700 Faces a Day Stayed the Same, Only the Clothes Changed
At the 2026 FIFA World Cup in Vancouver, a virtual try-on AI processed more than 15,500 photos. Production company From the Future applied FASHN's virtual try-on API, Try-On Max, at two fan experience events run by FIFA and KIA Canada, and the kiosks handled about 700 visitors a day.
The key requirement from the organizers was to change only the clothing while keeping the face, body shape, and overall impression intact. Visitors had to remain recognizable even in on-site photos taken under varying lighting. At the Fan Festival, visitors pick a team and have their photo taken, and a FIFA player card in that team's jersey is printed and shown on an LED wall. Visitors can also download and share it via a QR code. At BC Place, four photos were taken of each visitor and changed into the outfit of a KIA official match ball carrier, then provided as a commemorative print with a soccer background.
Stephen Hess, founder and CTO of From the Future, said that the ability to preserve visitors' identities even at large-scale processing was the deciding factor in choosing the technology. On site, the Fan Festival experience line is reported to have been the longest and the steadiest, and officials from KIA Korea and KIA Canada are also said to have been deeply impressed by the quality of the results.
Source · FASHN AI, "Powering FIFA World Cup Fan Experiences with FASHN Virtual Try-On"
No Coats Sell in a Warm Winter. The Brands Singled Out by the Super El Niño
A super El Niño, forecast to be the strongest on record, has emerged as a new variable in retailers' inventory planning. In a merchandising environment already complicated by tariffs and rising costs, analysts warn that a warm winter could weigh directly on sales of cold-weather apparel.
Matthew Porcelli, a meteorologist at The Weather Company, explained that El Niño affects each region differently and that this year will be unprecedented. Analysts including Ike Boruchow of Wells Fargo named Burlington, Deckers, Canada Goose, and VF Corp as vulnerable. Burlington has a high share of coat sales and was hit during past El Niño years, and Deckers could face greater pressure to discount Ugg if the winter is warm. For Canada Goose, which specializes in insulated apparel, there are concerns that no management response is visible.
VF Corp's The North Face and Timberland have a track record of sales and margins wavering during the El Niño years of 2015 and 2023. Laurent Vasilescu of BNP Paribas asked for further explanation of the sales outlook for Helly Hansen, the ski brand Kontoor recently acquired. He pointed out that, according to historical data, it is clear that consumers do not buy coats when the weather is warm.
Source · Retail Dive, "What the Super El Niño means for retail"
AI Model Face. Make a Face Once and Use It as the Standard for Every Shoot
RealSnap's AI Model Face is a snap tool that creates and saves the face of a brand's exclusive virtual model based on a single face photo. It suits fashion visual creators who want to keep using a model with the same impression even when the clothing or background changes.
Lowering the similarity produces a new face that only borrows the mood of the original, which makes it easier to design a model with less concern over likeness rights.
You can save a face you like with Save and call up the same model in later work.
It could be worth trying to create and save an exclusive model candidate with RealSnap's AI Model Face, then continue producing a few seasonal lookbook shots with the same face.
