Digital apparel development software company Brozwear recently announced that they have acquired Lalaland, a Black-owned tech startup that creates AI-generated models for e-commerce.
Announced in a LinkedIn post, the Singapore-based company gave little updates on the transaction and the future of the project, but expressed excitement about the newest venture.
Created in 2019 by technology entrepreneur Michael Musandu in partnership with Ugnius Rimsa, Lalaland was founded with the intention of replacing traditional human models in efforts to reduce costs and increase diversity in representation by creating full-body AI-generated supermodels.
The Dutch-based company has received a wide range of support in its endeavors. In 2020, along with receiving pre-seed funding from venture capital ASIF Ventures, Lalaland won the 15th Philips Innovation Award.
The next year, they were selected as one of the participants of Google’s Black Founders Fund. After making an appearance in the European Forbes 30 under 30 list, Musandu and Ugnius announced a new partnership with denim company Levi Strauss & Co.
Through the collaboration, the fashion company announced a pilot program to increase the number and diversity of the models represented within their brand, along with live photo shoots. With the help of Lalaland, the Levi brand honed in on supplementing their website with models representative of all consumers.
“As pioneers in AI-generated fashion models, the Lalaland team brings deep expertise in both artificial intelligence and fashion, with a strong foundation in VStitcher and years of hands-on experience at the intersection of technology and design,” said Browzwear in the post when announcing the new acquisition.
Although AI is expected to continue to expand, many are protesting its use in the fashion world.
Last week, the newest issue of Vogue received backlash for its Guess advertisements featuring AI-generated models.
The models were reportedly created by a London-based AI marketing agency, Seraphinne Vallora. Two different models have been created for usage, including a blonde model named Vivienne and a brunette model named Anastasia.
Across social media sites such as TikTok and Instagram, Vogue readers expressed their disappointment with the ad, highlighting how the expansion of AI models could mean less work for human models and photographers.
Psychologists are also emphasizing the psychological damage AI-generated models could have when it comes to unrealistic beauty standards.
“The more we’re exposed to these images, they become normalized to us, and we start to basically idealize these images that don’t actually exist,” said psychologist Dr. Rachel Hawkins per Good Morning America. “Then we compare ourselves to them and we feel inadequate.”
Despite the public backlash, according to Forbes, the AI fashion market is expected to soar, reaching $60 billion in the next nine years. An annual growth rate of almost 40% is projected.
