The rise of digital models: Fashions new faces of the future replace jobs for real people

©Instagram - Shudu

The fashion industry has always been laced with that element of fantasy, luxury and excitement thus creating that new innovative feel that you are assured that will never leave you, because frankly nothing can be recycled within this industry unless you want to be labelled as a “fraud”. From Dior’s enchanted forest runway in its Autumn / Winter 2020 collection to Chanel’s rooftop madness in their Spring / Summer show in 2020, it is unquestionable that each fashion house has to remain at the top of their game and be one step ahead of one another. However, in this everlasting game of who can create the next best thing, it has constructed a new innovative idea that may be deemed “too far”, especially in the eyes of bipoc women.

The introduction of digital models was first in 2016 with Lil Miquela a model deemed to be Brazillian-American and at the bright young age of 15, however it was not until 2017 that the first virtual supermodel Shudu came to light. Shudu introduced sleek and editorial to the digital model era which eventually graced her with the title of the first digital supermodel, her creator Cameron-James Wilson stated to Elle magazine that he wanted to create a “really strong and powerful image that celebrated a beauty I don’t see represented in media often enough”. However, there is large controversy entailing that a non-bipoc man should not be profiting over bipoc bodies and consumers are starting to oppose the idea that fashion houses would rather put robots in their campaigns than people of colour.

This new invention does not come as much of a surprise in the world we live in, especially in relation to how significantly technology and social media is dominating our modern society the way it is, therefore the increasing use of technology in fashion doesn’t come at a surprise.

Although, not all people in the industry were happy to see this change introduced into the world of fashion, especially consumers. When Balmain had released their “new virtual army” campaign in late 2018 it became the tip of the ice berg for twitter users. Many spoke out regarding the fact that it was white men who were the majority owners of these virtual models and that it was these white men “profiting off of bipoc women’s bodies”, for instance such as the creator of Lil Miquela. The backlash of fashion brands making money off of bipoc modies with no compensation to them shook the industry, this is where models began to worry. The realisation soon came that their modelling gigs were being rewarded to these digital models which led them, real humans, missing out on profit. But it was not just the models who were affected by this replacement, it took job opportunities away from the camera crew, makeup artists, hair stylists, and a lot of other people. Amalia who is signed with modelling agencies globally ranging from Britain, Spain and Chile stated her opinion on the matter, “Although, the idea is interesting, it should only be used in places where there can’t be real models or have royalties pay out to models”.

When asking Amalia whether she had noticed a change in the modelling industry due to the rise of digital models she had stated that, “I have not yet been personally affected by this but I do know some people who have been rather disappointed missing out on gigs due to the fashion houses opting to go for a more technological angle”. Amalia has not been the only one to encounter disappointment over such a scenario, many people have spoken out about how it now raises beauty standards, which is not an ideal occurrence in a society that is forever changing its idealisations of what women should look like. A twitter user had commented, “In a time where young people get intimidated and insecure through unrealistic beauty standards it is a bad idea. Mental health issues are often linked to social media and the pressure. If we’re starting with unreal ‘people’ as the new standard it’s going to lead to major negative effects.”

In an industry with already existing beauty standards and pressures Amalia revealed that it does add to the stigma, “There is already enough pressure when you first enter the room with beautiful people surrounding you but you don’t address it you get on with it because you are aware that people are in the same boat, to put it briefly they have the thinking capacity, but to then see the finished result with a digitally enhanced model featured who hasn’t had to encounter the anxiety of modelling it puts us at a disadvantage and to some extent makes me feel unprofessional because I am doubting my work because I do not look as glamorous as the digital model would be”. This illustrates the damaging effect it already seems to be having on the modelling world but will the faces behind fashion pick up on the anxieties unravelling or will digital models truly become the faces of the future?