Reconfiguring Fashion through Artificial Intelligence: Opportunities, Ethics and Emerging Challenges

Abstract

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is reshaping contemporary fashion by transforming design processes, production systems, and sustainability strategies in the textile and apparel sector. Amid growing concerns over overconsumption, environmental degradation, carbon emissions, and social inequities, AI has emerged as both a technological enabler and a subject of ethical scrutiny. This study examines the influence of AI on creative practice, circular design implementation, and responsible innovation in fashion. Drawing on a qualitative synthesis of systematic literature, design theory, and industry case analyses, this study proposes a framework that situates AI within sustainable fashion discourse. Findings indicate that generative design tools, virtual prototyping, digital twins, and predictive analytics support waste reduction, virtual sampling, demand-responsive production, and informed material selection. AI-enabled resale systems, automated textile sorting, and blockchain-based traceability strengthen circular economy initiatives by extending product lifecycles and improving transparency. However, algorithmic decision-making challenges authorship, craftsmanship, dataset neutrality, and labor structures. Concerns over bias, intellectual property ambiguity, digital energy consumption, and workforce displacement complicate sustainability narratives. The study argues that sustainable transformation requires a human-centered governance approach in which AI augments rather than replaces creative agency and is supported by ethical regulation and critical design education. By integrating sustainability theory, computational creativity, and AI ethics, this research contributes a holistic framework for responsible AI adoption in fashion systems.