Lake’s experience as a consultant to retailers and restaurants led to a fascination with how untouched those industries were by 21st-century technology. As a lover of both clothes and data, she felt certain that data could create a better experience with apparel—as long as the human element was preserved.
From the beginning Lake planned to build a data science operation to make Stitch Fix scalable. The company’s revenue is dependent on great recommendations from its algorithm, so its data scientists have a direct line to the CEO. Data science is deeply ingrained in the company culture: In addition to client recommendations of clothing, algorithms keep capital costs low, inventory moving, and deliveries efficient. Product development has adapted algorithms from genetics to find successful “traits” in clothing. Stitch Fix has even used machine learning to design apparel.
But, Lake says, shopping is inherently a personal and human activity, which is why human stylists can alter or override the product assortment a styling algorithm delivers before the client receives a shipment.
