Anthony Kwok at Digital Innovation festival

Anthony Kwok: Transforming online shopping

In the first of our series on the finalists of the Luminary Tech Visionary category of the Victorian Young Achiever Awards, we profile Anthony Kwok – co-founder of ZILIO, an innovative online fitting technology.

Clarice Greening

09 April 2025

4 minute read

Anthony Kwok at Digital Innovation festival

Anthony Kwok blended his love of problem-solving, childhood dreams of becoming an entrepreneur and hands-on experience from his first job in fashion retail to get the idea for Size Advisor by ZILIO, whilst studying at Monash University.

ZILIO’s mission is to address the problem of uncertain sizing for customers, making online shopping more accessible, inclusive and empowering for everyone, whilst reducing returns and the fashion industry’s carbon footprint.

What started as an idea for a 3D virtual fitting room using garment digitisation on personalised avatars, was then streamlined into Size Advisor, which is a quicker online tool for customers.

Size Advisor uses enhanced technology and AI to predict body measurements and recommended sizing based on the specific style and fit of garments, rather than just a blanket size guide model. 

Bringing his ideas to life

The idea was born when Anthony was working at fashion retailer David Jones, where he fell in love with styling customers and seeing how much fashion genuinely had an impact on people and their confidence. But with days often ruined by hundreds of frustrated customers returning online orders that didn’t fit properly, his business brain kicked in. Bingo.

He too had experienced the failures of online shopping, and sizing guides not being correct. Anthony said “The final straw for me was that I had ordered a nice new pair of shorts online, however when they arrived, they fit me like a pair of booty shorts. If I had left the house with those, I had no doubt that I would have been arrested by the fashion police and probably the actual police too, at the same time.”

Starting a technology business at the age of 24 is challenging in itself. There is the challenge of having to secure the investment to implement your unproven idea, investors withdrawing, hiring the right people to help you bring your vision to life, and the uncertainty of it all paying off.

But the same year he founded ZILIO, Anthony suffered two strokes, which was not something he could ever have prepared for. His recovery would then take years – having to regain his full cognitive functions, and re-learning the basics of walking, talking and thought processing all over again. 

Zilio Size Advisor

The impact of Size Advisor so far

ZILIO has secured letters of intent with eight major brands so far, and is currently being used by one of Australia’s largest uniform retailers, servicing major brands like Coles and Woolworths.

The stats are clear too. Consumers are eight times more likely to convert and buy clothing when Size Advisor is involved in the purchase journey, and it has been proven to reduce returns up to 40 percent for clients so far.

The byproduct of this reduction in returns is a more sustainable shopping method. Up to 70 percent of all online returns are caused by sizing issues, and this in turn contributes to the nearly 10 billion pounds of landfill waste produced a year.

As well as sustainability and reduction in returns, Anthony has always had the importance of accessible and inclusive fashion front of mind. Seeing what fashion can do for people and how it can shape their identities is something that continues to drive his ideas. 

“I saw its potential to massively extend the reach of fashion. Now fashion could empower people to express themselves in ways previously limited by geographical and retail boundaries.”

What next for ZILIO?

Anthony’s hope is to ‘make dressing yourself in real life, as easy as in a video game’. 

His vision is for ZILIO to become a leader in the fashion space with the development of his initial idea of a fully-fledged 3D virtual fitting room, with custom avatars and capabilities to integrate with other fashion brands. He also continues to work with his team to actively improve the functionalities and user experience of Size Advisor, and stay ahead of the competition.

Most recently, ZILIO was one of eight out of over one hundred sustainable fashion companies in Australia to be selected to pitch for eBay's sustainability fund. ZILIO was also selected as one of thirteen startups, out of 1500 applicants worldwide to participate in the Startupbootcamp FashionTech accelerator program in Milan, backed by industry giants like Prada and Valentino.

Size Advisor software

Anthony said "Winning the Tech Visionary award would really mean the world to us at ZILIO. We've just come out of a really rough period  - tight funding and a diminishing runway had us trapped for a long time, but we never gave up. Getting this award after such a tough time would be an amazing gesture to the hard work and dedication of our team. It would really lift everyone's spirits and show that sticking through the tough times can lead to great things."

The winners of the Victorian Young Achiever Awards, including the Luminary Tech Visionary Award, will be announced at a gala dinner in Melbourne on 9 May.


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