Google's Unveils Machine Learning Project, in Partnership with BoF

Arguably the most memorable scene in "The Devil Wears Prada" was Meryl Streep's searing monologue reprimanding the doe-eyed Anne Hathaway for having undermined fashion's profound influence on mass culture. In the movie, she's able to draw from her prolific knowledge of the industry to trace the origins of a certain cerulean blue hue, from the runways of Oscar de la Renta and St Laurent to the racks of department stores. Today, however, no one needs an impeccable memory to understand the life cycle of a colour du jour. In partnership with BoF, Google unveiled Thursday at the VOICES Conference an interactive online tool, free to use, to take a colour palette and pinpoint runway looks with the same colour schemes, drawn from nearly 4,000 fashion shows. Spearheaded by Google's artist-in-residence Cyril Diagne and announced in VOICES 2017, the project uses machine learning to map out these fashion palettes, and allows users to upload their own photos.