Vogue's AI model means beauty standards

There is a new supermodel in town. She is impressive, stylish…and not authentic.

In the print edition of Vogue in August, the speculative ad features the perfect blonde model showing off the striped maxi dress and floral playsuit from the brand's summer collection.

In a small print in one corner, the ad reveals that she was created using AI.

Vogue says that AI models are not editorial decisions, but this is the first time an AI-generated person has introduced them in a magazine.

The ad has come across controversy and raises questions about what this means about the real models and consumers who have fought against increased diversity, especially young people, already suffering from unrealistic standards of beauty.

Seraphinne Vallora is the company behind Guess' controversial ads.

Founders Valentina Gonzalez and Andreea Petrescu have told the BBC they were approached on Instagram by Guess co-founder Paul Marciano and asked them to create an AI model as part of the brand's summer campaign.

“We created 10 draft models for him and he chose one brunette woman and a blonde we went ahead and developed further,” says Gonzalez.

She explains that there is often a misconception that generating AI images is simple, and says that it is actually a complicated process.

The company has five employees creating AI models, and it can take up to a month from the start of an idea to the finished product. The pair say they will charge up to six numbers for clients like guesses.

However, Felicity Hayward, a plus-size model who has been in the industry for over a decade, says using AI models in fashion campaigns is “lazy and cheap.”

“In either speculation, do this to do this, create a point of conversation, get free publicity, cut costs, and don't think about what it means.”

She explains Vogue's decision to include the ad as “very discouraged and very scary,” and worries that she can undermine years of work towards more diversity in the industry.

The fashion world was making real progress in the 2010s to become more inclusive. The decade marked Valentina Sampaio's first openly trance model to walk for Victoria's Secret, Halima Aden was the first model to wear a hijab in the global campaign, and brands like Savage x Fenty were plus size models on the runway.

However, in recent years, Hayward believes the industry has slipped backwards because “these people are not booked any more.”

And she warns that using AI models is “a separate kick of teeth and something that disproportionately affects plus-sized models.”

Gonzalez and Petresque assert that they will not strengthen narrow beauty standards.

“We don't create unattainable looks – in reality, the AI model of speculation looks very realistic,” says Petrescu. “In the end, all the ads are created to look perfect and usually have supermodels in them, so what we do is no exception.”

The pair acknowledge that AI images on the company's Instagram pages lack diversity and promote unrealistic standards of beauty. They say they tried to be more inclusive, but it is the users who are less involved in those posts.

“We posted AI images of women with different skin tones, but people don't respond to them — we don't get traction or anything we like,” Gonzalez tells the BBC.

“At the end, we are business, using images on Instagram to create conversations and bring clients.”

The company is still experimenting with creating plus-size women, claiming that “the technology has not progressed well enough.”

The 2024 Dove advertising campaign was designed to highlight AI bias. Advertisements require image generators to create the most beautiful women in the world, producing women who are young, thin, white, with blonde hair and blue eyes, virtually indistinguishable. The generated images appear similar to the guess AI model.

Hayward is concerned that seeing these unattainable images can affect people's mental health and can negatively affect images of their bodies.

Concerns about unrealistic beauty standards and the harmful effects they can have are nothing new. But unlike traditional airbrushes, which at least started with real people, these AI models are digitally created to make human flaws, contradictions and uniqueness look perfectly and completely visible.

While famous figures like Ashley Graham, Jameela Jamil and Bella Thorne have refused to take photos against image editing, the use of AI Sidesteps uses such conversations entirely.

Vogue's decision to include AI-generated ads has sparked a stir on social media. One user of X said, “Amazing! As if the expectations of beauty aren't quite unrealistic enough, AI comes below to make them impossible. Even models can't compete.”

Vanessa Longley, CEO of Eating Disorder Charity Beat, tells the BBC that the ads are “worried.”

“If people are exposed to unrealistic images of their bodies, it can affect their thoughts about their bodies, and poor body image increases the risk of developing an eating disorder,” she says.

In addition to this issue, the lack of transparency is not a legal requirement to label AI-generated content in the UK.

Guess labeled the ads as AI generation, but the disclaimer is small and subtle. Readers may overlook it, and the image looks completely realistic at a glance.

Former model and now a high-tech entrepreneur, Sinead Bovell wrote a Vogue article five years ago about the risks of AI that will replace modeling.

She tells the BBC that not labeling AI content is clearly “exceptionally problematic.” This is because it can have a detrimental effect on people's mental health.

“The beauty standards are already affected by AI. There are young girls who have undergone plastic surgery to make them look like the face of a filter. And now we're looking at people who are completely artificial,” she says.

Aside from the impact of AI models on consumers, what about the impact of this technology on people working in the fashion industry, especially when it's unclear?

Sara Ziff is the previous model and founder of the Model Alliance, an organization aimed at promoting workers' rights in the fashion industry.

She says the speculative AI campaign is “not about innovation, it's about despair, it needs to be reduced.”

More widely, the previous model believes that AI in the fashion industry is not exploitative in nature, but with more staff involved in photography than models and photographers, it can sacrifice those who make it happen.

“AI can have a positive impact on the industry, but it requires meaningful protection for workers,” she explains.

Seraphinne Vallora rejects the notion that it is removing people from work, stating that its pioneering technology is “complete and not intended to replace the model.”

“We offer businesses another option on how to sell their products,” explains Petrescu.

The pair add that they created jobs in their company, and part of the process of creating AI models requires hiring real models and photographers to see what the product looks like in real life.

However, its website lists one of the benefits of working together with cost-effectiveness to eliminate the need for expensive setups, MUA artists, venue rentals, setting, photographers, travel expenses and employment models.

Vogue was attacked for including advertisements in the print version. One of X says the fashion magazine has “lost credibility.”

Bovell said the magazine is “considered the Supreme Court of the fashion industry,” so allowing AI ads to run means that they “deem it in some way acceptable.”

The BBC has asked for comment on Vogue and speculation. Vogue said it was an advertisement, not an editorial decision, but refused to take further action.

So, what does the future look like in the modeling industry?

Gonzalez and Petresque believe that as their technology improves, there will be more demand from brands that are trying to do something different.

Bovell believes that there will be more AI-generated models in the future, but “all models are not directed towards the future where AI is created.”

She sees positive things in the development of AI in the industry – predicting that everyone could “start to start seeing themselves as a fashion model.”

However, she added that there is a possibility that we will reach a stage where “society opts out and we are not interested in AI models, so we know it's very unachievable and not real.”