Levi Strauss & Co., a widely recognised garment manufacturer, has switched from using real people as models to using computer-generated ones. Lalaland.ai, a digital fashion studio that creates individualised AI-generated models, is one of the company’s strategic partners.
Although artificial intelligence has recently become a big issue in Silicon Valley, many experts and insiders have speculated that jobs like data entry and copywriting may soon become obsolete due to the rise of powerful generative AI like ChatGPT from OpenAI, which is backed by Microsoft. It comes as a shock, however, to learn that artificial intelligence is being used to handle fashion modelling, a job that was previously thought to be immune to automation.
Levi’s is teaming up with Lalaland.ai, a digital fashion firm that specialises in AI-generated fashion models, to help promote their wares. This collaboration will showcase clothing on models of varying ages, sizes, ethnicities, and body types. Those who shop online but have trouble finding clothes that fit because they can’t identify the models would benefit from this feature.
Although Levi’s reportedly assured Verge that the change could be maintained, the company has not provided an explanation. We don’t know yet if the models will be customizable, or if they’ll even be available on any particular platforms.
While artificial intelligence (AI) will never completely replace human models for us, we are excited for the potential capabilities this may afford us for the consumer experience,” said Amy Gershkoff Bolles, global head of digital and emerging technology strategy at Levi’s. The company has stated that it is actively attempting to increase the diversity of its human models in terms of height, weight, age range, and skin tone.
Hiring fashion models is costly, and major companies like Levi’s have already taken steps to decrease overhead. Nevertheless, it is yet unclear whether or not these changes will have a large impact on the industry as a whole. The business is enthusiastic about developing new ways to provide customers with more customised, interesting, and satisfying interactions with the brand.