Walmart Uses AI Tool to Cut Fashion Lead Times by 18 Weeks
Date: April 11, 2025
Author: Hannah Abdulla
Walmart has changed how it makes fashion. It now uses an AI tool that cuts lead times by 18 weeks. The tool is named Trend-to-Product. It uses generative AI to speed up design and production.
Changing Fashion Production
The usual process takes about six months. Designers spend time studying trends from runways, social media, and trend services. Walmart now adds a new step. The tool collects data from many online sources. This data helps the team build items that match current trends fast and well.
How Trend-to-Product Works
Trend-to-Product builds mood boards with themes, colors, textures, and design ideas. Making mood boards used to take many hours. The tool now starts the boards on its own. After the boards take shape, it makes tech packs that show suppliers how to produce each item. With these tech packs, suppliers know what to do. The design-to-production process now takes one hour. Walmart can send new collections to stores and online in six to eight weeks.
Impact on Design and Production
Jen Jackson Brown, Senior Vice President for Apparel Brand and Design at Walmart US, says the tool cuts the process by 18 weeks. She says people and tech work side by side. The tool lets the team spend less time tracking trends and more time making quality items for customers.
Andrea Albright, Executive Vice President of Sourcing, welcomes the tool. She says the company saw a chance to add AI at the start of the process. She hints that the tool may find new jobs beyond fashion soon.
Conclusion
The new tool shows Walmart’s strong drive to push retail forward in fashion. AI speeds work and helps the company stay sharp in a fast-changing market. Other retailers may follow Walmart’s steps to boost their speed and meet customer needs.
