WNTD has launched an app for fashion and beauty shopping, entering the market with £3 million in backing.

The platform brings together virtual try-on, AI styling and social feedback in a single interface for consumers who discover products across social media, retail sites and physical shops. Users can save inspiration from online sources, in-store visits or everyday life, then use the app to test looks and get opinions before making a purchase.

The launch comes as shopping habits continue to shift away from direct visits to retailer websites. WNTD is positioning itself not as a retailer, but as a layer between discovery and purchase, focused on helping users decide what to buy rather than selling stock itself.

Its tools include virtual outfit and beauty try-ons, AI-generated styling suggestions, price comparison, voice search and a Safari browser extension. The extension lets users save items while browsing and compare products without leaving the page.

The app is aimed at younger shoppers, particularly Gen Z, who increasingly discover fashion through social platforms. WNTD argues that shopping behaviour is fragmented, with users moving between screenshots, saved posts, group chats and retailer apps before deciding whether to buy.

Founding team

WNTD was founded by Lex Deak and developed with Lee Lythe, who also worked with Deak on Basket, a consumer app that reached more than 300,000 users in the UK, according to the company. Basket focused on organising purchases, tracking prices and helping users find deals. WNTD builds on that background with a broader focus on discovery and decision-making in fashion and beauty.

Deak has worked across consumer technology and fintech and has also been involved in early-stage investment. WNTD reflects his view that shopping journeys no longer follow the structured path assumed by many retailers.

“Retail is still built for linear shopping journeys but Gen Z doesn’t shop that way,” said Lex Deak, Founder of WNTD. “People discover inspiration everywhere – on social media, in magazines, on the street-and they ask friends before they buy. WNTD brings that behaviour into one place so people can explore their style and make better decisions.”

Lythe said the product was designed to reflect changing consumer behaviour in fashion discovery.

“Technology is changing how people discover fashion,” said Lee Lythe, chief marketing officer at WNTD. “WNTD gives people a way to experiment with their style, see how something looks on them, and get feedback before they decide to buy.”

Decision layer

WNTD describes the app as a decision engine spanning the fashion ecosystem. In practice, that means users can collect images and product ideas from different places, build looks around them, and compare options before completing a purchase on a retailer’s site.

That approach reflects a broader shift in online shopping, where discovery often begins on platforms that do not complete the sale. Consumers may first encounter a product through short-form video, creator content or group chat recommendations, then search elsewhere for alternatives, prices and reviews. WNTD is trying to keep more of that process within one app.

Social validation is central to that model. The app lets users send looks to friends or a wider community for feedback, adding another step between inspiration and transaction. In fashion and beauty, where fit, appearance and confidence can shape buying decisions, that feedback loop is likely to be one of the platform’s main points of differentiation.

Virtual try-on tools have become more common across fashion, eyewear and cosmetics, while generative AI has opened new ways for users to visualise products and styles. WNTD is aiming to combine those functions with browsing, price awareness and social input in one consumer product.

According to the company, more than 70% of Gen Z discovers products through social channels rather than retail websites. That trend has pushed brands and shopping platforms to rethink how products are found and evaluated, particularly in categories such as fashion and beauty, where visual presentation and peer response play a significant role.

WNTD is available on iOS as a standalone consumer app backed by £3 million in investment.

Software Improvement Group has published its AI Maturity Guide 2026, a handbook outlining 20 steps for senior leaders to manage AI use across their organisations.

The guide is aimed at board members, chief technology officers, chief information security officers, and governance, risk and compliance leaders. It follows the company’s earlier AI Readiness Guide, shifting the focus from experimentation to formal oversight.

Many businesses have already adopted AI in at least one function, but few have put in place a consistent framework to govern it, according to Software Improvement Group. Leadership teams still struggle to identify where AI is being used, which systems are critical to operations, and whether the associated risks are under control.

The publication comes as companies face tighter scrutiny over AI governance and security. In material released alongside the guide, Software Improvement Group pointed to new regulations and a steady flow of cyber incidents involving AI-related systems and development practices.

Among the findings it highlights are signs of weak control over AI use in large organisations. The company says 20% of firms use AI coding tools against policy, creating what it describes as shadow AI risk.

It also says 72% of enterprise AI systems fall below industry standards. The material further claims that productivity gains from AI can fade in larger codebases, with up to 60% of those gains lost once software reaches about 100,000 lines of code, as AI tools struggle with more complex architecture.

Role-based steps

The guide breaks its recommendations down by seniority and function. For boards, the emphasis is on improving understanding of AI, setting direction, requiring transparency, and weighing trade-offs between speed, risk and value.

For governance, risk and compliance teams, the focus is on turning evolving regulation and standards into a practical system for internal AI oversight. Security leaders are urged to extend existing resilience and security practices to cover AI-assisted development and AI systems in production.

Technology and engineering leaders are given a separate set of actions for building and operating AI-enabled software in a measurable way. That section also covers governance of AI-assisted and agentic development.

The company defines a mature organisation as one that can identify its AI footprint, govern AI as part of its wider software portfolio, control risk, and measure value. That framing reflects a broader market shift as companies move away from isolated pilots and towards integrating AI into mainstream systems and processes.

Boardroom pressure

The guide also reflects a tension many executives face as they try to show returns from AI investments while avoiding operational, legal and security failures. Rather than treating AI as a separate workstream, the company argues that businesses need to manage software and AI together.

That approach is linked to its broader research on what it describes as a gap between executive ambition and operational reality. The handbook is intended to offer a more practical route for leadership teams that already accept the strategic importance of AI but are still developing internal controls.

Amsterdam-based Software Improvement Group focuses on software governance and portfolio analysis. Its platform analyses more than 400 billion lines of code across more than 30,000 systems and over 300 technologies, according to the company.

It also noted its involvement in standards work, including co-developing ISO/IEC 5338, which it describes as a global standard for AI lifecycle management. That background is relevant as businesses seek clearer benchmarks for AI oversight and implementation.

Rob van der Veer, chief AI officer at Software Improvement Group, said the guide is aimed at executives responsible for making AI work in practice.

“This guide is written for those who lead in making AI work in practice. You might be the one pushing for faster innovation under pressure from competitors and shareholders. You might be the one accountable when things go wrong. In either case, AI maturity will not come from a single project, pilot, or purchase. It will come from a steady, deliberate shift in how you govern your software and AI as one portfolio,” he said.

Anatomy Arts Piercing, run by Dawn and Marcello, soon to be the McCormack family, offers a piercing experience specialising in solid gold and verified implant grade titanium jewellery.

The family-run studio opened its doors on May 10, 2025, with a fully booked launch day that saw the couple carry out piercings for more than nine hours without a break.

Mrs McCormack, said: “It’s incredibly difficult to put into words how grateful we are, without our clientele there is no Anatomy Arts Piercing.

“Our little family run studio is the centre point of our lives – it provides for our children, it keeps a roof over our heads, it allows us to live as our authentic selves.”

Dawn and Marcello, soon-to-be the McCormack family, celebrate the first anniversary of Anatomy of Arts piercing studio in Bicester (Image: Dawn, Anatomy of Arts)

The biggest challenge the couple has faced was starting the business with a now five-year-old and an almost two-year-old.

She said: “When we opened, it was two days before our youngest’s first birthday and our eldest hadn’t even started school yet.

“For both of us to take the leap to be self employed was a massive risk so the anniversary will definitely be our ‘we made it’ moment.

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“We are so thankful to not only be doing the jobs we both love and are incredibly passionate about; but to have the time to spend with our children is a blessing.”

To celebrate, there will be a shop discount on offer on their entire stock of jewellery.

The couple, who said they “tend to have expensive taste in jewellery”, will also pierce each other to mark the occasion, although they starting to run out of room.

Naturally grown diamonds will be added to Marcello while a solid gold chain or charm will be added to Dawn.

However, as the couple is getting married in June, they’re more focused on not burning themselves out and completing last minute wedding DIY bits.

On their return from their honeymoon, they plan to introduce an anodiser machine, which changes the colour of implant grade titanium jewellery for a low cost.

Dawn and Marcello, soon-to-be the McCormack family, celebrate the first anniversary of Anatomy of Arts piercing studio in Bicester (Image: Dawn, Anatomy of Arts)

They also hope to introduce an IPad to make consent form processes more seamless.

She said: “There’s no other job that either of us could imagine doing that gives us the same fulfilling satisfaction or gives us the space to look the way we do.

“Piercing is an adrenaline rush for both clients and piercers alike, so when your piercer is just as passionate about the piercing they’re about to do as the client is who’s about to receive it.

“All in all, our clients give us our beautiful life and we honestly couldn’t be more grateful.

“We’re so ecstatic to see what the future holds.”