For decades, fashion thrived on faces, bodies, and illusions. But today, a mouse click replaces what once required studios, photographers, and models. Algorithms take over – quietly, efficiently, and irreversibly.
The Creeping End
The era of living models does not end with an outcry, but with a mouse click. In the past, every change in the fashion world meant scandals, debates, and new ideals. Today the end comes without pathos and drama. Why pay for real bodies when algorithms create flawless avatars – compliant, cheap, and soulless? There is no protest, no resistance, only the cold, efficient replacement by code. This change is not a rupture, but a creeping dehumanization.
Bodies Without Faces
Some time ago, platforms like Farfetch or MyTheresa began removing the heads of their models from product photos. What remained was only the torso, reduced to its last function: to present clothing. From a human being with a name and charisma to a faceless doll, from mannequin to avatar – it was only a matter of time. Personality escapes control, predictability on the other hand can be programmed.
The Power of the Pose
In fashion photography, the law is: clothing does not sell without a body. From Richard Avedon’s stagings to Peter Lindbergh’s black-and-white icons, models were projection surfaces that transformed fabrics into stories. A glance could create desire, a pose could define an entire collection. Yet therein lay fragility as well: fashion depended on the human being, on his or her charisma and ability to embody a promise.
The Medium of Seduction
Fashion was never just fabric, but always also body. Posture, sexuality, youth – only through the wearer did the garment receive its aura. With seductive poses, full lips, thick hair, and smooth skin, models transformed cotton and polyester into a promise never fulfilled. The body was both medium and catalyst: a two-dimensional lure that carried the product into the real world. Yet precisely this principle made it vulnerable. Today algorithms accomplish what was once left to the chance of biology. The human body as a place of desire has served its time.
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