{
  "id": 16736283,
  "title": "Fashion's AI era: face swaps and digital clones",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/27/fashions-ai-era-face-swaps-and-digital-clones-16736283",
  "topic": "ai",
  "section": "AI",
  "published": "2026-10-27T10:24:08.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Channel News Asia",
    "slug": "channel-news-asia",
    "url": "https://www.channelnewsasia.com/business/fashions-ai-era-face-swaps-and-digital-clones-6496216"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "AI-generated fashion models present significant cost savings for brands, with reductions of up to 90% compared to traditional photo shoots. This technology poses an existential threat to the modeling industry due to a lack of regulation regarding digital twins. Modeling agencies are concerned about the possibility of unpaid replication of models' images or replacement by entirely synthetic models.\n\nReuters interviewed 15 model-agency directors and reviewed over a dozen confidential photo-shoot contracts. These contracts include provisions for swapping a model's face with another using AI, creating digital clones without additional compensation, and using images of a model's body to train AI. The contracts also contain broad legal language that could give brands wide discretion in using AI as they see fit.\n\nWhile some companies are repurposing or modifying images of existing models, others are creating fully AI-generated models. Some brands ask to modify features like facial features, body proportions, skin tone, age, or expressions after shoots using AI. Others are seeking to create digital twins of models that can be reused later without additional production costs.\n\nSome models are even helping to train their replacements by allowing the use of their images to train AI tools, often without additional pay. However, such contracts include vague language that lawyers use to claim rights that aren't explicitly stated, making it difficult for models to challenge unsanctioned use of their images.\n\nHigh-end brands like Moncler and Gucci have experimented with AI-generated models but have not adopted them widely due to concerns about the impact on the modeling industry. Some fast-fashion players, such as Spain's Mango, have already deployed AI-generated models at scale, while high-end brands are moving more cautiously. If models do not speak up about these issues, the industry could be replaced by bots within a year or even within the next six months.",
  "summary": null,
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}