LONDON/NEW YORK (Reuters) – The three women gazing into the camera in an advert for French luxury label Balmain look like they could fit in at any high-end shoot, but Shudu, Margot and Zhi are “digital models” whose rise is dividing the fashion world.
The computer-generated trio at the center of Balmain’s new campaign is the latest example of fashion brands embracing technology to lure digital-savvy younger clients.
Best known of the three is Shudu, a black digital model created by visual artist Cameron-James Wilson last year. She has her own Instagram account with 145,000 followers which describes her as “the world’s first digital supermodel”. Modeling shots include her wearing Tiffany jewelry for Vogue Australia.
Responses from the industry during New York and London fashion weeks were mixed, with designer Michael Kors among those critical of computer-generated imagery (CGI) being used in this way.
Responses from the industry during New York and London fashion weeks were mixed, with designer Michael Kors among those critical of computer-generated imagery (CGI) being used in this way.
SPONSORED
“I am not into a digital model. I am into real people with personalities and opinions,” Kors said at his show in New York.
“The idea of digital models is something that I hope does not gain popularity.”
But British designer Alice Temperley believes using CGI could help cut costs.
“I quite like the idea of doing some of that for the commercial and then spending the money on doing events,” Temperley said at London Fashion Week.
“I think CGI for computer, for website, for selling purposes, for walking backwards and forwards and showing a product on a website is genius, but not necessarily to bring life and flavor into a brand, because that’s much more personal.”
Shudu’s creator said the rise of CGI in fashion was inevitable. “After all we see CGI being used in almost every other industry,” Wilson said in an emailed statement.
Fashion Fairy 