Bold Metrics: Tech Tactics: Bold Metrics' Daina Burnes on How AI and Data are Solving Fashion's Fit Problem

Tech Tactics is Sourcing Journal's series with brands and technology companies to discuss their latest innovations. Bold Metrics is redefining the way brands approach fit and sizing. More from Sourcing Journal Since its inception in 2012, this artificial intelligence (AI) platform has been dedicated to enhancing retailers' sizing accuracy, ultimately leading to reduced return rates and improved conversion rates. This is increasingly important as consumers (approximately 94 percent) surveyed by Bold Metrics cited size and fit as the most frustrating aspects of online apparel shopping. "At Bold Metrics, we believe AI-driven fit technology is the key to a more sustainable, customer-centric future for fashion," Daina Burnes, CEO and co-founder of Bold Metrics, told Sourcing Journal. A notable example of Bold Metrics leveraging its expertise and technology to improve fit is its collaboration with Toronto-based luxury parka brand Canada Goose. By utilizing Bold Metrics' Smart Size Chart-a tool that combines Bold Metrics' AI-driven digital twin platform with a brand's garment data to provide shoppers with highly accurate size recommendations-the company was able to reduce its return rate by over 21 percent. Meanwhile, Bold Metrics' partnership with men's clothing brand Mizzen+Main led to the launch of the Shirt Finder-a personalized quiz that gathers key details from shoppers to recommend the best size for them. Since its debut toward the end of last year, over 5,200 users have utilized the tool to "find their perfect fit," resulting in a 7 percent revenue increase. "By eliminating the uncertainty around sizing, we're helping brands reduce returns, reduce waste and create a better shopping experience-online and in-store," Burnes said. "We're excited to continue leading the way in fit technology, driving innovation that benefits brands, customers and the planet." Daina Burnes, CEO and co-founder of Bold Metrics Here, Burnes discusses how Bold Metrics' history as a family of tailors has helped trailblaze the future of fit technology and how AI and body data are reshaping the fashion and e-commerce landscapes. SOURCING JOURNAL: Starting from the beginning, how does Bold Metrics' legacy as a family of tailors inform its approach to combining traditional expertise with AI? Daina Burnes: My family's craft in master tailoring was a source of inspiration for me. As we set out to build Bold Metrics, we realized we could develop AI methodologies to emulate the outcome of classical tailoring methods. This paradigm ultimately allowed for better alignment with e-commerce-driven experiences. At its core, tailoring is about accuracy and personalization-two principles that guide what we do at Bold Metrics. Our technology is built on a deep understanding of customer body measurement data, fit preferences and garment construction, similar to what a master tailor would consider when crafting a bespoke garment. By developing our AI methodologies, we've scaled our expertise to make precision sizing accessible at an enterprise level. This allows brands to provide a tailored experience without the traditional hands-on tailoring process. How does your digital twin technology improve size recommendations for each customer on a personalized basis? D.B.: Our AI-driven digital twin technology creates a highly accurate virtual representation of each shopper's body using four to six simple survey inputs. A tremendous amount of research and development went into ascertaining which minimal set of survey inputs elicited the best outcome while ensuring the questions were ones that people generally knew the answer to. The resulting digital twin contains over 50 precise body measurements, allowing us to assist shoppers with their best-fitting size for a specific brand and garment. Our technology personalizes fit recommendations based on body shape, fit preference, purchase and returns data and garment specifications, ensuring a better shopping experience with fewer returns. It continues to ingest purchase and returns data in order to continuously improve its understanding of the relationship of garment data to body measurements. How does Bold Metrics' platform work with existing e-commerce systems? D.B.: We can integrate with all major e-commerce platforms. We start by ingesting the best available sizing data from the brand, then a rigorous quality assurance (QA) process validates the data and runs millions of possibilities through our AI system to account for all possible body shapes and sizes while creating fit preference scenarios. The machine learning models continuously improve over time from a feedback loop that ingests purchase and returns data to advance understanding of the relationship of the garment data to body measurements. There's no tech lift required from the brand-adding our solution is as simple as copying and pasting a snippet of code to a product detail page. What specific results have your clients seen after implementing your technology? D.B.: Our clients [including New Balance, Men's Wearhouse, Canada Goose, Retrofete, Helly Hansen and more] consistently see higher conversion rates, increased average order values and a significant reduction in fit-related returns. On average, our clients see a fourfold increase in conversion, a 22 percent boost in order value and an 18 percent reduction in fit-related returns. How do you ensure that your platform delivers tailor-level accuracy in fit recommendations without requiring scanning, photos or measuring tapes from customers? D.B.: We've trained our AI models utilizing one of the largest cumulative data sets of high-fidelity human body scans in the world, in concert with a series of proprietary machine learning algorithms tested and proven by thousands of fittings to date. This, combined with garment data, purchase and return behaviors and customer body data, allows us to determine body measurements with remarkable accuracy. By analyzing just a few customer inputs-such as height, weight and age-our system references this extensive dataset to generate a digital twin with over 50 precise body measurements. Additionally, we continuously refine our models using real-world purchase and return data, ensuring accuracy improves over time. Since 2017, we've generated over 150 million digital twins, 7.5 billion body data points and over 450 million fit simulations-a testament to our accuracy and growth. How do Bold Metrics' Virtual Sizer and Smart Size Chart work in an e-commerce environment, and what kind of impact does it have on customer satisfaction and sales? D.B.: The Virtual Sizer is our customizable application programming interface (API), whereas the Smart Size Chart (SSC) is our out-of-the-box solution that contains a front-end interface. Both leverage our core digital twin technology that uses years of data and highly trained proprietary machine-learning models to determine body measurements. Since the Virtual Sizer is an API product, it allows our clients to build customizable fit and sizing experiences as a white-labeled solution. From custom product finders, fit profiles, loyalty and rewards programs and more, we wanted a solution for clients who choose to build their own front-end experience but have the full benefit of leveraging Bold Metrics for body measurement determination, size recommendation or both. The Smart Size Chart is our most popular solution that allows our clients to take advantage of a fully developed front-end interface to service a fit and sizing experience for their customers. With the Smart Size Chart, shoppers receive size recommendations alongside a virtual fitting visual representation that communicates how a given size would fit across critical points of measure. Customers who do not want to build their own front-end experience and would like to quickly add Bold Metrics to their site with limited resources needed from their side use the Smart Size Chart. How do you see the role of AI and body data evolving in the fashion and e-commerce industries by 2025, and what advancements are you planning to make in your platform to stay ahead of these trends? D.B.: AI and body data are rapidly reshaping the fashion and e-commerce industries, and we expect even greater adoption of data-driven fit solutions in 2025. "Personalize or perish" is a mantra we're hearing from apparel brands seeking to outperform the market. As consumer expectations around personalization increase-73 percent of shoppers expect brands to understand their unique needs and expectations-now is a critical time for brands to move beyond basic size charts, survey lookups and brand comparison tools. By adopting fully integrated AI-driven fit personalization, brands can use body data to refine size charts, optimize grading scales, influence product design and guide inventory management. At Bold Metrics, we're advancing our AI capabilities to further refine fit recommendations and provide previously untapped access to shopper body data, helping brands create better-fitting garments from the start. We aim to make the shopping experience more personalized and predictive, reducing friction for brands and consumers.