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- Craig, welcome, two hot topics

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in fashion right now, sustainability,

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and of course, AI, particularly Gen AI.

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Let's go for Gen AI first, shall we?

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How are you seeing it impact the industry?

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And how are you at American Eagle

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managing such a fast-changing tech?

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- Honestly, I think Gen AI is
the most controversial topic

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in fashion right now.

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Why do I say that?

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Our brands are founded on
the principle of being real,

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and Gen AI has the potential
of being the opposite.

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So I think as we think about
our creative going forward,

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I think we have real,
moral, ethical, legal,

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and brand decisions to work through

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before we fully embrace
this new technology.

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- What is top of your mind
about it at the moment?

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There are all those risks,

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but are you looking at
some of the potentials too?

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- Absolutely.

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Below the line, we're
very excited about things

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like media optimization,
inventory optimization,

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but I think above the line,

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especially for our core Gen Z audience,

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what we're concerned about

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is the high BS meter
that our customer has.

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And when they see something
that doesn't feel authentic,

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that doesn't feel real,
they'll call us out.

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So we got to get this right.

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- And the second big broad topic,

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we're not going to be able
to do either justice here

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in this short amount of time,
but it's sustainability.

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What impact are you seeing
that have on the industry

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and how it's responding to it

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and how you yourselves are responding?

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- I actually think sustainability

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is one of the most
exciting topics in retail.

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This just in, Gen Z talks out
of both sides of their mouths,

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and on one side, I
think you have companies

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like American Eagle that are really making

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some nice progress to have
a more sustainable future.

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Almost 100% of our jeans
are now sustainably made.

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Unfortunately, on the
other side of the equation,

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you have some bad actors who
are making some bad decisions

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for our planet, and I love
the fact that sustainability

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and the progress we're making

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gives Gen Z a choice on who to vote for.