Getting to Know You: Ozgecan Üstgül, Founder, Myth-Ai

Business Matters spoke to Ozgecan Üstgül, the Founder of fashion and textiles AI platform Ai Myth-Ai to find out how the co pay was founded and who Ozgecan admires.

What do you do at Myth?

I am the founder and CEO of Myth-ai, a generative AI solution that helps streamline the design of new and unique patterns, taking the length of the process down from days – and sometimes weeks – to seconds. The idea for Myth-ai was born out of the need for a better solution for designing patterns in fashion and textiles and was developed to primarily help me with my womenswear brand, Women&Women.

I head up business development, product development, investment relationships and marketing. Pretty much everything apart from the software development!

What was the inspiration behind Myth?

The inspiration behind Myth.AI sprouted from a profound journey of self-discovery and a desire to solve the challenges faced in the pattern design process.

After nearly a decade in the corporate world, a question lingered in my mind: “Could I start my own fashion business?” I realised I could – but with my mother and sister by my side. By fusing the expertise in textiles and patterns of my mother, my sisters’ proficiency in 3D design and fashion, and my skills in business development we launched Women&Women.

In 2018 I began thinking ‘why couldn’t technology be harnessed to revolutionise design production?’

For all design processes, my goal was to expedite Women&Women’s growth by employing holistic techniques that involve research, drawing inspiration, and seeking reflections of that inspiration in nature. These are always important to the design process of starting anything new.

Designing patterns and keeping up with fashion trends, colours, and themes for every collection is not sustainable for designers. They also need to create these patterns quickly and turn them into fabrics for industry events. Having a wide variety of designs is crucial for textile companies to make more money. To achieve this, designers need to speed up their creative process and use new technology to come up with fresh ideas.

Furthermore, designers often need to update old patterns to match the latest trends and offer them to customers as options. Unfortunately, there aren’t many technologies that can scan past designs and generate similar ones using artificial intelligence. So, designers still rely heavily on manual work without the help of technology.

And so Myth.AI was born, and now it is possible to create hundreds of amazing and totally unique patterns for fashion, ceramics and interior design purposes in minutes.

Who do you admire?

I drew inspiration from my sister Gökçe Dinçer who is an advanced user of the 3D design program Browzwear. She took creativity to its fullest extent when we were creating Myth technology.

Another person who I admire greatly is Refik Anadol. When embarking on this journey, I was deeply inspired by his work, which transforms millions of data points into artistic technological marvels through deep learning algorithms, showing me that technology can also be applied in the realm of art. He is undoubtedly the most inspiring figure in this field.

– Looking back, is there anything you would have done differently?
Reflecting on the past, I’ve noticed that when I made choices in tough situations, it was because I thought I had no other options, these decisions didn’t work out well in the long term. In fact, the opposite often happened. When I collaborated with certain individuals, without clear and specific goals (SMART goals), those collaborations ended in failure and disappointment. I know for the future that, even if things feel tough or time pressured, it is valuable to take a step back and take time to consider all options.

What defines your way of doing business?

I believe in questioning and critical thinking. Hard work is essential, but to make a real impact, we must also ask questions and think critically. Without these skills, we risk repeating the same mistakes and failing in our professional lives.

What advice would you give to someone starting out?

Before embarking on the entrepreneurial journey, make sure you have worked elsewhere first. Working with other people and observing how more experienced colleagues think and what they respect, gives you great on-the-ground insight. Even better if you can learn these insights at a young age, as all experiences you can carry with you into establishing your own business later on. I also would advise any new entrepreneur to be a keen observer; if you wish to change the system, you first need to identify its weaknesses and work in that area.

Also, as a female entrepreneur I have noticed how male-dominated the world of business is, but being an entrepreneur and finding ways to excel and stand out in your own field, you create a world where these things don’t matter. If you’re doing something good and different, all doors open whatever your gender.

I started my professional journey at the age of 12 which is young but I wish I had started even earlier. Life is yours. If you know you want to be an entrepreneur, be in control of your own destiny, or make a name for yourself, the price of waiting and potentially missing out, is a lot more than taking that jump.