Retail news that keeps industry pros in the know
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Levi’s recently announced a partnership with AI studio Lalaland.ai to generate a wide range of models wearing its clothing in product shots to represent people of different body types, skin colors, and ages. Levi’s said in a statement that these real-seeming models wearing Levi’s “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.”
But days after the announcement of the partnership, social media was flooded with posts criticizing the move. “Your diversity doesn’t count if you’re not diversifying who’s on the payroll,” one Twitter user wrote.
You tell us: Do you think Levi’s should be lauded for using AI tech to create more diverse computer-generated models for its clothing, or criticized because that’s no substitute for hiring more real-life diverse models? Cast your vote here.
Circling back: Last week, we asked you about Adidas. The brand had asked the US Trademark Office to reject an application from the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation to trademark a logo that featured three stripes, which are, of course, an element of the Adidas logo. A few days later, Adidas withdrew the objection, with an unnamed source telling Reuters it was because the company was concerned “that people could misinterpret Adidas’s trademark objection as criticism of Black Lives Matter’s mission.”
We asked if you thought Adidas made the right decision to withdraw its opposition to the Black Lives Matter logo with three stripes, and 70.7% of you said no, Adidas should have maintained its opposition to the Black Lives Matter logo. Only 26.2% of you agreed with Adidas’s decision to withdraw the logo and 3.1% of you didn’t know or weren’t sure.