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Evolution in Action: Reimagining Creative Production at Lounge by Zalando

Stef Mikuckyte is the Lead of Creative Direction at Zalando Lounge Creative Solutions, where she heads a multidisciplinary team of Art Directors, AI Specialists, Talent Bookers, and Visual Merchandisers. In this article, Stef shares how we are reimagining creative production by integrating generative AI into the studio workflow - a transition she recently detailed at the first LeadDev meetup of the year at Zalando’s BHW office.

3 min
13 April 2026

Reimagining Creative Production: The AI Evolution at Lounge by Zalando

In the fast paced world of off-price fashion, the ability to turn a product arrival into a live campaign is the ultimate competitive advantage. However, for a long time, the industry has been held back by the "Studio Bottleneck."

At Lounge by Zalando, we aren't just reacting to the AI shift; we are fundamentally restructuring how we work to move from manual studio constraints to digital scale.

The Challenge: Moving Past Legacy Friction

Traditionally, creative production is a high friction process. It relies on heavy logistics - shipping physical samples, coordinating model castings, and managing studio availability. All of this comes together to result in:

  • Long Lead Times: Even an optimised production cycle can take 15 days from request to live.
  • High Variable Costs: Scaling production usually requires a linear increase in spend on travel, sets, and shipping.
  • Rigid Content: Static, white background imagery that often fails to communicate the lifestyle context customers crave.

The Strategy: A Lean, Hybrid Approach

To solve this, we’ve flipped the script. We are leveraging Generative AI to move away from static imagery toward high engagement and context driven content.

Our setup is lean and collaborative. Without a big team and logistics friction,  Art Directors, AI specialists, stylists and retouchers are rapidly driving the change in customers' visual experience.

Real World Impact: Data Driven Results

This isn't innovation for innovation's sake. We are seeing tangible wins across our platform:

  • Enhanced UX & Context: For Home & Living, AI allows us to place products in realistic environments, helping customers understand scale and function immediately.
  • The Kids' Category Breakthrough: By transitioning to 100% AI generated models, we’ve seen a +4.12% increase in interactions and a +2.96% lift in add-to-cart conversions. This approach also addresses the logistical and ethical complexities of traditional child modeling.
  • Inclusive Casting at Scale: AI helps us reflect our diverse customer base accurately, matching high volume campaign needs even when physical outlet samples are limited.

Operational Excellence

The shift to an AI on demand model has transformed our operational backbone:

  • Speed: We’ve slashed the production cycle from 15 days to just 3.
  • Efficiency: By trading high variable costs for a fixed tech investment, we can scale imagery without an equivalent spike in overhead. AI now powers 20–30% of our daily theme campaigns.
  • Sustainability: Digital styling removes the need for physical sample orders and inbound/outbound logistics, significantly reducing our supply chain footprint.