The modelling industry is currently in the process of being revolutionised by the use of artificial intelligence in fashion campaigns and photoshoots. Model Alexsandrah Gondora from London is one of the first to experiment with this as she has used an AI replica of herself to be in ‘two places at once’. While Gondora walks the physical runways at London Fashion Week, her digital twin is doing the photoshoots from afar, which is both faster and doesn’t require constant travelling.
The application of AI in modeling has become a significant game changer for fashion designers and retailers in their e-commerce imagery and advertising. Some shots that used to be tricky and costly to create can now be done easily and quickly with the help of technology. For instance, an ad campaign in the French Alps that could have been developed to cost 35,000 euros can now be done for 500 euros with AI in a matter of days.
However, this technological shift brings about some issues on the issue of real life models and the advancement of the idealized beauty standards. Many small businesses, who cannot pay models to model their products, are now using AI-generated images. But, there is one controversy concerning the ethical usage of AI; some companies get images from the internet and use them without informing or even paying the models.
This being the case, New York will enact the “Fashion Workers Act” this summer to regulate fair work in the modelling industry.
Despite all these, Gondora is positive that the use of AI can be beneficial if used properly and pointed out that with the help of AI models, a model can work forever. It has been since the birth of Shudu Gram in 2017, the first digital supermodel with more than 237k followers on Instagram, that the modelling industry has begun to integrate this digital shift.
