Levi Strauss To Begin Phasing-Out Live Models With AI-Generated Ones To Cut Costs

The clothing company Levi Strauss & Co. will now begin to “supplement” their brand with faux models with artificial intelligence, while also using the technology to promote “diversity” and “equality.”

The company made the announcement last week in a press release, which reads:

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Today, LS&Co. announced our partnership with Lalaland.ai, a digital fashion studio that builds customized AI-generated models. Later this year, we are planning tests of this technology using AI-generated models to supplement human models, increasing the number and diversity of our models for our products in a sustainable way.

Founded in Amsterdam in 2019, Lalaland.ai uses advanced artificial intelligence to enable fashion brands and retailers to create hyper-realistic models of every body type, age, size and skin tone. With these body-inclusive avatars, the company aims to create a more inclusive, personal and sustainable shopping experience for fashion brands, retailers and customers.

While AI will likely never fully replace human models for us, we are excited for the potential capabilities this may afford us for the consumer experience.

We see fashion and technology as both an art and a science, and we’re thrilled to be partnering with Lalaland.ai, a company with such high-quality technology that can help us continue on our journey for a more diverse and inclusive customer experience.

Dr. Amy Gershkoff Bolles, global head of digital and emerging technology strategy at Levi Strauss & Co., said

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Today, when you shop on Levi.com or in our app, we generally have one model for each product. We know our customers want to shop with models who look like them, and we believe our models should reflect our consumers, which is why we’re continuing to diversify our human models in terms of size and body type, age and skin color. This AI technology can potentially assist us by supplementing models and unlocking a future where we can enable customers to see our products on more models that look like themselves, creating a more personal and inclusive shopping experience.

Diversity, equity and inclusion is a top priority for us at LS&Co., and it’s important to note we do not see AI-generated models as a sole solution. In fact, over the past year, we’ve been focused on ensuring that not only is our work diverse, but those working on the content both in front of and behind the camera are reflective of our broad consumer base — and we’re continuing to do just that.

LS&Co. is always focusing on our digital transformation journey, and we’re balancing digital fundamentals with investing in emerging technology to keep us at the forefront of innovation. Using our innovation framework for evaluating emerging technologies, we’re continuing to particularly explore technologies that improve the customer experience, whether in-store or online. We are excited to continue creating innovative customer experiences that are more personal, relevant and engaging, adding value for both our customers and our business.

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AUTHOR COMMENTARY

“Supplement” is a nice word for replace. The company maybe marketing this as some silly diversity pitch, but the root of all of this is about cutting costs. As inflation continues to eat at the consumer and businesses, forcing sales downward, you are going to see more and more companies do this. It has NOTHING to do with diversity and equity: it has everything to do with trimming the fat so they don’t have to pay for models, which is probably a good portion of their annual expenses.

Models replaced today, brick & mortar stores closing tomorrow.

A feast is made for laughter, and wine maketh merry: but money answereth all things.

Ecclesiastes 10:19

Moreover, the same can be said for the robot craze. Businesses and products are going autonomous, powered by AI, which therefore will phase-out more and more staff.

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[7] Who goeth a warfare any time at his own charges? who planteth a vineyard, and eateth not of the fruit thereof? or who feedeth a flock, and eateth not of the milk of the flock? [8] Say I these things as a man? or saith not the law the same also? [9] For it is written in the law of Moses, Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn. Doth God take care for oxen? [10] Or saith he it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written: that he that ploweth should plow in hope; and that he that thresheth in hope should be partaker of his hope. (1 Corinthians 9:7-10).

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