Charles Ollion
Co-founder of Heuritech
Charles Ollion is a machine learning researcher and the co-founder of Heuritech, the Paris company that applies deep learning to social media images to forecast fashion trends. He founded the company in 2013 with Tony Pinville after both earned PhDs in deep learning, helping to pioneer data-driven trend forecasting.
| Role | Co-founder of Heuritech |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2013, Paris |
| Co-founder | Tony Pinville |
| Education | PhD in deep learning, Pierre and Marie Curie University |
| Since November 2024 | Heuritech part of Luxurynsight Group |
Who is Charles Ollion?
Charles Ollion is a deep learning specialist and co-founder of Heuritech. He and Tony Pinville completed PhDs in deep learning at Pierre and Marie Curie University in Paris and founded the company in 2013 with the mission of bridging artificial intelligence and business. Heuritech became known for applying image recognition to fashion, an industry where most trend analysis had traditionally been qualitative.
Career
Heuritech's core technology analyses millions of images posted on social media. Computer vision models identify more than 2,000 product attributes, including colours, prints, fabrics and shapes, and the company uses the resulting data to predict how demand will evolve. Heuritech states that its forecasts reach up to 24 months ahead with an accuracy of 92 per cent.
Key points in the company's development:
- 2013: founded in Paris by Charles Ollion and Tony Pinville
- 2016: raised 1.1 million euros
- 2019: raised 4 million euros
- November 2024: joined the Luxurynsight Group, which describes the combination as a data intelligence SaaS business for luxury, fashion and beauty
The company works with luxury maisons, sportswear brands and premium ready-to-wear labels, supporting both creative and analytical teams.
Influence on the fashion business
By quantifying what consumers actually wear and share, Heuritech gave brands a new type of signal to complement runway analysis, sales data and expert forecasting. Its work contributed to the wider adoption of data-driven trend forecasting, which is now offered by several providers and is used to inform assortment planning, buying quantities and the timing of product launches.
Charles Ollion and technology
Ollion's background is in machine learning research, and Heuritech has kept a strong research orientation: the combined team after the Luxurynsight merger includes several PhDs in machine learning alongside fashion experts. The company's method of detecting attributes in images and modelling their adoption across consumer segments is a practical example of computer vision applied to a creative industry.
Why it matters
Charles Ollion's work at Heuritech shows how academic AI research can be turned into a commercial tool for fashion. For brands seeking to reduce overproduction and improve sell-through, image-based demand forecasting has become one of the clearest applications of artificial intelligence in product planning.
Frequently asked questions
Who is Charles Ollion?
Charles Ollion is a machine learning researcher who co-founded Heuritech in Paris in 2013 with Tony Pinville. The company uses deep learning on social media images to forecast fashion trends.
How does Heuritech use AI?
Heuritech uses computer vision to detect more than 2,000 product attributes in millions of social media images and models how they spread to forecast demand. The company says its forecasts reach up to 24 months ahead.