Top Favor has integrated artificial intelligence into the manufacturing of clothing.
Top Favor, a trendy fashion brand, recently concluded its fourth round of financing, with investment from a private investor in the Middle East. The primary focus of this funding round will be directed towards the infusion of artificial intelligence technology, channel development, and the establishment of a talented workforce.
Established in November 2021, Top Favor is a trendy fashion brand that leverages big data and artificial intelligence. The brand advocates for the fusion of trendy elements with clothing, incorporating a design approach that integrates figurines into each garment, resulting in a unique brand style.
Despite the AI trend being less pronounced at the time of its inception, founder Wu Sunle firmly believed in the potential of artificial intelligence to revolutionize the global fashion industry. This conviction led to the creation of Top Favor, positioning it as potentially the first domestic brand to propose a focus on AI-based clothing.
Reportedly, Top Favor has deeply integrated AI into clothing creation, spanning design, marketing, supply chain, and flexible intelligent manufacturing. For instance, in the design phase, AI analyzes a vast information repository across numerous dimensions, including fabric, style, color, trends, and design concepts, thereby reducing subjective factors and creating products that more precisely align with consumer needs.
After over two years of development, Top Favor's AI application has continually evolved in aspects such as garment structure, color combinations, pattern contours, design processes, and trendy attributes. This evolution has not only heightened complexity but also improved its understanding of market demands, resulting in the creation of increasingly appealing products, likened by Wu Sunle to the advancement from L1 to L3 in autonomous driving technology.
In manufacturing, Top Favor employs AI's flexible manufacturing, shifting from a traditional "production dictates sales" model to a "sales dictate production" approach. The brand's clothing design adheres to three primary parameters: playfulness, luxury (in terms of fabric), and marketability, further broken down into several dimensions. If certain dimensional combinations result in poor sales, subsequent product designs will avoid these aspects, while successful dimensional combinations will be refined and applied to new product development, increasing the probability of creating popular items.
In marketing, AI provides real-time assessments of similar products' sales across various platforms, proactively devising marketing strategies and tracking user and market trends. Within the supply chain, AI analyzes product sales, supply-demand dynamics, and price trends, enabling intelligent procurement and material management, culminating in the optimal combination based on materials, processes, and production within a data framework.
Regarding pricing, Top Favor's average customer spending has decreased from around ¥1500 in the early stages to approximately ¥700. Wu Sunle revealed that in the early stages, to establish brand recognition, the brand heavily relied on offline boutiques. However, after accumulating a user base, Top Favor transitioned to a fully direct sales model across all channels, directly passing on profits to consumers, thus justifying the price adjustment. Since "Double 11" last year, sales have consistently maintained a growth rate of 150% to 200% monthly.
In the fashion industry, the multi-brand model is nearly ubiquitous as a strategic approach to expand market size and avoid over-reliance on a single brand. This strategy has been adopted by high-end fashion conglomerates as well as fast-fashion brands like H&M and ZARA. Last year, Top Favor also ventured into multi-brand expansion, and with the new round of financing, subsidiary brand development is expected to make further progress.
Looking ahead, Top Favor aims to establish its own brand matrix through self-creation or acquisitions, empowering these brands through AI technology to maximize commercial outcomes. By the first quarter of 2024, Top Favor has achieved a balance between revenue and expenditure.