think, I'm not seeing anybody be slow.
20:44Let's just put it that way.
20:45I think there, we do see many customers sort of get into pilot purgatory, you know,
20:52and sort of think about the art of the possible with 250 use cases.
20:57And so what we really loved about Ask Ralph was there was such a clear vision
21:05in terms of what the team wanted to deliver, but also a mindset about experimentation.
21:16I mean, there was something that David said in some of the press that I thought was so fascinating about,
21:21you know, because, like, the number of models that are getting released in the technology world,
21:26it's hard for even us at Microsoft to keep up with.
21:29And David said, you know, in a way, training the model is the same way you train a new sales associate.
21:34They don't know everything when they start.
21:37But it gets smarter, you know, every day and every time you use it.
21:42And I think, and by the way, Ask Ralph has now inspired this whole industry.
21:48I've got Matt Shea here from NRF.
21:50I mean, it's interesting.
21:51It was sort of like a shot that was heard around the world.
21:56And so I think having both sort of that clear vision of what you want to deliver
22:01as well as the excitement and the culture to experiment
22:06has changed things in the conversation a lot.
22:09David, I want to give you the last question.
22:12You've described Ask Ralph as like having Ralph Lauren in your pocket,
22:15an image that I can't get out of my head.
22:17What's the one piece of advice that he's given you that's always stayed with you
22:23when it comes to, you know, getting dressed in the morning?
22:28You know, it's interesting.
22:29I'm looking at you.
22:30When I was a kid, my dad used to wear this to work.
22:35And nobody would ever think to wear a fringe jacket to work.
22:39And I used to laugh at him when he put a cowboy hat on in New York City and even cowboy boots.
22:47And when you start to mix and play, you're having fun and you become a character and you enjoy your life.
22:54And I think there's a certain joy and confidence and inspiration that clothing and style can bring to the world.
23:01And we're living in a world that's changing very quickly.
23:05And just to have a little chance to sort of go inside your head and be able to play and be joyous is very fulfilling.
23:11And I learned that very young.
23:13Well, thank you all very much.
23:15I hope this conversation, bringing together technology, fashion, and art has inspired you about what's possible with AI today.
23:22So thank you.
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