Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) today introduced Ask Ralph, a new AI-powered conversational shopping experience that invites consumers to engage with, and be inspired by, Ralph Lauren’s unique and iconic take on style. Blending advanced AI technology with Ralph Lauren’s timeless brand, Ask Ralph provides styling inspiration by serving up multiple, shoppable visual laydowns of complete outfits, personalized to a user’s prompts, from across available inventory within the Men’s and Women’s Polo Ralph Lauren brand. Ask Ralph begins rolling out today to Ralph Lauren app users in the United States.

Continuing a decades-long partnership, Ask Ralph was developed with Microsoft on its Azure OpenAI platform and uses advanced conversational AI technology and natural language processing to understand open-ended prompts, interpret context and provide tailored recommendations to closely mimic the experience of speaking with an in-store stylist.

Ralph Lauren has launched Ask Ralph, an AI-powered conversational shopping tool built with Microsoft on Azure OpenAI.
The feature offers personalised, shoppable Polo Ralph Lauren outfits in response to user prompts, simulating an in-store stylist experience.
Available first to US app users, it provides styling inspiration and tailored recommendations to enhance discovery and brand engagement.

“Twenty-five years ago, we partnered with Microsoft to launch one of the fashion industry’s first e-commerce platforms, and today, we are once again redefining the shopping experience for the next generation,” said David Lauren, Chief Branding and Innovation Officer, Ralph Lauren Corporation. “Whether getting ready for a first day of a new job, or creating the perfect look for a night out, Ask Ralph is about more than just discovery – it is about engaging consumers with what they love most about Ralph Lauren: our iconic, unique take on style, providing timeless head-to-toe looks that inspire them to step into our world.”

Shoppers can interact with Ask Ralph just as they would with a stylist in a Ralph Lauren store, through simple, conversational prompts. From “What should I wear to a concert?” to “Show me some women’s Polo Bear sweaters,” or styling queries like, “How can I style my navy-blue men’s blazer?” Ask Ralph responds, surfacing visually laid out, complete Polo Ralph Lauren looks with styling tips, integrating content from across Ralph Lauren’s digital channels. Users can ask clarifying questions and refine the recommendations to align with their own sense of style. Ask Ralph makes it easy to add individual elements of a look to shopping carts or purchase the head-to-toe recommendation.

“AI is transforming the way consumers get inspired, educated and purchase from fashion brands around the world,” said Shelley Bransten, Corporate Vice President of Global Industry Solutions, Microsoft. “We’re proud to bring the combination of our trusted generative AI capabilities through Azure OpenAI together with Ralph Lauren’s iconic brand to pave the way for an entirely new conversational commerce experience.”

Informed by how users initially use and engage with Ask Ralph, the tool will continue to develop, including releasing new features and increased personalized experiences, expanding to additional Ralph Lauren brands and launching across more platforms in markets around the world.

Ask Ralph is the latest milestone in Ralph Lauren’s rich history of innovation and in leading the industry in creating immersive and cinematic retail experiences that transport consumers into the World of Ralph Lauren. Twenty-five years ago, the Company was one of the first luxury brands to pioneer e-commerce, setting a new industry standard. Always pushing boundaries to surprise, delight and inspire consumers, the Company has long experimented with cutting-edge ideas that were years ahead of their time – from interactive and virtual shopping technology to holograms, 4D projections and CGI animations.

The Company also continues to invest in AI and other technologies to enhance the consumer experience, like more personalized marketing and engaging digital experiences, as well as to optimize its operations, including predictive inventory management and product demand forecasting.

Note: The headline, insights, and image of this press release may have been refined by the Fibre2Fashion staff; the rest of the content remains unchanged.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (RM)

The role of digital technologies, such as IoT, 3D printing, and digital platforms, holds significant potential for supporting a circular economy. However, digital technologies are not a magic fix that can instantly change how physical resources are used and produced to prevent waste and promote a circular economy.

In her doctoral thesis, Ida Eyi Heathcote-Fumador explores digitally mediated circular practices within ecosystems to understand the human–material interactions involved in enabling a digitally mediated circular economy. Heathcote-Fumador will defend the thesis on November 5.

Circular economy focuses on managing the use and creation of physical resources, products, residual materials, and by-products to prevent them from ending up in landfills as waste, while ensuring that organic materials safely return to the environment.

What challenges do you focus on in your research?

Material resources and their sustainable management are central to the circular economy, while digital technologies are often seen as more intangible, flexible, and having multiple functions. When examining the role of digital technologies, we often overlook the material characteristics that shape these technologies, as well as the human activities involved in ensuring that technological and material configurations align with the principles of sustainable material management.

How do you address the problem?

I studied two ecosystems, or groups of organizations working together: one in Ghana, Africa, and the other in Europe, specifically Sweden and Portugal. Both focused on using digital technologies to support the sustainable recovery of waste from the environment.

Through interviews, observations, and document analysis, I examined how physical materials, digital technologies, and human activities influence each other to create digitally mediated circular practices. I used a human-material tuning approach to understand the mutual roles of materials, digital technologies, and human actions in establishing circular practices.

What are the main findings?

I developed a model showing that the circular principles of resource care are central to activities leading to the emergence of digitally mediated circular practices. Human actions involve the collective imagination of sustainable futures for production and consumption, the prospecting of suitable materials and digital technologies, and their shaping to realize these visions. This shaping process, referred to as tuning—a term first introduced by Andrew Pickering (1993)—is akin to adjusting a radio to obtain a preferred signal.

For instance, the organizations I studied shared a strong commitment to reducing environmental waste by converting it into new products with the help of digital technologies. They identified discarded materials such as fishing nets and selected technologies like 3D printing to transform these wastes into new products.

However, because 3D printers are typically optimized for virgin materials, the process requires extensive experimentation to adapt the technology to recycled inputs. This perseverance, driven by care for both the material and the environment, enabled the successful realization of digitally mediated circular practices.

What do you hope your research will lead to?

My research aims to encourage both scholars and practitioners to consider the material and human activities of the circular economy when examining how digital technologies enable it. Circularity is based on specific principles, with materials at its center. Recognizing and documenting their influence can enhance our overall understanding of how material, digital, and human components interconnect, shaping digitally mediated circular practices. This comprehensive recognition will result in solutions that effectively promote a circular economy.

Data from ChatGPT-maker OpenAI suggest that more than a million of the people using its generative AI chatbot have shown interest in suicide.

In a blog post published on Monday, the AI company estimated that approximately 0.15% of users have “conversations that include explicit indicators of potential suicidal planning or intent.”

With OpenAI reporting more than 800 million people use ChatGPT every week, this translates to about 1.2 million people.

The company also estimates that approximately 0.07% of active weekly users show possible signs of mental health emergencies related to psychosis or mania—meaning slightly fewer than 600,000 people.

The issue came to the fore after California teenager Adam Raine died by suicide earlier this year. His parents filed a lawsuit claiming ChatGPT provided him with specific advice on how to kill himself.

OpenAI has since increased parental controls for ChatGPT and introduced other guardrails, including expanded access to crisis hotlines, automatic rerouting of sensitive conversations to safer models, and gentle reminders for users to take breaks during extended sessions.

OpenAI said it has also updated its ChatGPT chatbot to better recognize and respond to users experiencing mental health emergencies, and is working with more than 170 mental health professionals to significantly reduce problematic responses.

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