‘Clueless’-inspired Alta software partnered with Public School brand to start integrating styling tools into websites

A lot has changed for Jenny Wang, the founder who is bringing “Clueless” fashion tech to life.

Last year, his company, Alta, earned $11 million per game led by Menlo Ventures to allow users to create digital clothes and try on their clothes with their virtual avatars. It’s a technology only seen in movies, most notably in “Clueless,” where Cher designs and organizes her clothes using computer technology. Alta is similar to that, allowing users to plan and change clothes using new AI.

Several big names participated in Atla’s show last year, including Jasmine Tookes and Karlie Kloss, Anthropic’s VC arm Anthology Fund, and Rent the Runway cofounder Jenny Fleiss.

TechCrunch caught up with Wang at New York Fashion Week to talk how the company has grown since then.

First, the product is approved in the app store; Time and Vogue he called it one of the best things of last year, and Wang said that more than 100 million clothes have been made on the platform since its launch in 2023. It has a partnership with Poshmark and the Council of Fashion Designers of America, with many partnerships that should be announced soon.

“The Alta program also has a wide variety of products that users can purchase,” Wang said.

For now, the company is focusing on developing apps and websites that integrate with the product, he said, where customers can try on the designer’s clothes using the Alta Avatar. This week, the company revealed its first partnership, meet with Public Schoola famous brand of New York City.

“Consumers can create a look from the new menu on their Alta avatar,” Wang said.

They met the Public School team – Dao-Yi Chow and Maxwell Osborne – through the founder of Poshmak, who is also an angel investor in both companies.

“Public School designers Dao-Yi Chow and Maxwell Osborne have been looking for an AI companion and avatar solution, and Dao-Yi has been using Alta software,” Wang said.

Public School went on hiatus for a few years, and this NYFW marks a resurgence. When asked, the founders of the brand said they have rediscovered their voice and what they want to say.

“We have to look at technology as a partner in business today,” Chow told TechCrunch, adding, “It’s not 2015 anymore,” so the team wants to take advantage of the latest trends. “We want to think about how we use tech and AI,” he continued, “not as a creative tool but as a tool to expand our storytelling and a tool to connect with consumers and make them experience the brand even if they can’t do it in person.”

Wang said this is one of the first cases of a designer putting his avatar and styling technology on his website. At the bottom of the Public School page, there is a picture that says Alta brand. A click that takes the customer to Alta to change their avatar and test how Public School clothing will look on them, after they buy it.

Users of Alta’s standalone app can also access Public School through the Alta app. Wang said the goal is for Alta to integrate more experiences like this into other products and websites, so Alta users can try on clothes on other websites even outside of the Alta app.

“Currently, the user has to add an item to their Alta list, then dress up and try on their avatar, versus being able to do so directly on the brand’s website.” (For every site but Public School, that is.) “The goal is to bring their community on a new journey so they can participate and buy into the brand.”

Many fashion brands, such as Zara and Balmain, have already tried it and digital avatars. Wang said what makes Alta different here, especially compared to Zara, is that Alta’s avatars can put on at least 8 items within seconds, while Zara’s avatars can only put on four and usually take about two minutes.

Overall, the importance of avatars is increasing. Wang sees Alta as both still the “clueless” technology he started with, and the digital avatar business.

“Alta’s consumer app is the ‘Clueless’ room, where Alta’s business allows consumers to style and try on their clothes on a pre-existing avatar,” he said. Ultimately, Wang said he wants Alta to be “a symbol of the future of consumer AI and shopping.”

For marketing to work, he said, “We need data that understands what consumers like, like their room, what they’ve bought before, and their avatar, appearance, and body, which is Alta.”