Artificial intelligence gains space as a competitive differentiator in companies — Photo: Artificial Intelligence
For the fashion industry, however, technology represents a threat to the very survival of the profession.
There are few rules about who can own a digital replica of a person and how it can be used. As a result, models run the risk of having their images reproduced without additional compensation or being replaced by entirely artificial versions.
To understand how artificial intelligence is changing the economics of modeling work, Reuters interviewed 15 agency directors and analyzed more than a dozen confidential photo shoot contracts.
In the documents, brands such as Diesel, Calvin Klein and L'Oréal presented proposed conditions for altering images with AI and defining how they could be used in the future.
Among the requirements set out in the contracts were the right to swap a model's face with that of another person with artificial intelligence, create a digital copy of the professional without paying extra and use images of their body to train AI systems.
The documents, not yet signed, also contained broad clauses that could give brands the freedom to use the technology in different ways.
While some companies want to reuse or modify images of real models, others resort to models entirely generated by artificial intelligence, without reproducing the appearance of real people.
With the expansion of technology, agencies are seeing a drop in the number of jobs booked, photo studios are closing and models are at risk of losing an important source of income: photo shoots for fast fashion stores, which are constantly adding new collections to their websites.
"In a year, or even in the next six months, there will be fewer jobs for models, especially in our main source of income, which is e-commerce," Adot Gak, a London-based model who has graced the cover of Harper's Bazaar magazine and participated in campaigns for brands such as Balmain and H&M, told Reuters.
"If we don't speak out about this, in two years the entire industry will just be robots," he said.
While fast fashion companies, such as Spain's Mango, are already adopting AI-generated models on a large scale, luxury brands are moving forward with more caution.
Moncler tested a campaign created with artificial intelligence in 2023. This year, Gucci sparked controversy in the fashion sector by publishing AI-generated images on Instagram.
Moncler said it does not currently use models generated by artificial intelligence on its website or in its campaigns. Gucci did not respond to Reuters' requests for comment.
"The scariest part is that now people can't tell the difference between a real model and an AI-created model," Gak said.
Swapping faces and 'digital twins'
Artificial intelligence allows retailers to repeatedly modify images of models wearing different clothes and reuse them at a fraction of the cost of new photo shoots.
"Some brands ask to modify faces, bodies, skin, age or expressions after photo shoots using AI. Others are asking about creating 'digital twins' of models, which could be reused later without the need for new production," said Patrick Staal, owner of modeling agency Uniko Models in Barcelona.
In a selection form for a photo shoot, the Italian brand Diesel asked models to authorize the "alteration or reconstruction of facial features and body proportions", in addition to the "exchange of faces between the participating models" and the "superimposition of the participant's face on another person's body".
OTB, Diesel's parent company, told Reuters that the document was prepared for a specific campaign and does not represent the company's usual contracts. The company stated that it does not systematically modify models with artificial intelligence.
Reale Actives, the skin-care brand launched this year by social media personality Alix Earle, uses the slogan "The real you is the perfect you."
However, in a contract reviewed by Reuters, the brand asked for the right to create AI-generated model replicas and to "own" and use these versions for a year, without paying additional remuneration.
In a statement, Reale Actives stated that it works with real models and has never reproduced any of them with artificial intelligence. The company said the contract was written by a partner production company, whose name it declined to disclose.
Models may be training their replacements
In some cases, the models themselves may be helping to train the systems that will replace them in the future. Clauses in some contracts allow your images to be used to train artificial intelligence tools.
A preliminary version of a Calvin Klein contract analyzed by Reuters provided that the model authorized, without additional payment, the use of "reasonably unrecognizable images of the model (without characteristics that allow identification, such as face, scars, tattoos or others)" to train and improve AI tools capable of learning general characteristics of models.
In a statement, a Calvin Klein spokesperson said: "Like many others, we are testing and learning in this rapidly evolving environment." He added that the brand's use of artificial intelligence follows regulations, industry standards and respect for models' rights.
In many cases, contracts include expressions such as "including" or "not limited to." Lawyers use these expressions to broaden the scope of rights granted and cover situations that are not explicitly described.
Melanie Howard, partner and head of the luxury brands practice at the law firm Loeb & Loeb, in Los Angeles, represents brands and professionals in contract negotiations. According to her, this type of comprehensive writing "is dangerous because of its ambiguity."
In a photo shoot contract reviewed by Reuters, France's L'Oréal asked for "the right to use artificial intelligence (AI) technologies [...] including to modify, enhance or adapt the appearance of cosmetic products, packaging or shades, as well as for retouching purposes."
Without commenting specifically on the clause, L'Oréal stated that it uses conventional artificial intelligence tools in post-production and editing, without altering the model's image.
'We're saving a lot of money'
Some companies are openly embracing artificial intelligence to replace models and save money.
Zalando, Europe's largest online fashion retailer, quickly adopted AI-generated images in its marketing materials and closed its two photography studios in Berlin last year.
About You, the fast fashion retailer acquired by Zalando in July last year, also closed its studio.
In total, Zalando eliminated more than 340 jobs, but said it kept some of those employees in other roles.
Now About You is launching Scayle Studios, a company that produces digital images for other retailers using artificial intelligence-generated models. The company promises to reduce production costs by more than 90%.
According to a spokesperson, Scayle has 130 brands as clients and generated 190,000 looks images last month.
"We're saving a lot of money," said Julian Jansen, vice president of marketing at About You.
"There have always been two worlds: that of e-commerce, which is extremely fast, and that of traditional photo shoots, which are very slow. They didn't fit together at all. Now, with artificial intelligence, everything works on a completely different scale," he said.
Little regulation
Laws in different parts of the world have not kept up with the advancement of threats that artificial intelligence poses to models' income.
An exception is the New York State Fashion Workers Act, which, since June 2025, prohibits brands from creating or modifying replicas of models without the professionals' explicit consent.
“The misuse of model images is nothing new, but artificial intelligence is accelerating this problem tenfold,” said Sara Ziff, founder and executive director of Model Alliance, a New York-based nonprofit that supported the law’s passage.
Ziff, who has also worked as a model for years, advocates for similar laws in other US states and at the federal level.
The British Association of Modeling Agents has drawn up a code of conduct for the use of artificial intelligence. The document requires the model's consent to use the technology and provides that the professional is the owner of their eventual digital twin.
John Horner, director of the association, stated that, without mandatory rules in the United Kingdom and Europe, the models still run the risk of being exploited by less scrupulous agents.
"Many young talents still don't fully understand the long-term consequences," said Staal, director of the modeling agency in Barcelona. "Giving up rights to the use of your image by artificial intelligence at age 20 can still affect someone ten years later."
