These models gave up photoshoots to sell their AI likenesses
Summary
Platforms like AI Fashion give models an opportunity to appear in paid campaigns just by providing old images of themselves and letting AI do the rest.For Andrei Burak, modeling was mostly a side gig—a way to make a little cash as he worked his way up from lighting assistant to producer after moving from Belarus to Los Angeles five years ago.
He did a number of photoshoots and even walked in LA Fashion Week twice, but at times, modeling was “super stressful," he said, between the long waits in casting lines, probing questions from casting directors and constant rejection.
Burak isn’t standing in any more casting lines these days. Earlier this year, he uploaded a few dozen photos of himself, including selfies and professional shots from his portfolio to AI Fashion, a platform that pays models to use their likenesses in artificial-intelligence-generated images for fashion campaigns and e-commerce sites.
Brands can now connect with him via AI Fashion and he can approve or deny their offers. If he approves, AI Fashion will be able to generate photos of him modeling that brand’s apparel.
“It’s a great opportunity," he said. AI Fashion is a source of passive income while he focuses on running his production company.
Other startups in the market use AI to generate images of models posing in a brand’s outfits.
AI Fashion’s differentiating factor, according to co-founder and Chief Executive Daniel Citron, is its focus on keeping real models involved in the process. And in many ways the company is a bet that brands will opt to do that, either because of not wanting to cut models out of the creative process or the reputational risk associated with solely relying on AI models.
Last year, Levi Strauss received backlash over its partnership with Lalaland AI because of its promise to represent clothing on more diverse bodies. Social-media users criticized Levi’s choice to commission virtual models instead of hiring real people from diverse backgrounds.
Doug Weiss, senior vice president of digital, e-commerce and AI for Anne Klein parent company WHP Global, said part of the reason the clothier is working with AI Fashion is “because it is creating new opportunities for both models and brands. Keeping the human creative at the center of the process."
Model pay rates depend on factors such as the popularity of the brand and model and the number of images.
Mikaela Kelley, now a stay-at-home mom based in Los Angeles, was selected for Anne Klein’s pilot of AI Fashion’s technology. She said she appreciates the opportunity to make passive income, but at the same time she did have concerns when she was initially approached by a friend about joining the platform.
“AI did intimidate me, because it’s always been associated with negative impacts, like having your identity stolen," Kelley said. She also cited concerns about giving up some level of control by allowing a third party to generate images in a context they decide on, she said. AI Fashion said it can generate images of models in various poses, settings, lighting and clothing.
After doing some research, Kelley said, she decided she did want to be a part of AI Fashion, adding that she appreciates the company’s focus on model autonomy. She gets to turn down any campaigns she doesn’t feel comfortable representing—anything too edgy or revealing, for instance.
Another model chosen for the Anne Klein pilot project, Leticia Jacobson, said it was surreal the first time she saw an AI-generated photo of herself. “It was a little bit of an out of body experience," she said.
But she plans to stay on the platform. “AI is sort of an inevitable part of our lives with each passing day," she said. “And I think, if there’s a way to keep the human element as a part of that and actually become financially beneficial to people who partake in it, I don’t see why not."
Write to Isabelle Bousquette at isabelle.bousquette@wsj.com
