Diversity in AI Models
Fashion has always mirrored culture… sometimes reflecting change, sometimes doubling down on exclusion. Now, as artificial intelligence moves into editorial shoots, casting, and creative direction, the same question resurfaces: what good is innovation if it only repeats the narrow ideals we claimed to outgrow?
The recent Vogue feature using AI-generated models for Guess was a warning shot. Instead of ushering in a new wave of representation, the visuals recycled fashion’s most stubborn archetype: blonde, fair-skinned figures. AI, supposedly limitless, revealed just how limited it really is when built on biased foundations.
This is not a glitch. It’s systemic.
Generative models are trained on internet-scale datasets saturated with decades of Eurocentric beauty standards: white, thin, young, symmetrical. Left unchecked, they won’t push fashion forward – they’ll drag it back.
When the future looks like the past
The irony is sharp. Runways have spent years widening their lens to feature different bodies, shades, genders, and abilities. Yet, when handed a tool that can imagine anything, the industry’s first instinct was to rehash the same old archetype. Diversity is not built into technology. It has to be programmed, curated, and demanded.
What inclusive AI really takes
If AI is going to shape fashion imagery responsibly, both its creators and the brands commissioning it have to put representation at the core. That means:
Training data designed to include darker skin tones, textured hair, and non-Eurocentric features.
Expanding representation to age and body diversity, not just racial optics.
Embedding bias detection into generative workflows.
Holding brands accountable when their “future of fashion” looks suspiciously like the past in higher resolution.
A new aesthetic code
Fashion has always sold us a vision of tomorrow. But today’s audience expects authenticity, inclusivity, and truth. An AI that only produces blonde archetypes isn’t futuristic – it’s obsolete. The real test for AI in fashion is not whether it can render perfect fabric folds or cinematic lighting. It’s whether it can expand our definition of beauty.
Diversity cannot be an afterthought. It has to become fashion’s new aesthetic code.
by
Yekaterina Burmatnova
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