H&M Virtual Models
By Sarah Lorsch 
Do you ever look at an image of a swimsuit or lingerie model and wish you had that PERFECT body? The just right legs, the slightly protruding hipbone and the flawless breasts to fill the most adorable bras?
Surprise, surprise, your dream body may not be so real after all. H&M was exposed earlier this week for using computer-generated models for their swimsuit and lingerie apparel online. Claiming it’s the same idea as using a mannequin in the store, H&M sees nothing wrong with deceiving viewers into believing that the Barbie body does exist.
Claiming this technique is used to make the consumer concentrate on the garment as apposed to the model, H&M press officer Hacan Andersson told a Swedish Newspaper, “This is done for all garments, not just underwear. It applied to both women’s and men’s clothing.”
Very curious, I immediately hopped on my computer and went to the H&M site to check out these cyber models. Andersson spoke the truth. These “models” are used for all forms of clothing. However this girls isn’t used for every image and I’ve come to wonder why this is the case.
They aren’t worried about a blond bombshell steeling the attention away from a sparkly push up bra, but fear high-waisted underwear wouldn’t be sold if a normal model wore them. Something isn’t adding up.
H&M spokesperson Nicole Christie said it was not their intention to make anyone believe that these “virtual mannequins” were real bodies. If this were the case, then why would they intermingle fake models with real ones? I have my own conspiracy theories but…
Regardless of the reason, H&M either needs to make clear that the model bodies are fake or use them all of the time or not at all. I’ve been to the H&M site countless times and never before noticed the use of fake women, just perfectly shaped ones.
The lesson to be learned from this is, fake or real, we need to become aware of what we are taking in on a daily basis. Don’t aspire to be like anyone but yourself.
[This post was reposted from The Network's Talent Community.]
What do you think of using virtual models to sell clothing?
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