News and insights

FIA’s Matthew Drinkwater spoke to Retail Week about how AI is set to transform the festive season for retailers — not just operationally, but creatively — as brands prepare for what could be a defining golden quarter.

“Christmas 2025 could mark a real turning point,” says Matthew Drinkwater, head of the London College of Fashion’s Innovation Agency. “AI won’t just improve how retailers operate, but reshape how they express themselves creatively at one of the most emotionally charged times of the year.”

From hyper-personalised gifting experiences to immersive AI-generated campaigns, this year’s innovations may signal the start of a longer-term shift in how technology shapes seasonal retail.

Read the article here.

Matthew Drinkwater spoke to Forbes about the controversy surrounding Vogue’s recent use of AI-generated models in its August issue, which has ignited reader backlash and prompted renewed conversations on digital creativity and authenticity.

Matthew Drinkwater, Head of Innovation at the Fashion Innovation Agency at London College of Fashion, offers a different take on things: “The panic over AI-generated models says more about our fear of change than the technology itself. Fashion has never been about preserving the status quo, it thrives on disruption. To suggest that AI ‘steals jobs’ is as reductive as claiming digital photography killed fashion photography; it didn’t, it redefined it. AI models won’t erase human talent, they’ll challenge us to rethink what creativity, representation, and beauty can look like in the 21st century.”

Read the article here.

Matthew Drinkwater spoke to Vogue Business about Meta’s reported €3 billion investment in EssilorLuxottica — the eyewear powerhouse behind brands like Ray-Ban, Prada and Chanel — and what it signals about the future of wearable tech, as smart glasses move from niche experiment to fashion-forward inevitability.

“Both Google and Meta are making it crystal clear: smart glasses are no longer speculative, they’re inevitable,” says Matthew Drinkwater, head of the London College of Fashion’s Innovation Agency.

Read the article here.

Matthew Drinkwater spoke to Vogue Business about the rise of agentic AI — intelligent systems that can make decisions and complete tasks without human input — and why this new generation of autonomous tools could transform how fashion brands operate, from customer service to supply chain strategy.

“The foundational technologies for truly agentic AI, such as better models, tool use, longer context windows and improved reasoning, are advancing rapidly,” says Matthew Drinkwater, head of the Fashion Innovation Agency at London College of Fashion. “However, the most sophisticated, fully autonomous agents are still some way off from reliable deployment in 2025.”

Read the article here.

Matthew Drinkwater, Head of the Fashion Innovation Agency at London College of Fashion, shares insights into how FIA is reshaping the fashion industry—from classroom to catwalk—through pioneering use of AI, XR, and other advanced digital tools.

For Drinkwater, the mission is clear: to act as a playground for emerging technologies, building real-world prototypes that challenge traditional workflows and push fashion into new creative and commercial territories.

“AI is invisible, but its impact is profound,” he said. “It’s transforming design processes, enabling hyper-personalised experiences, and allowing entire collections to be imagined and iterated virtually.”

FIA was proud to present a curated selection of student work alongside our own pioneering AI projects at the GTC conference, held this year as part of VivaTech Paris 2025.

The AI Art Gallery featured at the event showcased FIA’s work in AI and a curated selection of student work, highlighting innovative uses of generative AI in art, fashion, and immersive design.

For Matthew Drinkwater, head of the Fashion Innovation Agency at the London College of Fashion, exhibiting at GTC Paris is an opportunity to radically rethink how fashion operates from ideation to imagery.

“With AI, concepts can be tested instantly, assets created on demand and aesthetics refined before a single garment is produced,” he said. “It’s a cultural and technological inflection point.”

Find the AI Art Gallery at GTC Paris at the Paris Expo Porte de Versailles, on the lower level of Hall 7.1, between the networking and VIP lounges.

Read the full NVIDIA feature.

We’re proud to share that FIA’s work has been selected for inclusion in the Venice Virtual Pavilion, a digital extension of the Venice Architecture Biennale, curated by CityX and hosted by the University of the Arts London (UAL). The pavilion brings together a diverse collection of speculative, critical, and visionary works that explore the intersection of design, technology, and urban futures.

The full project is available to view now.

Explore the Venice Virtual Pavilion →

Matthew Drinkwater spoke to Vogue Business about how tech giants are racing to develop smart glasses that blend cutting-edge functionality with everyday wearability, and why this moment could mark a cultural tipping point for wearable technology.

“Every major tech player is now chasing the same holy grail: a wearable device so powerful, so stylish and so intuitive that it becomes the one thing you never leave home without,” says Matthew Drinkwater, head of the Fashion Innovation Agency at London College of Fashion. “The real competition is for relevance, for who can create a product that feels inevitable, not optional. The more players that enter the field, the faster we’ll get to that culturally defining moment where smart glasses move from curiosity to necessity.”

Read the article here.

FIA is proud to be highlighted in GROW.LONDON’s latest report, showcasing how immersive technology is shaping the future of fashion and retail.

Through pioneering collaborations, FIA integrates virtual fashion shows, augmented reality shopping, and digital storytelling, pushing the boundaries of how consumers engage with fashion in a rapidly evolving digital landscape.

Find out more about London’s immersive tech sector and FIA’s role in shaping the future here.

FIA is proud to be featured on the UKII Platform as one of the top 500 of the UK’s most pioneering companies.

UKII (UK Innovation Industries) is a new independent platform dedicated to raising the visibility of the UK’s powerhouse of pioneering industry innovation and talent.

Read the report here.

Find the FIA team in the Creative Production category here.