Medill adjunct lecturer Anya Cheng (Medill ’08) is combining fashion and artificial intelligence to help a stylistically challenged demographic: busy men.
Taelor is an online clothing rental subscription service that connects men with professional stylists. Stylists then send customers a monthly shipment of clothes based on their personal and professional needs.
Cheng, who is Taelor’s co-founder and CEO, said her company makes its customers’ lives better and simpler through its customization.
“I don’t think fashion matters, but style and confidence matter,” Cheng said. “We see ourselves as the ‘gadget guy’ behind a superhero.”
Through Taelor, customers can tell their stylists about occasions they might need new clothes for, like dates or business meetings.
The service also uses AI to analyze customer feedback and advise stylists on their preferences.
“Here at Taelor, (you really) get to know your customers,” said Taelor Head of Styling and Senior Lead Stylist Melissa Slavick. “Really developing that personalization for them has been very rewarding.”
Cheng said she had the idea for the startup after developing “impostor syndrome” while working for large companies like Meta and Target.
As a Taiwanese immigrant with less professional experience than her co-workers, Cheng said she wanted to impress them with her apparel. However, she was quickly overwhelmed by the number of decisions she had to make on clothing rental and subscription services.
“I realized fashion companies are not for people who want to look good. They are for people who are into fashion,” she said.
This inspired Cheng to find a way for people to get fashionable clothes without worrying about picking the wrong outfits.
She learned about the importance of catering to consumer needs while studying at Medill’s Integrated Marketing and Communications Professional master’s program. She said the program’s “consumer-centric approach” taught her that every customer is different, so brands should adjust accordingly.
“Everyone thinks differently, so you shouldn’t treat them the same,” Cheng said.
Cheng added that the service gives customers personalized experiences thanks to AI. After returning their monthly shipment, Taelor users can review the overall quality of the clothes. The company’s AI model then analyzes this data and provides recommendations to stylists for future shipments.
Cheng said she believes Taelor and its use of AI can improve the fashion industry for both brands and consumers. Taelor partners with more than 100 brands that send stylists early releases of garments to include in monthly shipments. In return, the stylists send brands customer feedback.
Taelor’s AI model lets brands understand and implement authentic customer feedback, Cheng said. She said the technology is paving the way for a more efficient and personalized era in the fashion industry.
This new approach to fashion is also aimed at limiting pollution in the industry. Taelor co-founder and COO Phoebe Tan said renting makes more sense than immediately buying in an industry with “picky” consumers. The service allows users the option to buy items after renting several times in a “try it before you buy it” model.
“Eighty percent of your clothes are sitting in the closet collecting dust,” Tan said. “It’s very wasteful.”
Cheng said she hopes Taelor can eventually become a “one-stop shop” for busy men who don’t know what to buy. She hopes to make people’s lives easier while completely eliminating waste in products, she added.
“When they know what to buy, they go to Amazon,” Cheng said. “When they don’t know what to buy, they come to Taelor.”
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