In today’s fast-moving retail landscape, where trends come and go in the blink of an eye, Walmart is using the power of artificial intelligence (AI) and generative AI (GenAI) to revolutionise how fashion reaches the high street. The retail giant has unveiled Trend-to-Product, an innovative in-house technology that’s helping to bring fashionable, high-quality, and affordable clothing to market faster than ever before.
What’s Cool? Walmart’s AI Knows
Fashion trends are born everywhere – from Instagram feeds and runway shows to red carpets, city pavements, and digital style blogs. But translating those fleeting moments of style into physical garments that reach customers while the trend is still hot? That’s a challenge Walmart has just cracked.
Enter Trend-to-Product, a proprietary AI-powered design tool that gathers global data from across the web, social channels, and trendsetters to help Walmart’s fashion team quickly conceptualise and produce new collections. It combines GenAI’s creative capabilities with human insight, streamlining what used to be a lengthy process of market research, mood board creation, and style development.
The result? Fashion items that once took six months to reach shelves are now landing in stores within six to eight weeks.
From Trend to Shelf in Under Two Months
Traditionally, it could take up to half a year for a fashion collection to move from concept to retail. Designers needed time to track emerging styles, analyse trend reports, build collections, and finalise designs – not to mention coordinating with manufacturers. Trend-to-Product changes all that.
Now, AI conducts the trend research in minutes, generating mood boards complete with collection names, colour palettes, textures, and initial design ideas. Human designers and merchants then step in to refine the concepts using their market knowledge and past performance data.
“The new system empowers our private brand design and product development teams to focus less on chasing trends and more on crafting stylish, high-quality clothes for every season and occasion,” said Jen Jackson Brown, Senior Vice President for Apparel Brand and Design at Walmart U.S. “We’re already seeing promising results.”
Once finalised, the AI produces a fashion “tech pack” – the blueprint that instructs suppliers on how to produce each item. This end-to-end process takes around an hour, cutting as much as 18 weeks off the standard production timeline.
Blending Speed With Substance
Trend-to-Product isn’t just about speed – it’s about doing things better. According to Bill Chiodetti, the lead product manager for the project, the real innovation lies in maintaining product quality while accelerating timelines.
“From the outset, we saw this tool as having potential far beyond fashion,” Chiodetti explained. “It can help Walmart bring exceptional products to market across multiple categories, not just apparel.”
Vinod Bidarkoppa, EVP and Chief Technology Officer at Walmart International, echoed that sentiment: “Walmart has made strategic investments in cutting-edge AI and GenAI technologies to enhance the lives of our customers, members, and associates. Trend-to-Product is a perfect example of how tech can reshape an entire industry – and we’re only just beginning.”
From Science Lab to Retail Floor
Interestingly, the inspiration for Trend-to-Product came from an unexpected source. As AI researchers explored the idea of using large language models to design new chemical compounds, Walmart’s team in Bentonville, Arkansas, posed a question: what if the same principle could apply to fashion?
That whiteboard brainstorm led to the birth of Trend-to-Product. Andrea Albright, Executive Vice President for Walmart Sourcing and one of the first backers of the project, recalls the excitement from day one.
“We saw a real opportunity to bring AI into the earliest stages of the supply chain,” she said. “Now that vision is coming to life – and not just in fashion. Imagine this tool helping develop a new lipstick shade or a bold flavour combination that sets TikTok ablaze. That’s the future we’re building.”
Tech-Driven Style for the Masses
Walmart’s Trend-to-Product is more than just an AI design assistant. It’s a powerful symbol of how the world’s biggest retailer is embracing innovation to stay ahead in an ever-shifting consumer landscape.
In a world where “what’s in” can change overnight, Walmart is proving that smart technology – combined with human creativity – can keep customers stylish, satisfied, and always in sync with the times.
