Brands Up Their Accessories Game Via AI-Powered Try-On Technology

AI-powered technology is a game-changer for accessory brands and retailers, especially as e-commerce sales continue to climb. In this editorially driven roundtable, two leading accessories brands will team up with Perfect Corp. and WWD Fashion Director Alex Badia to share insights into the challenges and opportunities of the market and how AI, augmented reality and other technology can help drive online conversions and boost margins while reducing returns and delighting consumers.

This session will include:
• Perspectives from accessory brands on using AI and other technology for better customer engagement
• What consumers expect, and the challenges they face regarding product fit
• How Perfect Corp. technology addresses these challenges, and what differentiates the company in the market
• Where AI and fit technology is headed in the accessories market
• Brands prospectively seeking engagement with AI technology
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    Mateo Harris
    Born and raised in Montego Bay, Jamaica, the son of a seamstress, Matthew Harris (a.k.a. Mateo) discovered his true passion — the art of jewelry making — while living in New York City. As a self-taught designer, Mateo spent his days in the notoriously complex Jewelry District
    soaking up an education while honing and perfecting his craft. When his eponymous brand formally launched in 2009, the focus was men’s jewelry, the first collection taking inspiration from the concept of a working man’s toolbox. After a successful debut, a women’s capsule was introduced shortly thereafter.

    After five years of defining a clear design direction, MATEO refocused solely as a women’s fine jewelry collection in 2014, converging on an aesthetic of simplicity and minimalism and always aiming to create modern art for the modern woman at affordable prices. Each piece is made from 14-karat gold with diamond and precious gemstone accents.

    Today the brand is sold in some of the most discerning retailers worldwide, consistently featured in renowned fashion publications, and worn by today’s biggest names including Rihanna, Michelle Obama, Zendaya and Anne Hathaway. Notably, MATEO was selected by the Smithsonian Museum to be featured and sold at the African American Museum of Art and Culture in Washington D.C. in 2016, and the Hirshhorn Museum of Contemporary Art in 2017. The brand was a CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund finalist in 2017.
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    Wayne Liu
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    Alex Badia
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    Alessandro Bellati
    Alessandro Bellati is Director of Product Innovation and N.A. Product Design & Creation for Safilo Group, one of the eyewear industry’s principal players in the design, manufacturing and distribution of optical frames, sunglasses, sports eyewear, goggles and helmets.

    Overseeing Safilo Group’s product innovation on a global scale, Bellati is an authority on wearable applications for eyewear and played a pivotal role in the company’s development of the SMITH Lowdown Focus, the first sunglasses to read brain waves. As part of Safilo’s sustainable business commitment, Bellati, in 2020, led an important initiative for The Ocean Cleanup, a Dutch non-profit environmental organization, which resulted in the first sunglasses ever produced from ocean waste plastic found in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. More recently, Alessandro has been focused on Virtual Try On (VTO) applications and tools to support digital retail.

    In his North American role, he oversees product design and development for all U.S. - based brands within the company’s portfolio, including Safilo’s proprietary brand SMITH, and licensed collections including Banana Republic, Juicy Couture, Fossil, kate spade new york, Liz Claiborne, rag & bone, Rebecca Minkoff and newest collection Under Armour, as well as several optical collections developed exclusively for North America.

    Bellati joined Safilo Group in 2013 as Innovation Manager for Technology and Production Processes before taking on roles of increased responsibility. He formerly worked for Dainese SpA where he brought the first electronic airbag for motorcyclist use to market.

    Bellati graduated from the University of Padova with a mechanical engineering degree and a Ph.D. in motorcycle engineering.