Over the last two decades, with the great advancement of computer technology, academic research in artificial intelligence (AI) and its applications in fashion and textile supply chain have been becoming a very hot topic and have received greater attention from both academics and industrialists.

Today, we have seen the promising use of AI and machine learning techniques being employed successfully to handle a broad range of areas including textile and apparel big data, fashion e-commerce, customization, supply chain optimization, planning and scheduling, textile material defect detection, fashion and textile image recognition, fashion image and style retrieval, human body modeling and fitting, and many more.

At the opening ceremony of AIFT 2019, 11 institutes and the organizers of ShanghaiTex signed the Alliance for Artificial Intelligence in Fashion and Textiles (AIFT) to establish a long-term collaboration to promote the application of artificial intelligence in the textile and fashion industry.

With the core value of "Research, Application, Popularization", the AIFT Alliance is committed to bridging academic research and the industry, i.e. across academia, supply, production, design, branding and other related practitioners. With resources and information being shared across the community, new applications and opportunities for AI technology in the textile and fashion sectors are here to create. (Explore the AIFT Alliance)

Following the huge success of the AIFT Conference 2018 in Hong Kong and the AIFT Conference 2019 in Shanghai, this year's AIFT Conference 2022 will once again set the stage in Shanghai and bring together researchers, engineers and practitioners to discuss and explore visionary theories and applied intelligence topics in fashion and textiles use, forging a strong partnership working towards a shared vision.