“I am guilty of using a lot of fast fashion,” says Sakshi Gupta, founder of Dehlis AI. “I had piles and piles of clothes that I wanted to get rid of, but it kind of pained my heart to drop them at a store that I know [they probably] won’t be used again. I knew that they would be ending up in landfill.
” For Gupta, this realization was a turning point, setting her on a path to using tech to reimagine how people shop for clothing — while reducing harm to the planet and supporting ethical production. Gupta, founder of Dehlis AI, spoke with Digital Journal while attending DevFestYYC, a Calgary Innovation Week event. Based in Silicon Valley, Gupta’s is tackling one of the fashion world’s most pressing problems: fast fashion’s impact on the environment and consumers’ ability to make informed, ethical choices.
How big is the problem? “Approximately 92 million tonnes of clothing are discarded globally annually, with Canada contributing 500,000 to 1 million tonnes,” Kelly Drennan, Founding Executive Director of Fashion Takes Action told Ivey Business School . That’s 184 billion pounds of clothing that are discarded every year. Dehlis AI is still in its early stages but promises to bring consumers a personal stylist powered by artificial intelligence.
Gupta describes it as a tool that provides clothing recommendations based on weather, style preferences, body type, and — crucially — ethical standards. “Dehlis is made for more sustainable clothing educatio.