Hey, twin, a renewed wave of AI concerns is roiling the fashion world. H&M has been working with models and agencies to create “digital twins” that are indistinguishable from their human counterparts and might soon appear in online marketing campaigns, the Business of Fashion reported last week.
Here’s what in the uncanny valley is going on, according to BoF:
- H&M is planning to digitize 30 models this year “down to their birthmarks and movement patterns” by photographing them from a variety of angles under different lighting. A tech company called Uncut will help with the rest.
- Participating models own the rights to their virtual likenesses and would be able to negotiate payment for their twin’s e-commerce spot “exactly the same” as they would for traditional jobs, an H&M spokesperson said. Models may also book their digital selves for other brands’ shoots.
- H&M has already replicated a few high-profile models, including Vilma Sjöberg and Mathilda Gvarliani, who have modeled for Vogue and Chanel.
This is some of the most convincing AI imagery yet. A slim majority of BoF staff correctly identified Gvarliani’s real photos in an internal survey. Another model’s own boyfriend couldn’t tell the difference between her real shoot and her digital twin’s.
“People will be divided,” H&M Chief Creative Officer Jörgen Andersson acknowledged (with seemingly no pun intended). He said AI will infiltrate the industry one way or another, so models and agencies should get a stake. On the flipside:
- Enabling models to essentially work multiple jobs at the same time could shut out rising stars, concentrating the talent pool.
- E-commerce photoshoots using a digital twin likely wouldn’t need a full crew, which could hurt makeup artists and other on-set creative and technical workers.
Fifty-four percent of the Broadcasting, Entertainment, Communications and Theatre Union in the UK thinks AI will negatively affect the fashion industry.
Just in time: A New York bill going into effect in June will protect fashion workers’ rights to their digital replicas and require that brands and agencies only use them with models’ written consent.—ML