Thoughts On AI Revolution’s Disruption of the Fashion Industry
Over the past year AI has been all the rage, not just for the average person using apps like Gemini and ChatGPT, but also across industries. Tools have been released to increase productivity for mundane and involved tasks alike - reshaping job descriptions of the humans who used to do these tasks manually.
The biggest argument in favor of AI across industries is cost-effectiveness, and the fashion industry is no different. Companies have controversially employed AI to create ad campaigns with generated models. A recent Guess campaign featured an AI-generated model that was only distinguishable by a tiny, barely visible note on the ad. Can you spot it?
Outlets like PBS and BBC ran stories on the Guess advert, giving a voice to its critics who have raised moral issues with using AI models in general including:
Putting real models out of work
Reversing progress in diversifying representation in the fashion industry
Further altering beauty standards when customers compare themselves to people who are not real
However, discussions of AI models add a new lens to ongoing conversations about photo retouching from the past couple of decades. Society has collectively learned the psychological repercussions of consumers seeing retouched images and comparing themselves to models - particularly young impressionable women.
My Take:
Having used AI image software like Midjourney, I understand the appeal of being able to quickly generate images. The concerns critics have about AI models off the back of the Guess campaign are valid, although I believe there is a middle ground fashion companies can take to use the technology while upholding moral standards.
Large Well Known Companies: Given that they set the tone for the industry as a whole, they have a duty to feed into the ecosystem by hiring MUAs, models, venues, photographers, etc. for their advertising campaigns. AI can be used, however, during the creative concepting process to more efficiently gather inspiration which could cut down on turnaround time between concepting and production phases. Other areas that AI is currently being used that makes sense for the sector is for trend analysis/ forecasting, virtual try-ons and personalizations.
Small Businesses: Those who have tighter marketing budgets could benefit greatly from tapping into AI for their campaigns. The tradeoff with this is that there needs to be transparency on the final product. As sponsored hashtags are required when influencers post branded content on their accounts, these small businesses should include a disclaimer on their advertisements that the models and scenery was generated with AI to ground the customer viewing the ad.
Overall, what is most important for brands to consider is this: According to a 2024 study by Attest, 71% of consumers say they cannot trust advertising because of AI. If the purpose of advertising is to promote products to an audience, why sabotage that by using the very thing that is drawing their skepticism? Seems counter-intuitive to spend money to leverage AI models and subsequently spark distrust with the consumer base.