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Built a virtual try-on application that lets users try on garments over WhatsApp. A user sends a photo through WhatsApp, and the app returns a realistic image of them wearing the selected garment, no app download or website visit required.
Designed and built the system end-to-end, from the WhatsApp messaging integration through to the try-on generation pipeline, as a self-contained product demonstrating conversational commerce for fashion/retail use cases.
Key Challenges:
- Frictionless UX over a messaging app: WhatsApp isn't built for structured app interactions, so the flow had to feel natural through simple image and text messages, not clunky commands.
- Reliable image handling: Incoming photos vary wildly in quality, lighting, and pose, and had to be received, processed, and matched with garment images reliably.
- Fast turnaround: Users expect a near-instant reply on a messaging app, so the backend had to handle image processing and model inference without long delays.
- Stitching third-party services together: Twilio's WhatsApp API and Gradio's try-on model weren't built to talk to each other, so the app had to bridge them cleanly.
Approach:
WhatsApp integration via Twilio
-Set up Twilio's WhatsApp API to receive incoming user images and send outgoing try-on results, handling the messaging layer end-to-end.
Flask backend as the orchestration layer
-Built a Flask application to receive Twilio webhooks, manage the request flow, and coordinate between incoming user images and the try-on model.
Virtual try-on generation with Gradio
- Integrated Gradio's virtual try-on model to generate the final garment-on-user image, returning a realistic composite result.
End-to-end flow design
- Connected the pieces so a user's WhatsApp message triggers the full pipeline automatically: receive image → process → generate try-on → send result back, all within a single conversation.
Results & Impact
- A working conversational shopping experience built entirely on a messaging app users already have open every day.
- Zero-download, zero-signup try-on flow — removes the biggest friction point in getting users to try a new AI-powered feature.
- A reusable integration pattern connecting Twilio, Flask, and a generative vision model, applicable to other WhatsApp-based commerce or personalization tools.
Provided Services & Solutions
📌 Conversational App Development
📌 WhatsApp API Integration (Twilio)
📌 Backend Development (Flask)
📌 Generative AI Integration (Gradio virtual try-on model)
📌 Third-Party API Orchestration
Tech Stack: Python · Flask · Twilio WhatsApp API · Gradio
If you want an AI-powered experience built directly into a channel your customers already use, like WhatsApp, let's talk.
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