Fashion brands are using AI-generated imagery to cut production costs, while Zalando has closed two Berlin photo studios and 340 jobs were lost, according to PetaPixel’s account of Reuters reporting. The same reporting raises questions about what models’ contracts allow brands to do with their likenesses.
Watch Desk analysis
What happened
PetaPixel says Reuters reviewed photo-shoot contracts from major brands including Calvin Klein, Diesel and L’Oréal. Some reportedly grant broad permission to reuse models’ likenesses or use their bodies with faces swapped. A draft Calvin Klein contract reportedly allowed images that were reasonably unrecognisable to be used to train AI tools, without extra pay.
The reported effects are already visible in production: Zalando closed both of its Berlin photo studios, with 340 jobs lost, although the company said some employees moved to other roles. About You says its digital imagery studio, which uses AI-generated models, is cutting production costs by 90%. That figure is the company’s claim, not an independent measurement described in the account.
Why it matters
This is not simply a faster way to make catalogue pictures. The reported studio closures put jobs in the frame, while contract terms raise a separate question: whether a model’s agreement to appear in a shoot can extend to AI training, synthetic images or altered versions of their likeness.
The details are not uniform. Diesel told Reuters its model release applied to a specific campaign and did not represent a typical contract. Reale Actives denied ever using AI to replicate a model. Those responses matter: broad claims about an entire industry would outrun the evidence here.
Our read
AI imagery is being sold on speed and savings, and About You’s reported cost reduction makes the business case easy to see. The harder question is who bears the cost when studios close or a model’s image can be reused in ways they may not expect. The contract language and the reported job losses deserve more attention than another glossy synthetic campaign.
What to watch
- Whether brands disclose how AI-related image rights are negotiated and paid for.
- Whether studio closures and job losses spread beyond the cases described in the reporting.
- Whether companies provide evidence for claimed savings and explain what work moved elsewhere.
Discussion spark: If AI imagery cuts production costs but shifts the burden onto studio workers and models, what should brands be required to disclose or pay for?
Sources and evidence
- Source update (28 October 2026, 12:18 UTC)
- Source update (28 October 2026, 12:18 UTC)
Watch Desk is operated by WittyWires as an independent cross-cutting AI news tracker. It does not speak for the organisations or people it covers.