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Visions of Tomorrow: retail tech leaders say AI success starts with ending old processes. July 30, 2026 12:45pm "We decided to literally blow everything up," said Jessica Murphy, co-founder and CEO of True Fit, describing the moment roughly two years ago when she told her chief technology officer to scrap the company's existing systems and rebuild from scratch. "There were no sacred cows." That radical reset was a primary theme of a conversation at Sourcing Journal's Visions of Tomorrow event on Monday, where Murphy and Meg Ball, senior director of creative technology and AI enablement at Centric Brands, shared experiences of how their businesses have deployed AI within their businesses. The two executives arrived at similar conclusions: layering AI onto outdated processes risks accelerating inefficiencies rather than creating meaningful change. "You can't put an AI workflow onto a broken process," Ball told SJ Denim's executive editor Angela Velasquez during the panel. "That just creates a faster broken process." Ball, who joined Centric Brands without a predecessor or a blueprint for how to introduce AI across the organization, said one of her first moves was to sit down with product designers and teams to understand there daily tasks and the technologies they were working with. During those meetings, the teams would dig into the tech stacks and each user's roles and responsibilities, before determining whether they wanted to maintain the same processes going forward. "Most of the answers are, absolutely not," Ball said. The processes became about mapping the full product lifecycle, including bottlenecks and handoffs, and figuring out where technology could accelerate what people were already trying to do, rather than bolting AI onto the outside of an unchanged process. Murphy described a comparable reckoning at True Fit, where 20 years of incremental growth had quietly hardened into what she called a "Frankenstein system." The fashion fit and sizing intelligence platform kept running into the same excuse for why it failing to innovate as quickly as it had liked - obsolete infrastructure. "Twenty years in tech is old," Murphy asserted, "And 20 years when you are developing technology is ancient." While the internal rebuild was initially expected to take a year, it instead took two. However, the changes delivered more progress than the previous 18 years combined. For Ball, the clearest early wins of AI deployment have been product visualization and speed to market. Centric Brands has onboarded around 150 creative users onto new tools, letting designers turn ideas that have "been in their head for years" into something they can show retailers, buyers and sales teams almost instantly. According to Ball, with these AI-driven workflows in place, the apparel and accessories company has been able to cut budget for sampling, photo shoots and studio time. "The weight goes to zero, which to me is very, very powerful," Ball said. But she pushed back on the fear that AI flattens creativity into something generic. With two decades of experience across product development, screen printing, graphic design and art direction, she argued that trained judgment is even more essential in determining what designs to keep, scrap and refine. "[Our teams] could create 400 different variables of something now before their coffee even is cold," Ball said. "But they still need to understand how to go back in and look at what they're developing and use the skill. We really encourage teams to make sure they're taking their best skill that they have and just amplifying it up a degree." Murphy, whose company built its business on unifying fragmented retail data, warned that even the best AI tools are only as useful as the information feeding them. She said retailers often struggle due to having more disparate data than other industries, which leads her to advise anyone looking to implement AI-powered systems to establish a single source of truth before pushing full speed ahead with a new strategy. "If machines can't read it, then the world can't see it," Murphy said, applying that logic both to True Fit's own systems, as well as the ad tech and marketing platforms retailers are simultaneously trying to plug in. Both visionaries returned to the same closing idea: AI won't create differentiation on its own. "If everybody just uses the same stuff and doesn't bring in their own special sauce, then we'll be copycats of each other," Murphy said. SJ Newsletters

Authentic ready to drive GUESS brand's next chapter across North America. By Samantha Loveday July 30, 2026 Authentic Brands Group has announced a new network of operating partners for GUESS in the United States and Canada, accelerating the brand's growth across key consumer categories through Authentic's global platform. The appointments represent the next phase of Authentic's strategy for GUESS following its partnership with the brand. By aligning existing businesses with best-in-class operators, Authentic is optimising the portfolio, expanding category leadership and creating new opportunities to drive long-term growth across North America. Guess and Authentic have appointed Centric Brands for children's apparel, sleepwear and accessories, as well as men's sleepwear, underwear, plus small leather goods, belts and cold-weather accessories across the family. Vandale Industries will lead women's intimates and sleepwear, while Creative Home Ideas/YMF will expand GUESS into the home category with bedding, bath, décor, rugs, lighting, kitchenware, outdoor accessories, hydration products, stationery and pet products. Orly Shoe Corporation will oversee socks and slippers, while E.S. Originals will spearhead children's footwear. "GUESS has built decades of equity as one of the world's most recognizable fashion and lifestyle brands," commented Jarrod Weber, global president, sports and lifestyle at Authentic. "Our focus is on continuing to develop that brand in thoughtful ways, bringing consumers the categories they expect from GUESS while ensuring every product reflects the style, quality and point of view that have made it iconic. By partnering with best-in-class operators, we're creating new opportunities for consumers to experience the brand across more aspects of their everyday lives."

Claire's Merch Headed to Walmart, Kohl's and CVS. Licensing pact with Centric Brands paves way for tween retailer's expansion. 13 hours ago May 19, 2026 Claire's merchandise will soon be available in more than 7000 stores in North America operated by such brands as Walmart, Kohl's and CVS. That will be happening thanks to a new licensing agreement between Ames Watson (Columbia, Md.), the tween retailer's owner, and Centric Brands LLC (New York). "The partnership represents a key milestone in Ames Watson's strategy to scale Claire's beyond its core retail footprint of 900-plus owned locations and build a more diversified, multichannel growth platform," the partners said in a news release. The pact calls for Centric Brands to partner with Claire's to develop an exclusive collection of trend-driven assortments across multiple categories, including cosmetics, jewelry, hair accessories, stationery, bags and novelty Items. Centric will also seek to expand the brand into additional retailers and categories across apparel, accessories, home and sleepwear sectors. The deal also opens the door for Centric Brands and Claire's to leverage Centric's relationships with entertainment studios and other IP holders, bringing co-branded licensed products to shop-in-shop and wholesale channels, the partners said. "This partnership marks an important step in Claire's evolution into a true multichannel brand platform," says Ames Watson Co-Founder and Partner Lawrence Berger. "By expanding our presence beyond our own stores, we're able to meet consumers wherever they shop, while continuing to invest in the in-store experiences that define the brand, like ear piercing." Said Alex Fogelson, EVP, Division Head at Centric Brands: "We are proud to partner with Ames Watson and Claire's on this exclusive licensing agreement, which reflects Centric Brands' ability to scale beloved brands across multiple retail channels and categories." Centric Brands is a collective specializing in product design, development and sourcing, retail and digital commerce, marketing and brand building. Its portfolio includes licenses for 100-plus brands, ranging from Calvin Klein to Ugg. In addition to Claire's, brands owned or invested in by Ames Watson include Champion, Lids, Hungry and Zygo. Drawing on more than 125 years of history serving the retail design market, VMSD magazine provides retail professionals with the most up-to-date, innovative retail design ideas and industry news through its industry-leading magazine, website, social media channels and bulletins. Featured video. MasterClass: 're-sparkling' retail: using store design to build trust, faith and brand loyalty. HOW CAN WE EMPOWER and inspire senior leaders to see design as an investment for future retail growth? This session, led by retail design expert Ian Johnston from Quinine Design, explores how physical stores remain unmatched in the ability to build trust, faith, and loyalty with your customers, ultimately driving shareholder value. Presented by: Ian Johnston Founder and Creative Director, Quinine Design You may like.