Google’s new AI shopping tools promise personalized online try-ons, while Glimpact offers brands a free, science-backed way to measure sustainability. Together, they hint at fashion’s next evolution.
Google debuted its upgraded AI shopping tools at its 2025 I/O developer conference this week. At the center of the rollout was an evolved version of its virtual try-on feature. But this time, the model isn’t a stock avatar or a range of preset body types. It’s you.
The new tool allows users to upload a photo of themselves and digitally try on clothes across major brands, an expansion of the company’s existing try-on experience. Powered by Google’s proprietary Shopping Graph, which maps more than 50 billion product listings, the tool uses generative AI to drape garments onto personal photos, adjusting fabric contours to the user’s pose and silhouette. For fashion retailers trying to shrink return rates or build loyalty with fickle online shoppers, this is not a minor update — it’s a portal into a future where fit is algorithmically guaranteed.
The move also introduces AI Mode, a search feature that operates more like a personalized conversation than a static query. Ask for a waterproof coat for a rainy trip to Copenhagen, and Google will not only source options but anticipate additional needs — like packability or sustainable material choices. For those who dread decision fatigue, Google has also begun testing a checkout agent. Users can set parameters — price limits, brands, preferred colors — and the system will automatically complete the purchase via Google Pay once the item meets the criteria.
This trio of updates positions Google at the helm of predictive commerce, but it also highlights a deeper question in fashion’s digital transformation: How much of the consumer journey is about personalization, and how much is about planetary accountability?
If Google is investing in hyper-personalized shopping to solve the consumer experience, Glimpact is tackling the industry’s climate consequences by offering a new level of data transparency to fashion brands themselves. The company recently launched the Global Impact Score, a free online tool designed to help companies measure and communicate the full environmental footprint of their products.
Using the European Union’s Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) methodology, the score spans 16 environmental indicators, including water and land use, global warming potential, and resource depletion. Its goal is not just to flag harm, but to model better outcomes. “The environmental crisis is not just about climate, it’s systemic and must take into account all components of the ecological crisis,” Christophe Girardier, Glimpact founder and CEO, said in a statement.
The tool is particularly timely as the EU accelerates regulation of environmental claims. A recent proposal aims to outlaw vague marketing terms like “eco-friendly” and “sustainable” without substantiating evidence. Brands must now be able to prove their environmental impact with science-based metrics. That’s where Glimpact steps in.
The company’s backend model integrates both primary data and standardized databases, giving fashion brands a way to create digital product passports or audit their collections in anticipation of new legal frameworks. For smaller labels without sustainability teams, the tool offers a plug-and-play gateway to transparency. For global retailers trying to future-proof operations, it doubles as regulatory insurance.
Although Glimpact has been quietly working with companies across textiles, cosmetics, and consumer goods, the decision to offer its scoring engine for free to the fashion sector marks a notable shift in the conversation. Where once the question was whether consumers cared enough to make sustainable choices, now the burden is shifting to the brands to do the legwork.
In this respect, Glimpact and Google’s efforts seem less like opposites and more like mirror images. One optimizes the buying process through data-driven empathy; the other scrutinizes what, exactly, is being bought.
These technological shifts land as consumer awareness reaches new heights. According to a 2024 McKinsey report, 71 percent of global fashion consumers now consider environmental and social impact when making purchases, up from 57 percent in 2021. At the same time, the industry is facing backlash for greenwashing. A 2023 Changing Markets Foundation report found that nearly sixty percent of sustainability claims by fashion brands were “unsubstantiated or misleading.”
The demand for proof is rising, and the digital tools are beginning to catch up. AI models can help users filter by values, not just price or color. Algorithms can simulate not only fit, but fiber movement, textile weight, and even visual opacity — a challenge that has long plagued online shoppers. Behind the scenes, lifecycle assessment (LCA) models like Glimpact’s are helping brands calculate the tradeoffs between organic cotton and recycled polyester, or between local production and ocean shipping. This double helix of personalization and accountability suggests a new paradigm for fashion commerce: one that doesn’t just tailor to our tastes, but to our ethics, too.
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