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aesthetic, New fashion company The company is looking to be the “Shazam of clothing,” which launched this week and uses artificial intelligence to help people identify and shop for clothes they sourced through social media.
The fashion concierge service, called Alma, makes it easier for people to buy clothes that might be hard to find. Let’s say you see an outfit you like on Instagram. You send the post link in a direct message to Aesthetic’s TikTok or Instagram account. Alma responds with a link to display content on Aesthetic’s website, where consumers can purchase the look or add it to a collection board called Lookbook.
“Our goal is to help users save, shop and share their fashion inspiration without having to leave their favorite social apps,” said CEO LJ Northington.
Northington was thinking about what he felt was the lack of innovative technology in e-commerce. Fresh out of college, Northington worked on a project for a well-respected creative director. After hearing the same complaint from a manager he was working with, Northington began working on personal shopping concepts but was unable to find something that worked quite well.
He took a step back and simply asked, “What is the easiest way to learn someone’s aesthetics?” He told TechCrunch. “The answer was very simple: Look at their social media feed.”
Northington is already thinking big about the app. The aesthetic has taken over popular culture, and he believes his app can be used to help content creators monetize their style. He says he’s talking with brands and record companies about how their artists can create their own aesthetic pages so fans can shop their trends. Think about how everyone wore silver outfits on Beyoncé’s “Renaissance” tour or the neon green look on Charli XCX’s Brat Summer.
He declined to say how much the company has raised so far, but said Aesthetic has received investments from Slow Capital and Zeal Capital Partners, and has advisors including Victor Herrero, former CEO of Guess, and Kelly Helfman, president of Informa Markets Fashion. .
The fashion AI/ML platform is funded by the Google Cloud AI startup program.
“We use the money to achieve profitability,” Northington said. “Fortunately, Google helps us with some of the larger AI stuff, so we’re able to run a cost-effective business.”
Before that, Northington worked in business development and strategy for Westbrook, a media company co-founded by Jada Pinkett and Will Smith. He wanted to be an NFL player for most of his life, but at the same time, he grew up watching his father’s entrepreneurial journey and saw the fulfillment it provided him. When Northington’s sports career fell apart, he thought the business world was the closest thing to becoming a professional athlete.
He also studied psychology at Harvard University, which helped him gain a different perspective on consumer habits and motivations. “Building consumer technology in today’s world is a very psychological and philosophical endeavor,” he said. “Building a consumer app is essentially a big social experiment.”
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