Will the top models of tomorrow be virtual?

Will virtual models be the norm in 2021? — Mikhail Spaskov/IStock.com/AFP

Can Bella Hadid, Kendall Jenner, Taylor Hill and others be replaced by avatars? This is the question we're asking after 2020, a year where in the end, they have really only been able to shine by their absence. The cancellation of physical fashion shows and the near-impossibility of campaign shoots suggest that the digital revolution initiated by the fashion industry may spell the end for human top models, who have been reigning in the fashion world for three decades.

It was in the 1990s that the heyday of supermodels really began, to the point where they became the muses of many designers, and generated frenzied attention during some fashion shows. Claudia Schiffer, Cindy Crawford, and Naomi Campbell paved the way for the younger generations of top models, who became true fashion icons and, since the advent of social networks, Influencers with a capital “I” followed by tens of millions of subscribers. An undeniable force that ready-to-wear and luxury brands were eager to harness.