How AI search is changing how we shop — plus, Nike returns to Amazon, Steve Madden v. Adidas, and Maria Grazia Chiuri leaves Dior

On the Glossy Week in Review podcast, senior fashion reporter Danny Parisi and international reporter Zofia Zwieglinska break down some of the biggest fashion news of the week.

This week, in our news segment, we break down Nike’s return to Amazon as it rolls back the DTC-focused strategy it launched five years ago and returns to wholesale. We also discuss a lawsuit between Steve Madden and Adidas, which points to Adidas’s zealous protection of its stripe motif. And finally, we talk about Maria Grazia Chiuri stepping down as artistic director of Dior’s women’s collection.

Later in the episode, we take a deep dive into AI-powered search. Google announced last week that it is revamping its search function, infusing every step with its Gemini AI technology.

For fashion brands, the most notable announcement is a new AI-powered virtual try-on option in the Google Shopping tab of search results. The tool lets users pick nearly any item of clothing from a Google Shopping result, upload a photo of themselves, and see an AI-generated image of the clothing fit to their body.

The result is a bit lackluster. We test-ran the program and found it prone to jumbled text and strange outfit choices. Additionally, it sometimes alters the item itself, making it appear different from the listing.

But Google’s AI try-on feature does raise an interesting question for brands about the future of search engine optimization. For years, brands have structured their strategies around keyword optimization and other tactics designed to float them to the top of traditional search bar results.

But as ChatGPT becomes a go-to search engine for many consumers and Google rolls out AI Mode, in which consumers can shop through a chat interface rather than a traditional search bar and results, those strategies may change. Moves like optimizing product listings to be more readable by an AI program may help get a brand to surface better in an AI search.

For now, ChatGPT does not have ads in its AI search programs, but that will likely change. Google is still testing out exactly how ads will work in AI mode. But once ads become normalized within AI search, a whole new set of best practices around search optimization will need to be defined.