In this edition of The Digital Weave, we spotlight Valerie Lange—designer, educator, pattern expert, and innovator exploring how AI and digital tools can reshape the future of fashion. Valerie’s work sits at the intersection of craftsmanship and computation, pushing new possibilities for design workflows, on-demand production, and creative education.
Below, she shares her journey from traditional pattern cutting to CLO3D, her experimentation with AI, and her vision for a more sustainable, slower, and more intentional fashion ecosystem.
Valérie de Lange is a fashion designer and educator shaping the next generation of creative talent by integrating technology at the heart of design education. With a background spanning industry practice, curriculum development, and hands-on mentorship, she bridges traditional craftsmanship with emerging digital tools to prepare designers for a rapidly evolving fashion landscape. Valérie is redefining what modern design education can be, equipping young creators with the skills and mindset to build more sustainable, agile, and forward-looking fashion systems.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/valerie-lange-9451733
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_valerie_lange_/
Valerie’s path into fashion began early. Raised by a dressmaker mother, she grew up surrounded by fabrics, creativity, and craft. After studying fashion design in Vienna and working as both designer and pattern cutter, she eventually gravitated toward digital pattern-making tools.
She explains that pattern grading while essential felt repetitive rather than creative:
“Pattern making wasn’t creative for me anymore, so digital tools opened a new world. CLO3D was the first time I could upload my patterns and see them on a digital body. I loved the beauty of the mistakes, the accidents, the aesthetics.”
This curiosity eventually led her into teaching and deeper experimentation with technology.
Valerie now uses AI and teaches it as the first stage of the design workflow, long before sketching or drafting patterns.
AI accelerates the ideation phase but also serves as a collaborator:
“I don’t want AI to give me exactly what I want. I want it to give me something I couldn’t think of. It’s like flipping through magazines as a student: most things don’t inspire you, but then something unexpected appears.”
Despite the efficiency AI offers, Valerie emphasizes that human judgment and dialogue remain crucial.
“If it’s really great, you know immediately. But if you’re unsure, you need people of trust… critique is incredibly valuable.”
AI doesn’t reduce the need for taste, it heightens it. Designers must be more articulate, more precise, and more capable of explaining their visual intentions. She teaches students how to use richer, more specific language when crafting concepts or prompts:
“Words like ‘elegant’ are too superficial. AI forces you to define the type of elegance—summer, winter, conservative, sophisticated. Better language leads to better design.”
She believes consumers must abandon the expectation that everything is always available:
“Limited editions are fine. It’s okay to wait. It’s okay if a fabric runs out. The constant-availability mindset needs to change.”
AI-generated images improve communication with manufacturers by narrowing the interpretation gap:
However, Valerie notes that realistic visuals also raise expectations:
“Photorealistic AI raises the bar. (The designer's vision) is clear but the producer still has to explain what isn’t possible. Still, it reduces misunderstandings dramatically.”
Valerie believes the ecosystem needs:
If Valerie could redesign fashion curricula, she would prioritize:
“Fashion’s biggest problem isn’t AI. It’s scale. We need to focus on small production, producing what you can sell.”
Students must craft a recognizable signature, one that remains consistent but evolves.
Trends aren’t just colors or silhouettes—they’re reflections of cultural shifts.
Designers must learn precise, meaningful descriptive vocabulary to guide both AI and human collaborators.
Community critique, peer review, and diverse interpretation remain essential.
Valerie argues that fashion should borrow from the furniture world:
“Fashion needs modern classics—pieces you recreate, refine, and reinterpret. AI can help visualize variations, but the designer’s idea shouldn’t be thrown away.”
When asked how she’d start a brand today, Valerie emphasizes flexibility and digital-first creation:
Fashion, to her, doesn’t need rigid cycles to be legitimate.
Valerie’s closing thought is both simple and powerful:
“Produce less, but have more fun with it. We don’t need more basics—we need fewer things with more joy.”
The Digital Weave is powered by The Fabricant, highlighting creators who are reshaping fashion through AI and technology. We share their journeys to inspire brands to build more sustainable, profitable, and innovative futures.
00:00:04,100 --> 00:00:28,700 [Adriana Pereira]
So, Valerie, welcome. Welcome to our speaker series. In this speaker series, we're gonna be talking with, uh, innovators like yourself that are evolving the craft of fashion, incorporating technology and, uh, taking us all forward with your learnings. So, today, it's all about you, and I'd love to understand a bit about your background and how you started in fashion.
00:00:28,700 --> 00:01:39,759 [Valerie Lange]
Um, I started quite early 'cause my mom was a dressmaker. I had fabrics all around me from the beginning. Um, I always wanted to become a fashion designer, so I eventually did. Um, I did some technical education. I studied fashion design in, uh, Vienna, and then I also worked as a designer, and then mainly later on worked as a creative pattern cutter, 'cause I love making patterns. And that's what eventually brought me to digital tools, because, um, yeah, grading and pattern making is not very creative work and I found it boring, so I used software for that. Um, that brought me actually i- into teaching and also into, to CLO3D eventually, because it was the first thing where I could actually just upload my patterns and put it on a digital person. And, um, I was quite, uh... I loved it at the beginning, very much. Uh, I also loved all the mistakes and aesthetics that came from it. Um, when I had the feeling it reached the limits, then I thought, uh, yeah, AI was already there. That was great.
00:01:39,760 --> 00:01:41,070 [Adriana Pereira]
Amazing. Amazing.
00:01:41,070 --> 00:01:41,240 [Valerie Lange]
Yeah.
00:01:41,240 --> 00:01:50,679 [Adriana Pereira]
And also, like, how do you combine the tech- the other tools that you have, like the CLO3D, the pattern making, digital pattern making, with AI?
00:01:50,760 --> 00:01:55,320 [Valerie Lange]
Um, at the moment, uh, I think
00:01:55,320 --> 00:02:04,100 [Valerie Lange]
for CLO3D, I mean, I still have a very strong computer to use it, but I found, found AI just very easier and quicker.
00:02:04,100 --> 00:02:04,940 [Adriana Pereira]
Mm-hmm.
00:02:04,940 --> 00:02:31,980 [Valerie Lange]
So, before I know what pattern to make, I just use AI until the point that, that I know what the design is. When I used... Before that, I would u- make quickly, probably either a sketch just on the dummy, like draping, or I would u- make patterns, um, w- in, in... usually actually in my pattern-making software, and then either I quickly try it on CLO or if... Or I just immediately stitch it and then-
00:02:31,980 --> 00:02:32,080 [Adriana Pereira]
Mm-hmm
00:02:32,080 --> 00:02:36,660 [Valerie Lange]
... continue designing on, on the, on the dummy.
00:02:36,660 --> 00:02:47,260 [Adriana Pereira]
Mm-hmm. And now with AI, basically, you are kind of design process, you're doing it in AI, and when you're satisfied, which tool do you bring it next?
00:02:47,260 --> 00:02:50,300 [Valerie Lange]
When I, when I'm satisfied, um,
00:02:50,300 --> 00:03:21,660 [Valerie Lange]
there are two, two ways. If it's, if it's knitted, I kind of can't do it myself, 'cause I don't have the machines. Then I would ask, uh, a knitwear producer, small knitwear producer, to, to do a prototype for me. There's quite... I have to pay it, but it's convenient. And when, when it's a pattern, I start to quickly make it in, in pattern-making software, and once I have prototype, then I put it back into AI. AI can't help me with a pattern yet, but I'm waiting for it.
00:03:21,660 --> 00:03:38,320 [Adriana Pereira]
Soon to come, soon to come. Amazing. Um, there is another topic that I would love to touch upon, uh, which I know you're very passionate about, which is the on-demand, uh, production. So, how do you see the tools that you have available right now facilitating this new business model?
00:03:38,320 --> 00:04:36,159 [Valerie Lange]
Um, I think on-demand production can be many things. It can be very local or it can be somewhere else in the world, and that needs diff- different tools. Um, I really like the idea, uh, of having a photorealistic image of what I'm aiming at, but I think it also puts a lot of pressure on producers. Because it... My expectation is really, really high, but it also gives you something to talk about. I mean, now my producers say... can say, "This is not possible. I can do that." Huh? And you're very quickly at arriving where you want to be, because sometimes your sketch and all your visualization, uh, is not what you want... Is not near enough on what you want, and that kind of leaves a gap you don't have anymore. But also, from a... From designers, it needs a great understanding for the craftspeople that actually have to translate what you think is possible or AI thinks is possible, no?
00:04:36,160 --> 00:04:37,200 [Adriana Pereira]
Mm-hmm.
00:04:37,200 --> 00:05:18,260 [Valerie Lange]
The, um... That changes the demand side a little bit on the pressure on the producers, but also, at the same time, it takes a little bit away this insecurity on, what does the designer actually mean? What does this sketch mean? What does this mood board actually mean in the way? Um, and I still think this, um, cooperation with the producers is very, very important. I really like establishing, uh, long-term relationships where you work together more often, and you also get to know each other, like getting to know ai- AI. You also have to know what your producer can do, and, um, I think visualization help a lot-
00:05:18,260 --> 00:05:18,400 [Adriana Pereira]
Mm-hmm
00:05:18,400 --> 00:05:20,360 [Valerie Lange]
... so you have thought about.
00:05:20,360 --> 00:05:29,320 [Adriana Pereira]
Yeah. And do you feel that now because you're visualizing, you can put it in front of your buyers or in front of your consumers before you produce?
00:05:29,320 --> 00:05:32,099 [Valerie Lange]
Depends on the buyers.
00:05:32,100 --> 00:05:45,840 [Valerie Lange]
I think, I think you have people of trust and you have people you don't want to lose your face. Huh? It i- it is possible, but also, uh, when, when I create something, um, the... If it's really great, you know it immediately.
00:05:45,840 --> 00:05:46,180 [Adriana Pereira]
Mm-hmm.
00:05:46,180 --> 00:06:17,629 [Valerie Lange]
But if you're not sure yet, you need a person of trust, uh, and that might be a friend or a design peer. Um, sometimes I also ask my students, which is nice, 'cause I criticize them and it's nice to give them an opportunity to criticize me back. Um, and critique is something very valuable. I really like it. Um...... and... But I have, I actually have a shop owner and I really... I have no problem asking her what she thinks about it, or what she thinks
00:06:17,630 --> 00:06:18,330 [Adriana Pereira]
Yeah.
00:06:18,330 --> 00:06:19,810 [Valerie Lange]
And that's really super.
00:06:19,810 --> 00:06:39,990 [Adriana Pereira]
Yeah. So, like, you can, right now, uh, have a picture and just ask her opinion, right? And to your point, that facilitates the communication. Very interesting. And what do you feel like is needed in the fashion ecosystem to really facilitate the on-demand production model with the tools that are available now?
00:06:39,990 --> 00:06:43,710 [Valerie Lange]
Um,
00:06:43,710 --> 00:07:06,510 [Valerie Lange]
eventually, eventually the thing is, um... In knitwear I see a chance because machines can kind of... If, if you have a specialist that can translate it, uh, I think you can kind of do it. Um, when it comes to, to woven products, I just have to s- say like it is-
00:07:06,510 --> 00:07:06,520 [Adriana Pereira]
Yeah
00:07:06,520 --> 00:07:24,690 [Valerie Lange]
... um, fabrics are not available forever and you don't know when you're getting them. And if, if you have them, maybe it's just patience what we need. Because I think on-demand production is great because I can see that I get fabrics, but then it's a limited amount. But I think limited editions are fine.
00:07:24,690 --> 00:07:25,310 [Adriana Pereira]
Mm-hmm.
00:07:25,310 --> 00:07:31,960 [Valerie Lange]
And I think this thought of constant available- availability of everything is probably what we have to stop.
00:07:31,960 --> 00:07:32,090 [Adriana Pereira]
Mm-hmm.
00:07:32,090 --> 00:07:35,470 [Valerie Lange]
It's all- it's all right if you wait for something a little bit longer.
00:07:35,470 --> 00:07:38,330 [Adriana Pereira]
Yeah. Or if it's not available anymore, right?
00:07:38,330 --> 00:07:42,630 [Valerie Lange]
Yeah. Or if it's not available anymore. I me- might be in a different fabric, yeah?
00:07:42,630 --> 00:07:42,850 [Adriana Pereira]
Yeah, yeah.
00:07:42,850 --> 00:07:45,450 [Valerie Lange]
But, uh, if it's not available anymore, that's fine.
00:07:45,450 --> 00:07:52,130 [Adriana Pereira]
If you had the magic wand to redesign the curriculum, what would you do in today's world of AI?
00:07:52,130 --> 00:08:04,530 [Valerie Lange]
Um, well, AI is not the fashion's biggest problem, so I would really... I would really focus on sustainable practice. If I have one choice, it would be limited e- economies of scale.
00:08:04,530 --> 00:08:05,270 [Adriana Pereira]
Mm-hmm.
00:08:05,270 --> 00:08:18,670 [Valerie Lange]
Na- nature never sa- said, uh, take two, pay once . So, um, you can make only money if you produce a lot, and that's something I would change. I would really focus on small production and produce what you can sell.
00:08:18,670 --> 00:08:19,899 [Adriana Pereira]
Yeah, I love that.
00:08:19,899 --> 00:08:19,929 [Valerie Lange]
Yeah.
00:08:19,930 --> 00:08:27,950 [Adriana Pereira]
And do you feel that the- Do you think that the tools you have now in place, uh, would enable that model to a- to a new level?
00:08:27,950 --> 00:08:36,929 [Valerie Lange]
Hmm, I hope so. I'm not sure how it will be implemented because right now AI is mainly used to make everything more efficient and save more money.
00:08:36,930 --> 00:08:37,470 [Adriana Pereira]
Mm-hmm.
00:08:37,470 --> 00:08:52,190 [Valerie Lange]
That is great. I mean, there is a sustainability side of it. I mean, you can actually produce things digitally and never... And if they don't sell, you never produce them at all. I think that's a great idea. Um,
00:08:52,190 --> 00:09:06,570 [Valerie Lange]
uh, but... And I think, again, through pandemic and all the delivery problems, we got used to waiting a bit longer for our product. So that's maybe a chance. But, um,
00:09:06,570 --> 00:09:11,929 [Valerie Lange]
in a, in a cre- on a creation side, I think
00:09:11,990 --> 00:09:23,450 [Valerie Lange]
it will be another counterpart, like, fo- for reflecting your ideas, but I still think it's great to do it in real life with your peers. So... But I think it will have... will work as an extra tool.
00:09:23,450 --> 00:09:24,390 [Adriana Pereira]
Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.
00:09:24,390 --> 00:09:29,810 [Valerie Lange]
Um, you also asked for what I wish for. Um,
00:09:29,810 --> 00:09:38,110 [Valerie Lange]
hmm, current- currently it's just the kind of Miss Time . So I feel can't help me .
00:09:38,110 --> 00:09:43,990 [Valerie Lange]
Because I think what we have to go, uh... what we have to go back with is to
00:09:43,990 --> 00:09:51,749 [Valerie Lange]
actually not immediately storytell and put everything out there. I think AI can be a great tool to develop something with yourself-
00:09:51,750 --> 00:09:52,119 [Adriana Pereira]
Mm-hmm
00:09:52,119 --> 00:10:16,110 [Valerie Lange]
... um, because, um... Also, when using AI, you kind of need time to, uh, grow together with the tool, befriend yourself with the tool and see what aesthetic comes from it, and also, uh, really seeing aesthetic... it's time to grow. But when it comes to co-creation, maybe there is an opportunity to, like, form
00:10:16,110 --> 00:10:19,770 [Valerie Lange]
a- small groups where you can actually share your designs and really talk about it.
00:10:19,770 --> 00:10:21,530 [Adriana Pereira]
Oh, that's interesting. Yeah, yeah.
00:10:21,530 --> 00:10:31,329 [Valerie Lange]
So right now, right now also, um, I'm using only the Fabricants tool, and I still think I'm not good enough at using it yet. So... or we have to become better friends-
00:10:31,330 --> 00:10:31,590 [Adriana Pereira]
Mm-hmm
00:10:31,590 --> 00:10:33,870 [Valerie Lange]
... that's how I like to put it.
00:10:33,870 --> 00:10:51,370 [Valerie Lange]
And, I think, um, I go to my account and I show stuff, but maybe it would just be good to create a peer community where we can actually really, in a safe environment, discuss these things. And it doesn't natural- ne- it doesn't need to be a person I know, huh?
00:10:51,370 --> 00:10:51,470 [Adriana Pereira]
Right.
00:10:51,470 --> 00:10:56,930 [Valerie Lange]
It could also be someone from the community, so that's something which is also, from teaching perspective, quite nice, huh?
00:10:56,930 --> 00:10:57,949 [Adriana Pereira]
Mm-hmm, interesting.
00:10:57,950 --> 00:11:10,530 [Valerie Lange]
Because in, in education you really learn from other students and you re- you need to know the feedback on how, how does the common other see your stuff?
00:11:10,530 --> 00:11:10,910 [Adriana Pereira]
Yeah.
00:11:10,910 --> 00:11:24,430 [Valerie Lange]
It's like, "Wait, there's my world and how interper- interpret it and where I'm coming from." But we also... Yeah, we're collective, so I would like to know what other people think about it. I think that's kind of a nice tool.
00:11:24,430 --> 00:11:38,770 [Adriana Pereira]
That's interesting. And if you would, like, launch your label today, how would the... What would you do differently with, uh, again, with, with the way that the market is, but also with the technology that's available for you?
00:11:38,770 --> 00:12:07,449 [Valerie Lange]
Yeah. Um, actually, not much. Not, not much. I, I thought, I thought, um, the flexibility, uh, I kept and I will, I will always keep. This, uh... There was always the question, are you a real fashion label if you produce on a le- regular basis and if you show twice a year and, uh, you sell that in ... that amount or you go to Paris? I don't see that fashion necessarily has to be that way.
00:12:07,450 --> 00:12:07,810 [Adriana Pereira]
Mm-hmm.
00:12:07,810 --> 00:12:29,614 [Valerie Lange]
Uh, some people think so. I, I don't think so. I still don't think so. Um...... what... I see the possibility to just create digitally or just to show stuff, not even produc- producing things because then it... It's... For me, it's still fashion because it's not art.
00:12:29,614 --> 00:12:30,174 [Adriana Pereira]
Mm-hmm.
00:12:30,174 --> 00:12:38,214 [Valerie Lange]
But I also not, not necessarily see, see the point to really create a lot, but it's really cool if people wear your stuff.
00:12:38,214 --> 00:12:39,434 [Adriana Pereira]
Yeah, definitely.
00:12:39,434 --> 00:12:43,593 [Valerie Lange]
It's really, really ni- it's really, really nice. So the-
00:12:43,593 --> 00:12:47,414 [Adriana Pereira]
Would technology, would technology enable a different business model for you?
00:12:47,414 --> 00:13:23,134 [Valerie Lange]
Mm, it's... That's what I'm trying right now a little bit, and that's... Uh, we talked about it. Someone was trying. It's not ready yet, so you're a bit early with the interview. Um, so I started doing, like, sketches in knitwear and asking my knitwear producer, uh, which is really close and local in Vienna, to do me samples because I really wanna see how that works. Well, because with knitwear, and especially if they are electronic machines, it actually... I mean, once it's in there and you've got the material, you could make more.
00:13:23,134 --> 00:13:23,454 [Adriana Pereira]
Mm-hmm.
00:13:23,454 --> 00:13:30,874 [Valerie Lange]
And I think that's a really great opportunity. Uh, when it comes to woven fabrics, I don't think it's so easy.
00:13:30,874 --> 00:13:31,654 [Adriana Pereira]
Mm-hmm.
00:13:31,654 --> 00:13:41,594 [Valerie Lange]
Uh, but then again, with digital printing, you could do it, but, um, there's so much other fabrics that are not digital printed, which I really love-
00:13:41,594 --> 00:13:41,854 [Adriana Pereira]
Yeah
00:13:41,854 --> 00:13:44,154 [Valerie Lange]
... and I would not like to do without it.
00:13:44,154 --> 00:13:48,834 [Adriana Pereira]
Right. So, it would be more a palette of choices. Maybe you have a few that are on demand-
00:13:48,834 --> 00:13:48,844 [Valerie Lange]
Yes
00:13:48,844 --> 00:13:52,234 [Adriana Pereira]
... and a few that you would still need to produce some units, uh...
00:13:52,234 --> 00:14:01,314 [Valerie Lange]
Yes. And I, I don't mind that the things are sold out. I mean, I can reproduce stuff in a different fabric, and then it's like series. I mean-
00:14:01,314 --> 00:14:01,454 [Adriana Pereira]
Mm-hmm
00:14:01,454 --> 00:14:07,214 [Valerie Lange]
... furniture does since forever. In general, I think, um,
00:14:07,214 --> 00:14:11,174 [Valerie Lange]
yeah, fashion has a lot to learn from furniture. Uh, I think. Yeah, it should
00:14:11,174 --> 00:14:14,614 [Adriana Pereira]
Yeah, because that is a very interesting perspective.
00:14:14,614 --> 00:14:22,044 [Valerie Lange]
Yes, I, I... When you think about iconic chairs that are 100 years old, I, I like fashion to be that way. And it... We have it.
00:14:22,044 --> 00:14:22,154 [Adriana Pereira]
Mm-hmm.
00:14:22,154 --> 00:14:58,213 [Valerie Lange]
Uh, we have a trench coat that slightly, slightly changes, but I think there are quite... Of course quite a couple of successful designers that have their blouse, or their underwear, or their wrap dress, um. Um, but I think it is totally okay to not waste your ideas and produce them more often, or in different fabrics. Just like sofas would come out again and again in a different fabric. Because after a while, things... I mean, you, you tweak on it a little bit, it gets a little bit ... better, or it gets a little bit modern. And
00:14:58,214 --> 00:15:07,154 [Valerie Lange]
I think there should be like modern classics, and lots of designers should have their modern classics and sell them again and again. And then
00:15:07,154 --> 00:15:17,674 [Valerie Lange]
how can AI help it? I mean, you can at least envision different fabrics from it- Mm-hmm ... or, um, maybe different proportions, but in industry terms, I think
00:15:17,674 --> 00:15:20,973 [Valerie Lange]
that there's a lot to learn also on how
00:15:20,973 --> 00:15:23,233 [Valerie Lange]
you can actually
00:15:23,294 --> 00:15:25,934 [Valerie Lange]
not, not throw your idea away.
00:15:25,934 --> 00:15:26,094 [Adriana Pereira]
Yeah.
00:15:26,094 --> 00:15:28,994 [Valerie Lange]
It's really act, f- act on, and you can
00:15:28,994 --> 00:15:31,014 [Valerie Lange]
work on it and use it more often.
00:15:31,014 --> 00:15:42,154 [Adriana Pereira]
So as an educator, how, how are you nurturing the new generation of designers to develop their modern, uh, modern, uh, classics?
00:15:42,154 --> 00:15:52,473 [Valerie Lange]
It... Well, as an educator, it still is a lot of work. I think design education is a lot of work because you have to, uh, develop and sharpen your eye and get a, a handwriting-
00:15:52,534 --> 00:15:53,214 [Adriana Pereira]
Mm-hmm
00:15:53,214 --> 00:15:57,694 [Valerie Lange]
... or, or style. And then again, your style
00:15:57,694 --> 00:16:14,494 [Valerie Lange]
is not something you can protect. So, you have to focus on something that's so, so clear visibly for other people that it will be associated with you. And, um, first creating, um...
00:16:14,554 --> 00:16:28,134 [Valerie Lange]
Yeah, it has, it has actually then again, it has also like understanding what, what society needs are still things that's very important. In the last years, we've noticed lots of, like, me designs.
00:16:28,134 --> 00:16:28,244 [Adriana Pereira]
Mm-hmm.
00:16:28,244 --> 00:16:53,154 [Valerie Lange]
Like, we do things for ourselves. We want things for ourselves. But I think still the question of what, what design would I give if the society is super, super important, and it's a very good training to see what apart from my surrounding is out there. No? So, that's one a- on, on what we focus on training. And then, um, there is always, I think trends is still very important.
00:16:53,154 --> 00:16:53,784 [Adriana Pereira]
Mm-hmm.
00:16:53,784 --> 00:17:29,133 [Valerie Lange]
Because you have to see what it is about. Uh, it's not, not about something colors, but it's also and... Colors, lengths, uh, what, what, uh, zippers are we using, or what kind of crochet or embroidery we're using, but it's still, still about why are we doing this right now. Mm-hmm. So, um... But not forgetting about really, um, trying to be innovative in just the look. Right? And it's not just the look. It's really something... Yes, you have to have a strong concept, but you also have to see how that translate into you, in the you and now.
00:17:29,134 --> 00:17:29,654 [Adriana Pereira]
Mm-hmm.
00:17:29,654 --> 00:17:43,964 [Valerie Lange]
And that is a lot of, um, feedback and a lot, lot of actually creating. And that can be drawing. That can be experimenting. That can be using AI, and that als- but that also includes words and saying what you're doing.
00:17:43,964 --> 00:17:43,974 [Adriana Pereira]
Yeah.
00:17:43,974 --> 00:18:00,514 [Valerie Lange]
And through AI, I think that's the biggest change. The, like, technical terms we're using and the words we're actually using, and then not make meaning st- superficial words. Like, really intensely describing the atmosphere, the mood, what we really talk about.
00:18:00,514 --> 00:18:18,753 [Adriana Pereira]
Oh, I love it. So basically, it kind of challenges, uh, these young designers to actually be more thoughtful in the process, right? Because this reflects immediately-... what they have in mind, so that kind of, uh, iterative process, uh, can be visualized, I guess.
00:18:18,754 --> 00:18:26,654 [Valerie Lange]
Yeah. Yes. And you immediately see it in AI. I noticed that there were killer words. If you write elegant, it's so random-
00:18:26,654 --> 00:18:26,873 [Adriana Pereira]
Yeah
00:18:26,873 --> 00:18:32,283 [Valerie Lange]
... that you're not getting what you want, but there's so much. There's elegant conservative, there's elegant sophisticated.
00:18:32,283 --> 00:18:32,714 [Adriana Pereira]
Mm-hmm.
00:18:32,714 --> 00:18:46,394 [Valerie Lange]
There's so... Elegant in the summer and elegant in the winter. There's so many elegants and classics and sophisticated that, uh, it doesn't help in the AI creation, but it also doesn't help just in you knowing what I talk about.
00:18:46,394 --> 00:18:46,774 [Adriana Pereira]
Mm-hmm.
00:18:46,774 --> 00:19:05,102 [Valerie Lange]
So, we need a lot of references and that is words, but that- that is also visuals, and that's also, maybe, references we can all draw on. Might be music, videos, um, movies. And that hasn't changed so much. It doesn't... Also, AI needs it. Uh-
00:19:05,102 --> 00:19:05,133 [Adriana Pereira]
Yeah.
00:19:05,133 --> 00:19:15,254 [Valerie Lange]
Also AI need to know what's the cool movie, what's Pauline Magoo or, um, I don't know. Students always loved Clockwork Orange.
00:19:15,254 --> 00:19:15,654 [Adriana Pereira]
Yeah.
00:19:15,654 --> 00:19:17,112 [Valerie Lange]
Sometimes.
00:19:17,112 --> 00:19:43,553 [Adriana Pereira]
That's a classic as well. But, uh, I love what you're saying, which is, uh, you know, very often I get confronted with this, uh, uh, nervousness of- of young designers especially, like, "AI is gonna steal my job." And I think what you're saying is actually, no. It's- it's the same, just with, uh, with, uh, a support, with a new tool that allows you to visualize your ideas better, but your ideas are still the main thing, right? Your source is still the main thing. Um, my last-
00:19:43,553 --> 00:19:44,254 [Valerie Lange]
It's most...
00:19:44,254 --> 00:19:44,393 [Adriana Pereira]
Yeah.
00:19:44,393 --> 00:20:17,073 [Valerie Lange]
I think it's a tool, as I found, uh, quite- quite good super, and that is... I- It reminds me of being a fashion student and going through lots of magazines because I- I don't only use... And that's really the, maybe the advice for- for young designers. Um, use AI to play with it, because sometimes for a long time, you don't get what you want. But it's also like skipping through a magazine. There's nothing you like, and then I don't want AI- AI necessary to give me what I want. I want it to give me something I couldn't think of-
00:20:17,073 --> 00:20:17,083 [Adriana Pereira]
Yeah
00:20:17,083 --> 00:20:18,853 [Valerie Lange]
... you know, and that takes a while, huh?
00:20:18,853 --> 00:20:19,293 [Adriana Pereira]
Yeah.
00:20:19,293 --> 00:20:39,634 [Valerie Lange]
So, if you... If you work with it for a little while and you put in weird stuff, eventually you get something weird that surprises you. And I didn't know I was looking for it, and that's the really cool point that, um, you have to use the- the tool so long until you get to that point, because then when it gets interesting and surprises and then it inspires you back.
00:20:39,634 --> 00:20:44,194 [Adriana Pereira]
Yeah. It's like what he says, like it needs to be a companionship, uh, uh, relationship.
00:20:44,194 --> 00:20:45,313 [Valerie Lange]
Yeah. Yes.
00:20:45,313 --> 00:20:52,793 [Adriana Pereira]
And my last question to you, Vere, is, um, what's the message you would like to share with the fashion industry about the future?
00:20:52,793 --> 00:20:55,553 [Valerie Lange]
Um,
00:20:55,553 --> 00:21:02,073 [Valerie Lange]
the message about the future for the fashion industry. I think produce less, but have more fun with it.
00:21:02,073 --> 00:21:02,994 [Adriana Pereira]
Yes.
00:21:02,994 --> 00:21:11,994 [Valerie Lange]
There is something like the power of the basics. I don't think we... We have enough basics now. We need- we need fun stuff and less of it.
00:21:11,994 --> 00:21:48,994 [Adriana Pereira]
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