This month, Tatler harnesses the power of AI for a fashion spread that fuses physical fashion with Midjourney-generated models and settings. The creative minds behind the project discuss the process
Social media has become a playground for artists to create their own AI-generated imagery—from the Harry Potter films reimagined in the style of Balenciaga to characters from The Matrix franchise restyled with Gucci sunglasses, these imaginative creations have exploded online recently. Even in Hong Kong, fashion retailer I.T has launched a commercial campaign incorporating AI technology with real photography captured by local photographer, Leungmo.
Some AI tools, like DALL-E 2, Midjourney, and Stable Diffusion, are capable of producing images, while others, such as ChatGPT, have the ability to generate text. Meanwhile, some, like Runway, can even create videos. Which all led us to wonder: what will AI mean for fashion? Can generative AI replace human photography? Is it possible to carry out a fashion shoot with the power of AI? Can fashion shoots be boundless now? These are some of the things that we addressed while planning the fashion shoot for our July issue, themed around Innovation.
Jacqueline Tsang, our regional head of content and editor-in-chief for Hong Kong, interviewed Cherry Mui, our regional fashion director, about her inspiration behind the project and to reflect upon the whole process.
Read more: 5 AI apps that will help you harness your creativity
Tell us about the idea and how did it start?
In fashion, Zara, Gucci and other brands have been experimenting with AI technology in their business models, and have even been creating campaigns using AI-generated backgrounds.
At Tatler, we were thinking about how to incorporate this technology into our creative execution and why doing it now would be a good time—particularly in the wake of ChatGBT, when everyone’s going crazy about AI-generated content. So our creative director, Miguel Mari took the initiative to start exploring how we can create images using this generative AI app called Midjourney, [which currently has 15 million registered users]. This is how it started.
In case you missed it: ChatGPT, Midjourney and Dall-E 2: What is the future of AI in education?