Balenciaga Just Blew The CGI Model Debate Wide Open

The debate around the ethics of CGI models and influencers just got a little stickier. So far, brands, including Givenchy and Louis Vuitton, have experimented with the possibility of using pixelated It girls to show off their wares. Arguably, it’s been successful, and tech programming has started to show that humans and the VR community are no longer mutually exclusive – in any industry. But, the creators of our 3D counterparts have only really taken an idealistic approach to what society sees as beautiful. No high-profile labels have chosen to warp and distort us in the name of creative promotion. Until now.

Balenciaga enlisted digital artist Yilmaz Sen to create a trippy social video for its spring/summer 2019 collection, as a continuation of its Jon Rafman-designed show set, which was conceived to feel like the inside of a computer. In the Instagram clip, models stand in a nondescript part of Copenhagen’s meatpacking district and stare directly at the camera. With their dead eyes holding the viewer's attention, the Balenciaga-clad bodies start to move in a way that is impossible with the human anatomy. The word "eerie" doesn't even cut it. “I wanted to create something unpleasant for the viewer,” Sen told Vogue. “I had maybe a little sinful approach to that.”

Given complete creative control by Gvasalia, Sen spent one month shooting with Balenciaga collaborator Lotta Volkova and being "sinful" in post production. What's the takeaway? Without even a caption provided by the brand, it's open for interpretation. But if we thought the likes of Lil Miquela and Shudu were at the forefront of tech advancements, these avatars show we're only at the beginning.