Key Takeaways:
- This week, H&M is in the news for taking steps to work directly with models and their agencies to create digital replicas that it will be able to use in AI-generated photography for social-media posts and marketing campaigns. The company has said that the models themselves will own the rights to their “digital twins,” will be compensated for their use, and will even be able to let other brands use them.
- Modelling is the lightning rod for a wider debate about the impact of AI-automation on key fashion processes, but comparatively little attention is being paid to the likely impact on photographers, makeup artists, and the other behind-the-scenes creatives whose work is at much greater risk.
- What this means for the displacement of those roles is not difficult to predict: a consolidated set of subject matter experts will sit beside creative and brand directors, in-house, as AI overseers and curators. And while this will mean slightly fewer opportunities at the top of those disciplines, the deeper concern is where junior and aspiring photographers, stylists etc. will acquire their skills.
For creative professionals, technology has always been a double-edged sword. AI is just its newest, sharpest edge – whose arc can slash costs, increase speed, automate routine tasks… but whose backswing is drastically changing what it means for people to do creative work, and who those people will be. This pendulum is visible is everywhere, from the world of pure technology, as well as in fashion.
On the big tech side, take Siemens and Dell, who this month made significant workforce reductions. Siemens revealed plans to eliminate 5,600 jobs in its Digital Industries division, attributing the cuts to challenging market conditions and incorporating more automation and AI. Similarly, Dell announced a 10% reduction in its workforce, bringing its headcount down from 120,000 to about 108,000 employees. The company cited cost-cutting and a focus on integrating AI into its operations as key factors behind the decision.
And in other industries, public and private: Morgan Stanley plans to reduce its workforce by about 2% to 3%, aligning with its focus on efficiency and automation using AI; andUK Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, declared on Sunday that at least 10,000 jobs will be cut in the Civil Service, with AI taking over key roles.
The companies currently making headlines for AI-attributable cuts, right now, are not fashion businesses. But it seems inevitable that this will change, even if the downsizing comes in areas where fewer people are looking.
As some background: in the past few years, Nike has had major layoffs, along with Vans, Columbia Sportswear, and Levi Strauss & Co. These were linked to declining sales in tough economic times, rather than AI, but as we’ve begun to see this week, large fashion businesses (especially those that are publicly traded) have tipping points beyond which the potential to reduce costs and automate processes becomes so compelling it can’t be ignored. And AI will certainly be part of the decision-making matrix that goes into those tipping points being identified from here on out.
Case in point: Marc Bain for the Business of Fashion has analysed this week what’s happening in fashion photography, where the tension between the power of generative photography and the cultural mores of consumers who want authenticity seems to be coming to a head.According to the piece, which includes quotes from people involved in the project, H&M is now working directly with models and their agencies to create digital replicas that it will be able to use in AI-generated photography, to be used in social-media posts and marketing campaigns. H&M has said that the models themselves will own the rights to their “digital twins” (a confusing label for DPC professionals, we’re sure) and will even be able to let other brands use them – not excluding H&M’s competitors.
Towards the end of the article – in a commendable moment of candour – H&M acknowledges that it doesn’t yet know the impact its AI-approach will have on the modelling industry, despite its attempts to safeguard those professionals by ensuring they are compensated. This is a sea change for an industry that has spent decades elevating models to superstar status, so it’s little wonder that brands are focused on making sure these more glamorous, top-profile people have a high seat at the table when it comes to defining compensation structures and royalties.
But what about the ecosystem of behind-the-scenes creatives (photographers, stylists, hair and makeup artists) who may not make headlines but are essential to every successful photoshoot?
As far as we see it, what will happen to these roles isn’t too hard to figure out: they will become squeezed over time. Even though Jörgen Andersson, Chief Creative Officer of H&M, mentions that “human creatives will remain indispensable,” the company also acknowledges that it doesn’t have answers on how the sift to AI photography will impact the people who have, so far, been instrumental in physical photography.
For H&M’s part, it’s encouraging to see a major brand openly addressing both the benefits and drawbacks of AI, and the message that automation has simply become too powerful to ignore is an understandable one (from a purely business perspective). But the undercurrent – one echoed by many others adopting generative product photography and videography – is a little darker: when time and cost savings pile up high enough on the table, ignoring the push for efficiency is no longer an option, no matter what the scale of the cultural pushback might be.
It’s worth a pause to think about how we got here in an ostensibly creative-led industry. The Interline is sympathetic to the commercial argument: generative photography is no doubt good enough to replace physical photography, as well as being more flexible, faster, and potentially cheaper. But the wider social question remains: if the promise of AI was to free creative people from the mundane and give them back creative time… what are going to do about the creative people who fall outside the scope of the popular debate?
The answer is as simple as it is complicated: a lot has changed in the fashion industry over the past ten years, and the ubiquity of fast fashion stands out as one of the most radical reasons for change. Fast fashion dramatically redefined production timelines, pricing strategies, and consumer expectations, forcing the fashion industry to work in faster cycles, with lower costs, and a constant stream of new trends.
And the competition out there is fiercer than ever. Looking at the figures released this week by GlobalData, e-tailer Shein’s market share is projected to have seen the largest year-on-year growth – beating out H&M, Zara, Louis Vuitton, Nike, Puma, Adidas, and more. For many brands, the luxury of taking their cold, calculating, commercial hat off so they can listen to the cultural counterargument has been taken away by a more ruthlessly competitive business model.
On the surface, Shein’s success is all about massive product drops, viral hauls, and unbelievably low prices. But behind the scenes, it’s actually a story of endless efficiency. The company is managing to capture market share and is outpacing established brands not just through scale, but by operating with a level of speed and optimisation they struggle to match.
In the face of that kind of competition, jobs that can be automated, will be. And while the industry is preoccupied with what that means for the most visible cogs in the machine, the march of automation could end up threatening not just fashion’s current crop of quieter creatives – the photographers and makeup artists we’ve been talking about – but also the cohort who were set to follow in their footsteps.
Today, junior professionals learn through hands-on experience, whether that’s in patternmaking, marketing, or photography. A fashion shoot, depending on whether it fits the definition of “catalogue,” “editorial,” or something in between, could employ a couple of people or more than twenty, and those professionals will have juniors, interns, and aspiring talent in tow., Now, as brands come to rely more and more on AI, we’re likely to see smaller numbers of subject matter experts integrated into in-house teams to guide AI and refine its output, rather than going out on creative shoots, or sitting in studios. These careers will have some level of security, but only for those who have already developed the relevant skills and are willing to work alongside emerging technologies. And likely much fewer juniors are to be included there, if at all.
So just how, exactly, are those new to a particular craft supposed to acquire new skills if the traditional model of learning on the job has vanished? One possible avenue is through self-teaching – something that is becoming more common across the fashion industry – where new talent learns traditional skills through formal education, and then acquires hybrid digital skills on the side.
This has been a pathway that people have successfully followed in 3D and digital product creation, and there may be some hope for young creatives that it could be replicated in the case of AI, even if the potential for further automation is always waiting in the wings.
The Interline spoke to Stephy Fung, a digital fashion artist, educator, and content creator whose own journey into fashion was directly tied to technology, to get her take on how digital tools might open avenues into fashion careers, rather than just closing them.
“With technology, you either adapt or get left behind,” Fung told us. “But for creatives, it’s not just about keeping up—it’s about using digital tools to open new doors and redefine what’s possible.”
“I never took the traditional route into fashion,” she continued. “It’s an industry that can be tough to break into, often requiring formal education, industry connections, or access to expensive resources. But digital tools gave me another way in. Programs like CLO3D allowed me to design without the need for physical materials, studios, or years of traditional training. They became my entry point, and through them, I was able to build a career in fashion on my own terms.”
“That’s why I see digital tools—AI, 3D programs, and beyond—not as replacements for creativity, but as powerful extensions of it. They help us work more efficiently, bring our ideas to life faster, and make creativity more accessible to people who might not have had the opportunity otherwise.I like to think of it as captaining a ship—we are the ones steering, and the tools simply help us navigate. No machine can replace human imagination, emotion, or personal storytelling. If anything, technology amplifies what makes us uniquely creative.”
Another answer to the question of where new talent will take root could be to let those in tradition refine their skills on another kind of digital twin. Consider the example of V-METICS: a new virtual cosmetics platform – and the recipient of Innovate UK’s Creative Catalyst grant – that uses Epic Games’ MetaHumans and Unreal Engine to allow users to replicate real-life makeup applications in 3D. By simulating the physics of skin, light, and materials, it aims to offer a realistic experience, enabling creators and brands to experiment with cosmetics on digital avatars as if they were applying makeup to a real person – an opportunity that might be set to become more scarce over time if real photoshoots become the exception rather than the rule.
It’s also not hard to envision how virtual work like this could evolve into “synthetic” training data for generative models – another potential revenue stream for new creatives. This may open up a future where professionals can continually refine their craft in a digital environment, while also contributing to the development of AI models that help mould the future of virtual fashion and beauty. Quite how the compensation structure and royalty model of this approach would play out is anyone’s guess, however.
But maybe this is going to be the best blueprint going forward: one that blends the creativity of the traditional world with the possibilities of new technologies, offering both security and adaptability for creatives willing to embrace the change.
The goal should be to take the best parts of the traditional industry forward alongside the opportunities presented by automation. As well as joining in the debate about how models are venerated and compensated in the age of the AI photoshoot, brands and industry leaders must still offer pathways to mentorship, where seasoned professionals pass on their skills to the next generation – whether those skills are applied on-location or in front of a keyboard.
Best from The Interline:
Kicking off this week, Hyland’s Global Director of Digital Asset Management Practice on why digital product creation is more than just a cost-cutting play, and how it’s becoming the backbone of fashion’s digital transformation.
Next up, our first weekly analysis. As AI’s influence grows, the storm continues to brew over data ownership, creator rights, and the legal framework steering its future.
And closing out the week, Moin Roberts-Islam on ‘How DPC And AI Could Combine To Advance Digital Transformation’.