Fashion app, 28, believes that technology could help end some of the body confidence challenges ... [+]
Fashion app, 28, believes that technology could help end some of the body confidence challenges portrayed in a new Disney+ film. The short film, titled Reflect, tells the story of Bianca, a plus-size ballerina who struggles with the reflection in the mirror. Part of what makes her so vital is the current cultural landscape that promotes body dysmorphia and weight discrimination.
“For all children, representation matters. Reflect is a beautiful way for little girls to see themselves in a way that truly reflects them,” says Sarah Rahman, Head of Fashion Marketing at 28, a new app committed to making women’s online personal styling size-inclusive, stress-free, and empowering. The name “28” comes from the number of hours that the average woman spends monthly in front of a mirror struggling over how she looks while she’s getting dressed.
Rahman is not shy about the fashion industry's role in creating the low self-esteem that makes films like Reflect so necessary.
“The more a woman is told she doesn’t fit in, the more she desires to find what she’s ‘missing.’ This is what the fashion industry thrives on the most. When there is an entire economic infrastructure that thrives off making women feel like they need the next best thing or they won’t be up-to-date on the latest beauty standards, the motivation becomes banking on the low self-esteem of women and girls, instead of building them up to know they’re already worthy and have what they need.”
Rahman says that body diverse representation is important, but isn’t the only antidote to the kinds of issues that Reflect portrays. She sees fashion technology as an additional pathway to a world where women can be free of some of the pitfalls that lead to body dysmorphia. The technology at 28 helps customers experience their wardrobe and body in a virtual space, cutting down that at-times stressful time spent in front of a mirror and allowing the user to normalize what their body looks like through artificial intelligence (AI).
28 has developed an AI camera that captures the user’s body, as well as any item of clothing in the their wardrobe. The camera detects body shape and skin tone, reads more than 32 key points on the user’s body, and adapts the items based on that data. Rahman says that over 100,000 items were put through machine learning, creating a high level of accuracy for a digitally rendered wardrobe. This process leads to a custom experience in the app, not in front of the mirror, and based on the user, not a model.
“The strides being taken in fashion and technology are advancing to be all-inclusive,” shares Rahman. “28 uses AI, big data, computer-aided design (CAD) for 2D and 3D sketching, computer vision (also known as image recognition), and Extended Reality (XR), which spans digital and physical worlds.”
Rahman says that 28’s mission is to give women the tools to build a future where they can feel their very best. As important as it is to see stories like Reflect, fashion technology like 28’s may be a path to a future where it’s not so urgently needed.
