appConfigEntityId

bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

isVideo

articlePageQuery

article

articleSchemaContent

content

hooksArticlePageAdvertisementConfigArticle

hooksArticlePageFloatingButtonConfigArticle

appConfig

filter

json

liveArticle

Coco Feng

Chinese start-up Hangzhou Zhiyi Technology applies artificial intelligence (AI) in apparel design and production, helping famous brands like Nike, Gap and Urban Revivo predict the next fashion trend.
Founded in 2018 at fast-rising Chinese technology hub Hangzhou, capital of eastern Zhejiang province, Zhiyi Tech is focused on compiling style and sales data from major shopping and social-media sites around the world, providing clients with data-driven analysis of fashion market trends.
Zhiyi Tech founder and CEO Zheng Zeyu said in a Post interview last Friday that his company’s expertise helped Chinese fast-fashion retailer Urban Revivo, a client since 2020, increase its opportunities to create bestselling items by 5 percentage points in the first three years of their partnership. Urban Revivo typically churns out more than 100,000 designs each year.
According to Zheng, Zhiyi Tech also enabled Urban Revivo to improve its sell-through rate – a measure of the inventory sold during a specific time, compared to the amount of stock received from suppliers in the same span – to 80 per cent from 60 per cent over the same three-year period.
The start-up’s operations reflect how increased AI-related activity in mainland China has convinced more enterprises to adopt the technology and transform their industries.

With government support via favourable policies and mandates, the domestic AI market is expected to be worth 5.6 trillion yuan (US$780 billion) by 2030, according to data from state-backed investment bank China International Capital Corp.
From about a dozen tools that Zhiyi Tech provides, Urban Revivo has mainly relied on Zhiyi, translated as “understand clothes”, which has been the start-up’s flagship software since 2018.
Zhiyi keeps users updated with bestselling designs found on Alibaba Group Holding’s Taobao and Tmall marketplaces, as well as on ByteDance-owned Douyin and RedNote, while tracking their rivals’ sales and reviews. Alibaba owns the Post.
With Nike, Zhiyi Tech provides data and analysis for the US sportswear giant’s case studies, which cover subjects such as the colours for gym trainers and whether outdoor sneakers should have a high-top design.
Last year, Zhiyi Tech launched its Trendscopes service for overseas clients. It tracks trends on retail platforms including Amazon.com, Shein, Temu and TikTok, as well as social-media sites like Instagram. The company started its overseas expansion in 2022 when it launched its Overseas Exploration product, targeted at Chinese apparel makers that sell goods outside the mainland.
At present, roughly 10 per cent of Zhiyi Tech’s users are based outside China, Zheng said. These clients are mainly located in Japan and South Korea.

Later this month, Zhiyi Tech is expected to promote its generative AI (GenAI) product, Fashion Diffusion+, to overseas markets. The tool, which was introduced in 2023, relies on natural-language prompts to enable users to design clothes and generate fashion photos with virtual models.
Zheng said another Zhiyi Tech tool in the works is an AI agent that performs complex tasks with just one prompt. This product is also expected to launch later this month.
AI agents are programs that are capable of autonomously performing tasks on behalf of a user or another system. Essentially, these agents create a plan of specific tasks and subtasks to complete a goal using available resources.
A Carnegie Mellon University graduate and Google alumnus, Zheng co-founded his first venture Caicloud, an AI infrastructure and solutions provider, in 2015. Caicloud was acquired by ByteDance in 2020.
The popularity of large language models – the technology underpinning GenAI services like ChatGPT – has widened the use of AI across many businesses, according to Zheng. He cited as an example the number of images generated by Zhiyi Tech’s Fashion Diffusion+ tool, which has surged at least 50 per cent month-on-month during the March to May period.


Will ‘transactional’ America assist India in a future border crisis with China?

Sanders and Bannon call for AI limits, as public unease grows

Scott Bessent confirms weekend meeting with He Lifeng days before Xi’s US visit

ICE death, strikes on China proposed over AI, Huawei on trial: 7 US-China relations reads

Artificial intelligence (AI)

How a Chinese AI start-up helps Nike, Gap, Urban Revivo predict fashion trends

Hangzhou Zhiyi Technology  provides clients with data-driven analysis of fashion market trends, based on style and sales data gathered from major shopping and social-media sites. Photo: Shutterstock 

Hangzhou Zhiyi Technology founder and CEO Zheng Zeyu. Photo: Handout

Trendscopes, a service developed by Hangzhou Zhiyi Technology, enables fashion designers to track trends on major social-media platforms like TikTok and Instagram. Photo: SCMP

Model extols her AI replica, but for others in fashion digital imagery represents a threat

Fashion model Alexsandrah Gondora has a digital double who is regularly booked for ad campaigns. She, and other insiders, explain the pros and cons of substituting artificial intelligence-created imagery for real-life models. Photo: AFP

Alexsandrah Gondora poses for a photograph with her on-screen AI twin “Alex”, created by digital modelling agency The Diigitals. Photo: AFP

Shudu Gram, an AI-generated black supermodel, was created in 2017 and is billed as the “world’s first digital supermodel”. Photo: Instagram/_blackstage

Meet Kira Kira, Joey Lee Couture and Fanny Lau … the fictional Hong Kong fashion designers AI thinks you should know

Art created by Bernard Cohen using Midjourney

Tech

Tech Trends

Business

China Business

News

China Future Tech

Hangzhou Zhiyi Technology’s operations reflect how AI adoption in mainland China is expanding and transforming various industries


Hangzhou Zhiyi Technology’s operations reflect how AI adoption in mainland China is expanding and transforming various industries.


How a Chinese AI start-up helps Nike, Gap, Urban Revivo predict fashion trends

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Hangzhou Zhiyi Technology’s operations reflect how AI adoption in mainland China is expanding and transforming various industries

Hangzhou Zhiyi Technology’s operations reflect how AI adoption in mainland China is expanding and transforming various industries