Code-Create uses AI for quick fashion

The tool promises to speed up the design process by more than 60%.

Hong Kong-based startup Code-Create introduced an artificial intelligence (AI) tool that lets fashion designers generate original, customisable collections with just a few clicks without violating artistic rights.

AiDA 3.0, the company’s AI tool that has been in development for the past five years, promises to speed up the design process by over 60%, quickly generating unlimited designs based on user input.

Launched by Code-Create, AiDA 3.0 was created by AiDLab, one of the startup's strategic partners.

Users can input keywords for their design idea, and AiDA 3.0 will create a sketch that they can change. The tool also offers options for fabric patterns and colors.

“A big pain point in the creative industry design is the inspiration stage — the process of putting together ideas, mood boards, and themes for collections,” Kim Wong, co-founder and CEO at Code-Create, told Singapore Business Review.

“That part actually takes designers a very long time. With AiDA and the special structures we have, [we] can speed up that process without sacrificing designers’ creativity,” she added.

AiDA or AI Design Assistant has more than 500,000 sketches in its public database. It also generates inspiration from existing designs in users’ private libraries, helping designers preserve their style. Pieces created from these designs can be sold, benefiting both designers and brands.

“Designers have the option to make their designs open for others to use as a secondary source of creativity, or they can choose to allow only viewing without reuse,” Wong said. This allows the platform to protect its users’ intellectual property, whilst also building a community.

Users can generate unlimited designs with AiDA for a subscription fee of $500 a month or $5,000 a year.

"We do not intend to use AiDA to replace humans — that is not its purpose,” Wong said. “That’s why we call it AiDA — it’s a very interactive AI design assistant. We use AiDA to enhance designers' time for creativity. It’s like having an assistant that works 24/7 without complaining and can generate thousands of sketches.”

One of the biggest issues faced by generative AI (genAI) is intellectual property, particularly in the creative industry. “While it may seem like these new AI tools can conjure new material from the ether, that’s not quite the case,” according to the Harvard Business Review.

AI developers should ensure that they are in compliance with the law in regard to their acquisition of data being used to train their models, the business magazine said in an article posted on its website in April 2023.

Wong said everything they have developed is done in accordance with the law. “The resources we use for training, both for initial development and ongoing training, come from open-source and paid sources,” she added.

The platform hosts more than 200 subscribers and over 3,000 trial users. “As we gain more users, the system becomes more and more intelligent, so our data continues to grow accordingly. From time to time, we also update and add new data and sketches to our library.”

Code-Create, established in 2022, is protected by copyright, trademark, and other laws of Hong Kong and foreign countries, Wong said.

The startup is still in the process of creating innovative solutions. Aside from AiDA, it plans to launch an AI assistant this year called SARA, which stands for Styling Advice and Retail Assistant.

It would help retailers in staff training, mix-and-match selling, and online-offline omnichannel sales, Wong said. “It is part of our goal to revitalize the entire fashion ecosystem, from design to production to selling, with a solution to support every segment.”