Computing an outfit: Stitch Fix uses algorithms, machine learning to dress its customers

Brittany Busacca, a trend manager, works at Stitch Fix on Monday, Dec. 5, 2016, in San Francisco, Calif. Stitch Fix is an online fashion delivery service that ships personalized clothing to a customer's door. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group/TNS)

SAN FRANCISCO: The next time you see a well-dressed individual walking down the street, stop to consider this: that spiffy outfit might not be the result of an impeccable fashion sense – it might be the work of a computer algorithm. 

At least, that could be the case if the fashionista is a customer of one of several services that offer fashion delivered on demand, such as San Francisco-based startup Stitch Fix. Using data analysis software and machine learning to match users with personalised clothing choices, Stitch Fix is ushering the fashion industry into the age of Big Data.