Levi’s is partnering with an artificial intelligence company on computer-generated fashion models to “complement human models.” The company frames the move as part of a “digital transformation journey” of diversity, equity, inclusion and sustainability. Although that sounds noble on the surface, Levi’s is essentially hiring a robot to generate the appearance of diversity while freeing yourself from the burden of paying human beings who represent the qualities you want to associate with your brand.
Levi Strauss has partnered with Amsterdam-based digital modeling studio Lalaland.ai for the initiative. Founded in 2019, the company’s mission is to “see more representation in the fashion industry” and “create an inclusive, sustainable, and diverse design chain.” Its goal is to let customers see what various fashion items would look like on a person who resembles them through “hyper-realistic” models “of every body type, age, size, and skin tone.”
levi’s advertisement echoes that brand, saying the partnership is about “increasing the number and diversity of our models for our products in a sustainable way.” The company continues: “We see fashion and technology as both art and science, and we are delighted to partner with Lalaland.ai, a company with such high-quality technology that can help us continue on our path towards a lifetime more customer experience.” diverse and inclusive.
lalaland.ai
Levi’s states: “AI will probably never fully replace human models for us” (note the qualifier “likely”). But I can’t help but see this as the first step in a slow dystopian path towards industry automation. As AI-generated “photography”, art and writing become ever more compelling, we would be naïve to take corporations at face value when they insist that movements like this are based on pro-relationship principles. public, such as celebrating diversity and caring for the environment. At the very least, it’s terribly convenient that those noble motives also allow them to mass-produce something that previously required hiring people.
levi strauss reportedly began a 12- to 19-month process to cut about 800 jobs, nearly 20 percent of its corporate workforce, last year. It was part of a restructuring plan to save about $75 million to $100 million annually.
