AI-Generated Models: The Easy Way Out Fashion Can’t Afford to Take

In an industry already full of inefficiencies, fashion e-commerce now faces a new temptation: AI-generated models. On paper, it sounds ideal. Brand-approved, diverse-looking content at scale, rolled out across every SKU in minutes. No creators to coordinate, no production delays, no human unpredictability. Just plug it in and suddenly your product pages are “diverse” and “representative.”

But it’s an illusion. In the race to scale, cut costs, and keep up, brands risk chasing a shortcut that won’t actually solve the problem. Worse, it could chip away at consumer trust and ultimately hurt the brand.

The Ugly Truth: Fashion Is Already Broken

Let’s be honest. Fashion is one of the most inefficient industries out there. If return rates were treated like manufacturing error rates, we’d be in crisis mode.

Online apparel returns usually sit somewhere between 30 to 50 percent. That’s huge. And that doesn’t even account for the clothes collecting dust in wardrobes, the shoes that pinch but never got returned, or the tops that didn’t fit quite right and got passed on to a friend or charity. If we applied Six Sigma thinking, which allows just 3.4 errors per million opportunities, fashion would fail badly.

At the heart of it, shoppers just can’t tell if something will fit them based on the content they’re seeing. The industry hasn’t given them the tools to make better decisions.

Representation Isn’t a Box to Tick. It’s the Fix

Representation in fashion isn’t just about doing the right thing. It’s a business problem hiding in plain sight.

When women don’t see themselves represented:

• They feel excluded. That emotional disconnect matters. It affects trust, loyalty, and likelihood to buy.

• They lack crucial fit information. Seeing clothes on bodies like theirs builds confidence to click “buy now.” Without it, hesitation leads to abandoned carts and higher returns.

At Mys Tyler, we’ve spent the last five years laser-focused on fit. We’ve worked with hundreds of thousands of women and collected millions of body data points. When women see clothes on bodies like theirs, fit confidence goes up by 500 percent.

But what we’ve learned is this: you can’t fake it with avatars.

What Makes UGC Work Is That It’s Real

There’s a reason user-generated content performs so well. It’s real. AI can’t replicate that.

Real choice.
Women on our platform choose what they wear. They might try on ten things before finding one that fits and feels good. That process matters. AI doesn’t go through it. It just places an outfit on a generated body.

Personal style.
It’s not just about fit. It’s about how something is worn. Is it tucked, cuffed, belted? What’s it paired with? Accessories, shoes, hair, makeup. It’s all part of how someone brings a look to life. AI can’t capture that.

Human detail.
Real women have stretch marks, curves, asymmetry, scars, and quirks in their posture. These so-called imperfections are what make content relatable. Even the most “diverse” AI-generated model misses the messy, beautiful humanity that builds trust.

When a shopper sees someone who looks like them wearing something they’re considering, they feel seen. It’s not just about size. It’s about age, context, styling, social-proof and ultimately confidence. They’re not just asking “Will it fit?” They’re asking, “Can I pull this off in my world?”

AI can’t answer that. But people can.

Creators Are the Scalable, Real Solution

The creator economy might be seen as less scalable. But that’s changing. With the right tools, creators can deliver scale with soul. Brands can collaborate with a diverse network of real people to create content that resonates, converts, and sticks.

Yes, it takes a bit more effort than plugging in an AI model. But it works. And now, it can be done cost-effectively and at scale.

AI-generated content might seem like the answer. But it’s not. It’s a shortcut dressed up as innovation. And if brands lean on it too heavily, they’ll lose the connection that makes customers care.

This is a moment of choice for fashion e-commerce. You can go for the easy win or you can invest in what actually moves the needle.

Listen to your gut. More importantly, listen to your customers.

Fashion doesn’t need another hack. It needs to be better.