By Stuart Kerr, Technology Correspondent
🗓️ Published: 17 July 2025 | 🔄 Last updated: 17 July 2025📩 Contact: liveaiwire@gmail.com | 📣 Follow @LiveAIWire
🔗 Author Bio: https://www.liveaiwire.com/p/to-liveaiwire-where-artificial.html
A Digital Face for the Fashion World
The runway, once ruled by the supermodel, is now being challenged by something synthetic. Around the globe, artificial intelligence is reshaping fashion's frontlines—designing virtual models, crafting entire campaigns, and even walking (digitally) in runway shows. As these hyperreal avatars grow more convincing, the industry faces a pressing question: Are real models being modelled out?
According to the Financial Times, brands like Levi’s and H&M have already integrated AI models into their marketing pipelines. These virtual influencers require no makeup, no travel, no catering—and crucially, no days off. They can be digitally altered to fit any demographic, body type, or branding brief, offering precision that’s impossible with humans.
The Promise of Diversity
AI proponents argue that virtual models can democratise fashion. The Netherlands-based company Lalaland, for example, offers brands the ability to showcase clothing on avatars of various sizes, ethnicities, and ages. A recent Associated Press article suggests this could help consumers see themselves reflected more accurately in retail advertising.
But critics warn the promise of inclusivity may be a mirage. As explored in The AI Gender Gap, the tech industry often encodes its own biases into the systems it builds. If a virtual model’s skin tone or body shape is just a variable in a marketing strategy, is that true representation—or digital tokenism?
The Runway Disrupted
AI-generated fashion models don’t just pose—they adapt. Through machine learning, they can simulate emotions, mirror consumer responses, and even "age" in line with brand identity. As shown in The Fashion Law, this raises both creative and legal complexities.
Who owns an AI model’s likeness? Can an algorithm be copyrighted? What happens when a model—real or synthetic—becomes a brand in itself? And should we worry that as digital faces dominate, actual jobs disappear?
A report from the Archives of Design Research reveals that while some designers use generative tools to accelerate creative workflows, others fear being replaced by systems that require no sleep and no salary.
Style Meets IP Law
The rights of real-life models are governed by contract, consent, and compensation. But AI models operate in a grey zone. As discussed in Ghost Writers of the Courtroom, the legal system is still playing catch-up when it comes to AI-generated likenesses.
In some cases, deceased or retired models have been digitally revived for new campaigns—raising questions about posthumous consent and brand legacy. Fashion houses must now consider whether recreating a recognisable face without explicit permission crosses the line from tribute to trespass.
The Future of the Face
A recent ICAIR paper outlines the broader ethical implications of AI in fashion: environmental sustainability, digital labour rights, and creative authenticity. While AI can help forecast trends and reduce waste, it can also dilute the emotional impact of storytelling—replacing human nuance with neural efficiency.
As we saw in The Algorithm Will See You Now, the issue is not just whether a system works, but whether it works for us. Does the rise of AI models enhance fashion—or erode its humanity?
Walking the Line
AI fashion models are no longer an experiment; they are an evolution. Whether that evolution benefits the industry—or hollows it out—depends on how we balance innovation with integrity.
The catwalk isn’t disappearing. But who—or what—walks it next may never blink, breathe, or break a sweat. And in that perfection, we may lose the very flaws that made fashion relatable in the first place.
About the Author
Stuart Kerr is the Technology Correspondent at LiveAIWire. He writes about AI’s impact on infrastructure, governance, creativity, and power.
📩 Contact: liveaiwire@gmail.com | 📣 @LiveAIWire