Hi, my name is Alexandra, and I am a model; not a language or scientific model but a fashion model. In this profession, you are supposed to bring clothes to life and make them desirable. You walk a fine line in which, on the one hand, your appearance should make you stand out very much or not at all.

Per definition (formulated by ChatGPT), a model is a ‘representation of a real-world process’, which is, in the most simplified sense means for a fashion model: wearing clothes and make them look good. Throughout this publication, I want to understand how ChatGPT views the world of modelling when I feed the machine with answers from seven colleagues of mine. Based on their answers, ChatGPT will generate images: a visual story on models by (AI) models.

I found it fascinating to observe how AI-generated models displayed biases toward a sexualised depiction of women, seemingly influenced by a male gaze. These models typically featured full lips, slightly parted, with long hair, and predominantly Caucasian features. They rarely wore glasses, and their attire often included a prominently displayed décolleté, with 5 out of 16 models wearing tops that suggestively slipped off the shoulder. This portrayal, reminiscent of a sexually charged image, bears little resemblance to practical reality—after all, a continuously slipping top would be quite bothersome in everyday life. This observation immediately reminded me of John Berger’s seminal work, Ways of Seeing (1972)*.

In his book, Berger discusses how traditional art frequently presents women as objects for viewing, a notion that extends into depicting women in contemporary visual culture. He suggests that such representations are crafted to appease and flatter the male viewer, creating an imbalance in the portrayal and perception of men and women. This dynamic positions the male as the observer and the female as the observed, reinforcing a patriarchal societal framework where women are primarily valued for their visual appeal to men.

This analysis by Berger has profoundly influenced my understanding of power dynamics in art and design, prompting me to reconsider my own role within the fashion industry. It led me to question how an industry seemingly aimed at women—particularly in the realm of female fashion—remains dominated by male designers.

A stylist I have once worked with, whose identity I want to keep confidential, shared insights into the prevailing, albeit unhealthy, standards still governed by men in the industry. She differentiated between ‘high fashion’ and ‘commercial fashion,’ explaining that while the former is often unattainable and serves more as art, the latter is more accessible and aimed at consumers. She noted that despite many leading male designers in high fashion professing admiration for women, their sexual orientation often does not align with heteronormative expectations. This, she argued, is apparent in the casting of runway models, who typically lack curves and represent very slim body types.

Curious to explore this further, I tasked ChatGPT with compiling a list of 50 of the most influential fashion designers. The analysis of the list revealed that 37 of the 50 designers were male. I then examined their LGBT status to verify the stylist’s claims, using resources like Wikipedia’s category on LGBT fashion designers*. I found that 22 of these male designers were listed as LGBT, which interestingly still exceeds the number of female designers on the list. 

At this moment, I want to emphasise the importance of approaching the categorisation of sexual orientation with sensitivity. It is crucial not to label individuals inappropriately or insensitively, and I hope I have not done anyone injustice. 

This exploration does not showcase a distinction of a ‘male gaze’ which Berger critiques and the ‘male gaze’ prevalent in high fashion. But maybe it explains that the over-sexualisation often seen in cultural depictions of some is less pronounced in high fashion.

Ultimately, I did notice an imbalance in the portrayal and perception of fashion models: the discrepancy between AI-generated fashion models and the beauty standards of runway fashion models.

Appendix

The list of the most influential 50 fashion designers created by Chat GPT on the 8th of February 2024:

1. Coco Chanel – Founder of Chanel.
2. Christian Dior – Founder of Dior.
3. Giorgio Armani – Founder of Armani.
4. Ralph Lauren – Founder of Ralph Lauren.
5. Donatella Versace – Artistic Director of Versace.
6. Karl Lagerfeld – Former creative director of Chanel and Fendi.
7. Yves Saint Laurent – Founder of Saint Laurent.
8. Valentino Garavani – Founder of Valentino.
9. Gianni Versace – Founder of Versace.
10. Tom Ford – Former creative director of Gucci and YSL; founder of Tom Ford.
11. Marc Jacobs – Former creative director of Louis Vuitton; founder of Marc Jacobs.
12. Miuccia Prada – Head designer of Prada.
13. Oscar de la Renta – Founder of Oscar de la Renta.
14. Dolce & Gabbana (Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana) – Founders of Dolce & Gabbana.
15. Jean Paul Gaultier – Founder of Jean Paul Gaultier.
16. Alexander McQueen – Founder of Alexander McQueen.
17. Calvin Klein – Founder of Calvin Klein.
18. Michael Kors – Founder of Michael Kors.
19. Vera Wang – Founder of Vera Wang.
20. Hubert de Givenchy – Founder of Givenchy.
21. Stella McCartney – Founder of Stella McCartney.
22. Vivienne Westwood – Founder of Vivienne Westwood.
23. Hugo Boss – Founder of Hugo Boss.
24. Pierre Cardin – Founder of Pierre Cardin.
25. Elie Saab – Founder of Elie Saab.
26. Carolina Herrera – Founder of Carolina Herrera.
27. Hedi Slimane – Creative director for Celine.
28. Phoebe Philo – Former creative director of Celine.
29. Alber Elbaz – Former creative director of Lanvin.
30. Tory Burch – Founder of Tory Burch.
31. Rei Kawakubo – Founder of Comme des Garçons.
32. Issey Miyake – Founder of Issey Miyake.
33. Christian Louboutin – Founder of Christian Louboutin.
34. Manolo Blahnik – Founder of Manolo Blahnik.
35. John Galliano – Creative director for Maison Margiela.
36. Riccardo Tisci – Creative director of Burberry.
37. Alexander Wang – Founder of Alexander Wang.
38. Nicolas Ghesquière – Creative director of Louis Vuitton.
39. Nino Cerruti – Founder of Cerruti.
40. Diane von Fürstenberg – Founder of DVF.
41. Thom Browne – Founder of Thom Browne.
42. Zac Posen – Founder of Zac Posen.
43. Christopher Bailey – Former creative director of Burberry.
44. Ann Demeulemeester – Founder of Ann Demeulemeester.
45. Kenzo Takada – Founder of Kenzo.
46. Roberto Cavalli – Founder of Roberto Cavalli.
47. Jil Sander – Founder of Jil Sander.
48. Jeremy Scott – Creative director of Moschino.
49. Azzedine Alaïa – Founder of Alaïa.
50. Paul Smith – Founder of Paul Smith.

Bibliography

*Berger, J. (1972). Ways of Seeing. London: Penguin Books.

Munari, B. (1960). The Square. [Third Edition]. Mantova, Italy: Maurizio Corraini.

Pérmuzic, T. (2023) ‘Is ChatGPT sexist?’, Forbes, 14 February. Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/tomaspremuzic/2023/02/14/is-chatgpt-sexist/?sh=2b2000bf6b6b (Accessed: 08.02.2014).

Strudwick, P. (2011) ‘Feminism and gay fashion designers.’ The Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/aug/13/patrick-strudwick-feminism-gay-fashion-designers (Accessed: 08.02.2014).

*Wikipedia contributors (no date) LGBT fashion designers. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:LGBT_fashion_designers (Accessed: 08.02.2024).