Technology has a huge impact in the fashion world, as well. It is unbelievable that now you can see all the most majestic fashion shows with the view from the front row and you do not even need to have a ticket or special invitation. You are just at home, eating tasty pepperoni pizza, drinking Coke Zero in your pyjamas with messy hair and admiring Chanel's elegance with every bite. Imagine the fashion lovers from the 20th century who can not enter those "private spaces " or "fashion parades", and who just read about them in the newspapers and everything what they had was their own imagination.
What if I tell you that today's digital technology can make some very big changes speaking not only about revolutionary concept of runway shows or futuristic clothes? Have you ever thought about the replacing of the real models with the virtual ones?
Unreal is getting real. Are models' days really numbered? And what about influencers?
Miquela Sousa, better known as Lil Miquela is the fashion's first CG influencer. Her Instagram is full of an endless stream of "outfit-of-the-day" shots, featuring Supreme, Vetements, Chanel or Vans. She shares pictures of herself attending various events, along with inspirational quotes. Her instagram followers (more than 900 000 !) are called "Miquelites". There is one thing - she is NOT real. She is completely generated by computer.
In February, Vogue dubbed her the "Fictional It Girl" and people have different opinion about her existency. For example, Justin Rezvani, the founder and former CEO of TheAmplify, thinks that "social medias, Instagram is not you. It is just a digital version of you." He believes that the era of the social influencer has just begun and will continue to push into virtual spaces.
But Giordano Contestabile, CEO of Bloglovin, says something different. "The human aspect of influencer marketing is the key to it. I do not know how you can replicate that. Getting someone to follow you on Instagram is easy, but getting someone to identify and create an emotional connection, that is a different challenge. You can not fake it!"
I totally agree with Giordano. Yes, tech will make changes, but it is pretty weird for me to pretend that someone who is generated by computer is a real person with feelings who can influence you!
Another story is Shudu - the world's first virtual supermodel. She shot to fame after a picture of her wearing Fenty's bright orange lipstick . Her ultra lifelike look have fooled many of her followers, with several praising her good looks and amazing figure. Shudu is the artistic creation of Cameron - James Wilson, British photographer, who used 3D modelling software to animate her. "I think of her as a kind of mannequin. Once you have created her, you can pose her and give her an expression. It is like having a doll, a dress-up Barbie."
Tameka Small, a skin care professional, firstly thought that Shudu is a real person. She thinks the fact that Shudu is a digital supermodel brings a whole new dimension to the way a company can market its products. She finds it very cool.
The question is, if Shudu and the virtual models in general, could really replace the real models. Do you think you will look at their clothes, attitude and gestures in the same way? Do you think they could fake emotions or wake up yours? It is little bit scary if we live in the world, where we easily loose control over the reality and thus we can not exactly know if we are looking and talking with a real person or not. The next thing is, you see their perfection which makes you feel worse, because (of course) real people have some beauty flaws, which, by the way, make them special. Clothes are made for real people, who thanks to them can express themselves, so why we need to create the avatars, who will fake the passion for fashion? Is a business really the only thing what is the most important for us?
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