Everything about the model is perfect: her hair, her look and her dress. It’s too good to be true, and the good news for normal people is that it’s not real.

The image of the perfect woman was created using artificial intelligence (AI).

When Spanish fashion brand Mango presented its summer youth campaign using the artificial model in July, even Marco Sinervo, the boss of one of Germany’s largest modeling agencies, was stunned by the “fake” as he described the avatar.

“I didn’t realize it wasn’t a real model,” he told dpa.

He wasn’t alone.

According to a survey conducted by market research institute Appinio, approximately 72% of 1000 people surveyed think that the models and clothes in the image are realistic.

“We are using AI for our clients every day, imperceptibly,” says Michael Berger, managing director of Beyond Studio, a design collective that relies heavily on AI for photo productions.

This may not be surprising, as artificial intelligence offers many advantages to companies. You don’t need to travel around the world for a photoshoot, just create a background digitally, saving time and money while also protecting the environment.

Ideally ‘AI should replace the model’

Berger says it would be cheaper for customers to not pay anything for a model. “In the best-case scenario, AI should replace the model.”

But for now, you need to take a photo of clothes and accessories on the body, as the AI ​​cannot yet depict them accurately.

This is leading to the increasing use of body models whose heads are then digitally replaced. The process is still as expensive as traditional photography. “Once AI automates this, it will become cheaper,” says Berger.

In many countries, the fashion world is increasingly relying on artificial intelligence.

Take Germany’s Otto Group, which says it has been using AI-generated models for product presentations since spring 2024.

Whether it’s a swimsuit at the beach or workout pants at the gym, “an AI model can be placed on different clothes and in a variety of environments in a matter of seconds,” a spokesperson said.

Online mail order company Zalando said in response to a question that it uses generative AI for content “primarily to create visual backgrounds for product photos.”

‘Artificial intelligence is not sexy’

Will all this make models and photographers redundant? If you ask Norbert Hansen, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Association of Licensed Modeling Agencies (VELMA), dark times are ahead for the modeling industry.

“I believe that many agencies will no longer exist within the next few years, especially if technical developments progress rapidly,” he says.

Many online stores photograph countless outfits every day, focusing on the product, not the model. “These motifs may be completely replaced by artificial intelligence in the long term,” says Hansen.

But Sinervo disagrees. “AI is not sexy,” he says.

He says using AI avatars is a step backwards rather than an innovation. “In a superficial and increasingly rapidly evolving world, people need reality.” In his opinion, technically produced models convey “a completely inhuman ideal of beauty.”

He says brands need to be “honest, approachable and authentic” to appeal to a particularly young target audience.

Fashion photographer Axl Jansen, who has photographed many stars and models, has a similar perspective. “By the third or fourth AI campaign at the latest, a certain fatigue will emerge,” he says.

He compares the current excitement surrounding AI to earlier trends in photography that were later superseded by others.

In fact, he points out that many photographers, especially from the younger generation, are returning to analog photography. “And just between us: What client wouldn’t want original images that are also legally protected?”

The best model as an AI avatar?

Jansen says that it is unclear who owns the rights to the images created by artificial intelligence, because in some countries, including Germany, there is no legal regulation in this field.

Berger explains that image rights are a crucial source of income for models, who often sell them for limited periods of time.

“But many clients want all rights forever and everywhere, which increases modeling fees.”

But thanks to artificial intelligence, companies can change their faces so that they no longer have to pay for rights.

Having their own AI avatars could allow models to “sell” themselves several times a day, increasing revenue, Berger says, while faces can be made available to clients in digital form so they don’t need to be photographed for shoots.

But this doesn’t mean much as long as the legal situation remains unclear.

Meanwhile, Sinervo says they have no interest in “working” as AI models, and their privileges would suffer as a result.

“If Kendall Jenner suddenly emerged as an AI model for an unnamed brand, she would quickly cease to be a famous supermodel.”

Tagging requirement: Is AI advertising on its way out?

The Appinio survey found that 81% of respondents want AI-generated content to be clearly labeled, a proposal that has divided the industry.

Inken Paland, who specializes in social media in the field of artificial intelligence, also supports this view. “We need to recognize AI models and understand that they are not real people because we will encounter them more often in the future.”

But Sinervo says mandatory labeling will soon dampen AI excitement in the fashion industry. “It will give a slight flavor to AI visuals and the image of brands using AI.”

Paland takes a longer view. “People tend to resist new technologies until they become normal,” he says, predicting that AI avatars will one day become “as commonplace as annoying cookies on websites.”