Vic Riches: The Generation of Generative AI

From consumer insights across the world to the latest tactics and trends you're listening to leap into luxury. The go-to marketing podcast for luxury brands. We're Natalie and MJ and this week we're talking to Vic Richards, a talented designer who's embarking on a revolutionary journey in digital fashion. Vic has created her own premium, "figital" brand that blends two unlikely worlds, the art of craftsmanship and augmented reality. Her work suggests that the two can coexist to tell stories and build community. Vic's luxury handcrafted brass heart lock is made from recycled brass and illustrates how the history of ancient and artisanal practices can be brought to life with the help of digital storytelling and experiences. So Vic, thank you for joining us today. Thank you, thank you so much for having me, it's a real pleasure to talk to you and share my story. So it has been a bit of a journey to get to here and I'm still a very young brand. I only launched or became I guess public facing earlier this year on Valentine's Day. It felt like a significant time to do it, obviously that heart-lash. With an absolute smash you launched this year. Yeah, it was an interesting time to choose to launch as well I guess, really over the course of the few years it was something very, very personal to me, very sort of digging deep creative process, looking at different like textural development. The honesty just took months and months and I started exploring how digital can I guess make something that was very private to me accessible to so many people. What was the inspiration behind the heart lock? Obviously you talk about your journey on a digital experience but it's a very much a physical product as well, a very beautiful physical product. What led you to take the leap from digital to physical in that way? Kind of looking at Paris I guess from the outside perspective, if anyone spent time in Paris, you know a lock is such a kind of ubiquitous thing that you see almost down every street. I mean every canal has a lock, there's a symbol and I think it captivates a lot of artists and designers. It's a very sort of significant and important symbol especially within luxury and so I just decided that that was something that I wanted to kind of develop as my first product especially just because my background is fashion design so I'm formally trained with working in fabric but I felt like for a launch product I wouldn't have to worry about grading for example I can control it, it's something or someone you know starting small with a budget I wanted to develop something to the best quality I could but still be able to kind of give something to people that they could wear with ease without having to worry about like the complication of everything else and so it's just kind of emerged from that. It's interesting that you are designed in textiles because when you look at the product there is that fluidity of material you see the kind of tie in between your background and what you eventually designed in a different material. Yeah thank you. Well it's interesting because actually it did start off as a drawing and I was looking a lot at decorative fonts from a decorative typography from like the 13th and 14th century just like old books that I'd found again like during lockdown and instead of kind of having access to inspiration that I would normally it was like kind of looking back into kind of history I guess and so I was kind of experimenting with this and like the letters became more form but actually there is like an encrypted word on it or two words that you can't see very easily now. Secret words? See I thought it actually it says really truly so it's again like something that started off as a drawing and then it was my first product that I made in digital software as well so it's got that kind of primitive molding sculpting work to it. For any listeners who don't know the term generative AI kind of how would you explain that to them and how you used it. So it's a bit of a buzz word at the moment and it seems to be kind of something that we're hearing about almost daily in the news but it's actually describing a technology that's been happening and developing for decades but what's different about it is it's becoming credibly user friendly to the point that any of us here could just generate something ourselves but what it it's describing artificial intelligence, a form of artificial intelligence that basically you there has to be a human involved but you you train or feed this machine learning software or technology with a certain amount of data I mean it can the capacity for data is enormous and then it can then produce generate or create however you see it answers or detect trends it's pretty endless really. I've read somewhere that global generative AI is expected to reach a 3.6 billion pound turnover by 2026 so it's clearly something that's not going to go away so you don't get bigger. As someone who owns a brand what do you think are the ways that you can best use these digital experiences and AI is to leverage your position in the luxury, artisanal industry how can you blend those two in order to best propel your brand. The difference I guess with generative AI and I think that where that statistic comes from is that it's just talking a lot about the streamlining and efficiency and cost saving which is kind of like I think the main thing for someone kind of still developing but still incredibly tied to kind of the tactility of my design it can be an amazing tool for I guess giving it something and letting it run with it. It's an interesting one because I think for a long time the luxury industry in particular has been fairly close you know you've got these really heritage brands who dominate the market and it's very hard for a disruptive brand or a young brand to come in. Do you think that maybe this kind of agility AI is offering will allow a bit more space for young brands to come in and take some of that market share. You'll see as these larger brands are tapping into different markets and that new generation the younger generation become the dominant luxury consumer which already that's shifting things a lot. The relationship will change some of these brands will will last for a very long time if they are receptive and they're adapting and they're responding to new consumer needs which which have evolved a lot it's very very different now I would say than you know even 10 15 years ago or yeah that post lockdown when you see like Gen Z and gen A even Gen A coming into the luxury market the age of people spending on luxury is just getting younger and younger I think I believe it's 15 is the age of entry to luxury for Gen Z which is I mean when I was 15 I was absolutely not buying luxury brands but as a Tammy girl. Yeah yeah yeah so I think you're right they're going to have to adapt and how well they do that will really dictate how much of the younger audience they capture. You're right though in saying that some of these big brands can't move as quickly as that and some of them are a bit fearful as well. What do you think is the biggest fear when people talk about this? There's a lot of headlines there's a lot of skirmongering absolutely. I think the thing that immediately I mean for people working for companies is obviously job displacement and job loss which it is somewhat inevitable or it seems inevitable unless you are sort of actively upskilling and learning how to adapt to this I think if you stay if you're operating the same in five years time what I just don't think it's even possible so I think it you know now is the time to kind of become acquainted with this technology. So that's one thing I would say like as a consumer of luxury the thing that you might be also afraid of is just about like your data privacy as well because I don't think any of us really realise how much personal data is used by companies to personalise our shopping experience and the sort of kind of paradoxical thing is that we expect such seamlessness with our like our online experience like luxury consumers they want that same experience that they would have in a store digitally I think really it's for companies to prove that trust and build a much more kind of transparent and intimate relationship with their consumer as as this technology develops because that as as much as we want to be automated that human aspect is also going to be so incredibly important as well. I mean there are those fears kind of darting about about you know about exactly what you say about the jobs being taken over and things but there's so much kind of opportunity and potential actually some of these heritage luxury brands already utilising AI and AI with virtual trials and a lot of their kind of customer service operations are kind of being taken over by AI chatbots and what have you and maybe that's not as personal as the the modern user wants to but but there are there are opportunities beyond that for the uses of AI and AI which is what you've been exploring really and that's in the in the more of the creative side of things. I was reading recently in Jingdaily. There was a brand in China Kaijian who used AI. They have a research lab called the U2 lab and they analyzed consumers preferences in terms of colors and patterns to then design autumn, winter, I think 23 collection. What do you think about that? Where they're analyzing sales to then inform creativity? Do you think that's something that is hindering creative expression or interesting? I think it depends really. I mean, it depends how it's used. As someone, I've had a lot of experience working in trend for companies and for that reason I sort of believe that there's something that should be protected in that. And that, you know, I think data driven decisions are incredibly important, but I don't think that should be the bill end or because that's always going to be looking in the past. And generative AI in itself is always generating from things that have already happened. So there does need to be the aspect of something completely, you know, innovative and disruptive and new. I think that really does come from the potential of something that isn't possible yet. And of course, as humans were always referencing things, I think it's really about a balance and making an informed decision. I believe in the capabilities and the geniusness of artistry and visionaries. And that's something that I don't think will ever go away. And I think the luxury industry will protect that. But, you know, in terms of like fast fashion, they could definitely, and they are doing it, where they're employing machine learning to generate new styles and new colourways because they're prioritising efficiency over creativity. And in a lot of the industry, it's a bit depressing, but that works. Do you think that there's an opportunity for brands to play with the duality of a physical expression of self and a digital expression of self? And that could be a way in which they're able to speak to people in a more personalized way, but that feels comfortable for consumers. Like, I don't know what you think, but I've always sensed that for some people being yourself in the truest way is more comfortable in a digital space. And I don't know why that is. But do you think that that maybe as a way brands can engage with people? Yeah, absolutely. And I think, you know, even for, I mean, I'm 33 now. And so my kind of entry into my digital expression was like my space and that too. And that was at a very pivotal age of self discovery. Like, I think, you know, maybe 14, 15, when I remember in high school, I was very, very shy and I had no idea who I was, but I had this little page that I could customise and I felt I could express myself in that way. I mean, that's one personal example. But, you know, these days, the possibility of a self expression in the digital space is incredible. And this has obviously been something that's been happening for decades. And, you know, video gamers feel that they can express themselves so much more comfortably sometimes in video games. Which is incredible. It's interesting also I saw last week that LVMH have partnered with a gaming agency to tap into that market. I do think that, whereas traditionally, you might not have expected that collaboration. Now it's just becoming more and more prevalent. Yeah, there's been, yeah, I think the gaming industry has been a major collaborator in recent, especially during COVID. It was like, it sort of blew up. And those digital experiences, I suppose, and the AI facilitated kind of experiences that you're talking about, I mean, we see that being utilised a lot more these days in that community-driven marketing. It's especially for the luxury brands we see in the metaverse. We're seeing it mentioned a lot and a lot. As somebody who owns their own business and you are very o-fe with augmented reality, with AI, with this new sort of way of marketing or a way of creating, you have to also manage your own marketing as well as the creation of your products. I mean, you're a one-man, wonderful band. Is there a way that you're going to be able to implement your understanding of how this works across your own marketing as well? Yeah, I would love to. I mean, I first and foremost start with my small, but loyal, weird and wonderful community. And I really believe, like, when I was doing it, it was a way to foster, almost like, you know, it sounds a bit sad, but it was almost like my support system for a while. And that's how my following really started because I was processing something creatively that felt incredibly personal. And when I was sharing it in bits and pieces, there would be certain people that it just really resonated strongly with. If I were to use this technology in some way, I would love to give them an opportunity to kind of co-create with me and that to me as something. So important. If I can use it in a way that is tapping into their interests, various causes, that they're interested in supporting, which is what I kind of launched with, wanting to fundraise for a cause that was connected with my community, and just sort of build on that. You mentioned a cause there. What exactly did you do to drive engagement with your community and what caused specifically were you looking to work with? For the Valentine's Day launch, I partnered with digital fashion marketplace Dressex and La Santrae, G.B.T.C.E. de Paris. And that was there one of the main charities in Paris supporting the LGBTQIA community. And we co-created a garment, so based on the idea of Valentine's, what come up with a kind of a word or like idea of what a limitless love would look like. So beyond the kind of cliché, if you're thinking about a borderless love, what word would that be? And so I worked really closely with a community to contribute. What that meant to them, and it was the most sort of moving experience to get those answers. And I used every word to create this sort of digital garment that kind of embellished the body in the digital space. So that was one of the garments. And then the other two were the digital corsets. The event that we had was at the center's Valentine's Day event. And there was an incredible performance from two of the artists in the corsets. And the fundraising was for one of the centers related charities which was supporting migrants integrate into Paris. So following on from that question, I'm going to ask what all your, your weird and wonderful fans as you all know will want us to ask, what is next for Vic Riches? I have been having some very exciting collaboration opportunities and kind of piloting ways that I can use digital NAI to create these kind of meaningful projects and work with people, entities that are interested in partnering with me and creating meaning through their product and creating something beautiful. So yeah, there's some cool things happening. I'm very interested in building on, I like to design clothes or items that are very kind of sensual and make the wearer feel very kind of, they can celebrate that part of themselves and so I want to dive deeper into that product range and how I can, again, I focus on product that I can make easily wearable and accessible. And so tapping into that and having a digital experience that kind of brings it to life in a way that is magical, I guess. So yeah, we'll see what happens, but it's a very, very exciting time to be, to be, to be as agile as I am because I am very small. I haven't heavily invested in one thing or the other. So I'm kind of chopping and changing as things go and very open to collaboration. And where can people find you if they want to discover more about your world? Well, Instagram, my Instagram, which is Vic Riches with a dot between the Vic and the Riches, is where I share everything and then I have a link to my website and in terms of engaging with brands like my LinkedIn as well, which is my full name Victoria Riches. But I, yeah, I think via the Instagram is probably the best place and you can find my website which has the product on as well if you're interested. Well, Vic, thank you so much for coming in and speaking with us. It's been honestly amazing. It's been so nice to be able to talk to you and Natalie about these topics and learn so much. I feel like I'm going to go in and rule in a generative AI prompt course. I mean, I always start these conversations with my partner at home in the kitchen and I get nothing but it's It's nice. It's very nice. Someone engaged. No, I'd loved it. It's been great to talk to you as well. Thank you. Thank you so much. 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