AI & Fashion Week: What’s Real and What’s Next

On the final day of New York Fashion Week, 99 YARDS partnered with Doors NYC to host AI & Fashion Week: AI, Smart Clothing, What’s Real and What’s Coming Next, an intentional close to a week centered on creativity, now focused on capability.

The evening began with networking among founders, technologists, designers, and operators building at the intersection of fashion and emerging technology. The energy in the room reflected a shared understanding: innovation in fashion is no longer conceptual, it’s operational.

During the fireside chat, with Alise Trautmane-Uzuner & Kimberly Morgan B. brought a critical retail and technology lens to the conversation, emphasizing the importance of inclusive ecosystems, cross-industry collaboration, and building infrastructure that supports long-term innovation, not just momentary trends.

The panel, moderated by Karen Zhang, moved the discussion from theory to application.

Jen Chiang, CEO of WearOpal, demonstrated how wearable technology can merge elegance and emergency response, proving that intelligent fashion must be human-centered to scale.

Leela (Lilach) Porges, Founder of PROCODE_DRESS, explored how data, code, and digital experimentation are being embedded directly into garments — pushing fashion beyond aesthetics and into interactive functionality.

Together, the conversation addressed:
• Where AI is already reshaping design and production
• The rise of functional, safety-driven wearables
• The tension between creativity and computation
• What consumers will realistically adopt — and why

The throughline of the evening was clear: The future of fashion isn’t about replacing creativity with technology. It’s about building tools that expand what fashion can do.

At 99 Yards, our mission is to bridge education, opportunity, and technology across the fashion ecosystem. Events like this bring together the people actively building that future, not just predicting it.

Thank you to doors.nyc , our speakers, and the community who showed up ready to engage in serious conversation about where this industry is headed.
If you’re building at the intersection of fashion and technology, we want to connect.