How Vogue’s AI Model Sparked the Ethics in Fashion Debate

Gen AI has sparked cultural phenomena – from the Barbie doll trend, to Ghibli character aesthetics, to amusing videos turning celebrities into babies online, to Netflix using Gen AI for the first time in its series The Eteranaut.

It has also streamlined many processes across multiple industries for improved business operations – but now, concerns are emerging about its normalisation. 

What happens if society starts viewing these artificial images as standard? Behind the fun, regulations and risks are rising.

Legal cases are creeping in between AI image generators and enterprises and AI Acts are coming into play across the world to regulate AI’s progression and protect the people surrounding it.

This is why Vogue’s use of an AI model has stirred yet another debate about ethical AI.

Fashion retailer Guess has featured an AI-generated model in Vogue magazine’s August print edition, marking the first time the publication has included an entirely artificial person in its pages. 

What’s behind Vogue’s featured AI model?

The advertisement, created by AI company Seraphinne Vallora, shows a blonde model wearing striped dresses and floral playsuits from Guess’s summer collection.

The campaign has sparked debate within the fashion industry about the implications for human models and consumers exposed to digitally perfect imagery. 

While the advertisement includes a small disclaimer identifying the model as AI-generated, critics argue the technology could exacerbate unrealistic beauty standards and threaten employment in the modelling sector.

Seraphinne Vallora, founded by former architecture students Valentina Gonzalez and Andreea Petrescu, specialises in creating photorealistic human avatars for commercial use. 

The company approached Guess Co-founder Paul Marciano through Instagram, leading to a collaboration that produced multiple AI models for the brand’s summer campaign.

“We created 10 draft models for him and he selected one brunette woman and one blonde that we went ahead and developed further,” Valentina says, according to the BBC. 

The process involves five employees and can take up to one month from conception to completion, with fees reaching six figures for major clients.

Seraphinne Vallora defending AI model technology amid industry pushback

The technology has drawn criticism from established models concerned about job displacement and the perpetuation of narrow beauty ideals. 

Model Felicity Hayward, who has worked in the industry since 2011, says to the BBC: “Either Guess is doing this to create a talking point and get free publicity or they want to cut costs and don’t think about the implications of that.”

She warns that AI models represent “another kick in the teeth and one that will disproportionately affect plus-size models”.

However, Valentina and Andreea reject claims that their technology reinforces restrictive beauty standards. “We don’t create unattainable looks – actually the AI model for Guess looks quite realistic,” Andreea says. 

“Ultimately, all adverts are created to look perfect and usually have supermodels in, so what we are doing is no different.”

The founders also acknowledge their Instagram content lacks diversity but attribute this to user engagement patterns. “We’ve posted AI images of women with different skin tones, but people do not respond to them – we don’t get any traction or likes,” Valentina says. 

“At the end of the day, we are a business and use images on Instagram that will create a conversation and bring us clients.”

The AI split: Ethics vs innovation

There are bigger developments happening across the world that show the divide enterprises and the public feel about AI’s development.

While Former US President Joe Biden implemented AI regulations safety rules, President Donald Trump says: “The American people do not want woke Marxist lunacy in the AI models,” according to the Guardian. 

“Once and for all, we are getting rid of woke. Is that OK?”

The President asserted that his predecessor Joe Biden had “established toxic diversity, equity and inclusion ideology as a guiding principle of American AI development”, the Guardian reports. 

At the same time, AI and technology leaders are being forced to sign or not sign the EU AI Act Code of Practice to regulate their uses of AI – some have signed and some have not.

Meta has rejected the proposal. Joel Kaplan, Meta’s Chief Global Affairs Officer, argues that “Europe is heading down the wrong path on AI” and warns the code would “throttle the development and deployment of frontier AI models in Europe and stunt European companies looking to build businesses on top of them”.

Meanwhile, people are feeling the sting of what can happen if AI isn’t regulated – especially through deepfakes – where such convincing AI generated images and videos have been made of people from presidents to school children.

The CEO of WPP, became a target when fraudsters created a WhatsApp account using his photograph and deployed voice cloning during a Microsoft Teams meeting. 

“We have seen increasing sophistication in the cyber-attacks on our colleagues and those targeted at senior leaders in particular,” he says in addressing the attack.

As a result? People are unprotected.

Fashion industry grappling with AI adoption and worker displacement

Sara Ziff, Founder of Model Alliance, an organisation advocating for fashion industry workers’ rights, views Guess’s campaign as cost-driven rather than innovative.

The technology affects numerous roles beyond modelling, including photographers, makeup artists and production staff typically required for traditional shoots.

“AI can positively impact the industry, but there need to be meaningful protections for workers,” Sara says.

Seraphinne Vallora disputes claims about job displacement, positioning its technology as supplementary rather than replacement. “We’re offering companies another choice in how they market a product,” Andreea says. 

The company’s website, however, lists cost efficiency as a benefit, noting the elimination of expenses for photographers, models, venues and travel.

Sinead predicts AI will create opportunities for personalised fashion experiences, allowing consumers to visualise clothing on custom avatars. 

However, she suggests public acceptance remains uncertain. “We may get to the stage of society opting out and not being interested in AI models because it’s so unattainable and we know it’s not real,” she says.