Fashion brands want models' faces, bodies and digital twins. Here's what the contracts ask for

Before a model steps onto a set for a Diesel campaign, there is a casting sheet to sign. One of them asked the models to agree to "swapping of faces among the participating models" and to the "superimposition of the Participant's face onto another person's body." The camera hadn't rolled yet, and the paperwork had already settled what AI could do with the pictures afterward.

That line comes from a Reuters investigation by Helen Reid, published on Tuesday 27 October. Reuters interviewed 15 model-agency directors and reviewed more than a dozen confidential photo-shoot contracts in which brands including Diesel, Calvin Klein and L'Oreal set out proposed terms for AI alterations and future use of the images. The word that matters is proposed. These are unsigned contracts, drafts and casting sheets, so the story is what brands are asking for, not what models have agreed to.

What Reuters actually saw

Reuters sums up the requests in three parts: the right to swap one model's face with another using AI, the creation of a digital clone with no extra pay, and the right to use images of a model's body to train AI. Around them sat broad legal wording that, in Reuters' reading, could give a brand leeway to use AI however it wanted.

Several write-ups this week went further than the report. PetaPixel said Reuters reviewed "dozens" of contracts, and Reuters says more than a dozen. Business of Fashion carried the same Reuters story under its own headline, so the coverage you may have seen in three places is one piece of reporting. None of the contracts have been published, and we haven't seen them. Every clause below is attributed to a document seen by Reuters, with the company's response beside it.

The clauses, brand by brand

Diesel's casting sheet asked for "alteration or reconstruction of facial features and body proportions," along with the face swaps and the face-on-another-body clause. Diesel's parent company OTB told Reuters the release was drafted for a specific campaign, isn't representative of its usual agreements, and that it doesn't systematically modify models with AI.

Calvin Klein's draft contract asked the model to accept, for no extra pay, that the brand "may use reasonably unrecognizable images of Model (no identifying features such as Model's face, scars, tattoos or otherwise) to train and fine tune AI tools for learning general model attributes." That is a training clause, not a head swap: the body becomes data for a tool that learns what a model looks like in general. A Calvin Klein spokesperson said the brand is "testing and learning in this fast-moving space" and that its AI use is guided by regulation, industry standards and respect for models' rights.

Reale Actives, the skincare brand Alix Earle launched this year, asked in one contract for the right to create AI replicas of models and to "own" and use them for a year without further pay. The brand told Reuters it uses real models, has never replicated one with AI, and that the wording came from a production partner it declined to name.

L'Oreal's shoot contract asked for "the right to use artificial intelligence (AI) technologies... including for the purpose of modifying, enhancing, or adapting the appearance of cosmetic products, packaging, or shades, as well as for retouching purposes." L'Oreal didn't address that language directly and said its standard post-production tools don't affect the model's image.

The quiet problem sits in two small phrases. Melanie Howard, who chairs the luxury brands practice at Loeb & Loeb in Los Angeles and represents both brands and talent, said wording like "including" and "not limited to" is "dangerous in its ambiguity" because it makes unsanctioned use hard for a model to challenge. Patrick Staal, who runs Uniko Models in Barcelona, told Reuters some brands now ask about digital twins they can reuse "without needing another production."

The studios closed first

Zalando, Europe's biggest online fashion retailer, shut both of its Berlin photo studios last year, and About You, which Zalando bought in July 2025, closed its studio too. Reuters reports that Zalando cut more than 340 jobs overall and kept some of those people in other roles. That number has no breakdown, and Zalando's own figures cut it several ways. At its Partner Day this autumn, Zalando's Matthias Haase said closing the product studio cut 90 positions and about 60 of those people moved to other jobs. In January, Zalando told the Berlin broadcaster rbb24 it was outsourcing about 180 jobs at its Lounge Content Solutions unit to external partners. Reading 340 as 340 photographers replaced by AI would go beyond any of these sources.

About You now sells the system it built for itself. Scayle Studios makes product imagery for other retailers with AI-generated models, and a spokesperson told Reuters it has 130 brand clients and generated 190,000 outfits in the last month. The company claims production costs fall by about 90%. Its own FAQ puts a traditional shoot at about 80 euros per product against roughly 4 to 5 euros on self-serve plans and about 10 euros at enterprise scale. Those are vendor figures, not audited ones. Julian Jansen, About You's vice president of marketing, put it bluntly to Reuters: "We are saving so much money."

There is a limit the buyers admit to. Haase told the Partner Day audience that content built around real talent, such as brand ambassador Lily Collins, still goes through traditional production. What AI is absorbing first is the high-volume product page, the same flat shot turned into dozens of variants.

Consent already exists on paper

Not every rulebook is blank. New York's Fashion Workers Act has required separate and explicit written consent for a model's digital replica since 19 June 2025, and the model has to approve the scope of its use in writing. Power of attorney agreements that covered replicas became void that day. It applies to model management companies and clients working with models in New York, so it is a state rule, not national protection. Sara Ziff, founder of the Model Alliance, which backed the law, told Reuters that "with AI that problem is accelerated tenfold."

In Britain, the British Fashion Model Agents Association has an AI code of practice saying AI can only be used with a model's consent and that the model owns any digital twin. Its head, John Horner, told Reuters that without binding regulation in Britain or Europe, models can still be taken advantage of. Zalando itself piloted digital twins in 2025, 3D replicas of real models built with ORENDT STUDIOS, which shows a consent-based version of this work is already running.

Video is covered too. A second New York law, in force since 9 June 2026, requires anyone who produces an advertisement to disclose if it includes AI-generated synthetic performers. Film actors fought over the same replica terms during the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike, and fashion stills are now catching up.

What this means for AI creators

The brands cutting studio budgets are buying imagery from someone, and increasingly that is AI platforms and freelance makers. That puts AI creators on the same paperwork as the models, and the people who handle it well have an edge the current contracts lack.

• Consent is a selling point: if a real person's likeness sits anywhere in your references, training set or twin, written consent and a clear scope make you easier to hire than a vague "including but not limited to" clause.
• New York already sets the floor: written approval for any model's digital replica, and disclosure when an ad uses synthetic performers. Work for a brand selling there should meet both.
• Product pages are where the AI work is going, while talent-led campaigns are still shot with people, according to Zalando's own content chief.
• Read your own contracts for the same wording Howard warned about, because a client's open-ended rights over your output carry the same ambiguity.

Our take: whoever writes the contract decides who gets paid. Brands that want digital twins should license them, and makers who can prove consent will win that work.

Timeline

• Date: 2023. Event: Moncler runs an early AI-generated campaign. It now says it uses no AI models; Source: Reuters, 27 Oct 2026
• Date: 7 May 2025. Event: Zalando announces a digital-twin pilot (3D replicas of real models) with ORENDT STUDIOS; Source: Zalando corporate blog
• Date: Thu 19 Jun 2025. Event: New York Fashion Workers Act replica rules take effect; earlier power of attorney replica grants become void; Source: NY Department of Labor FAQ
• Date: Jul 2025. Event: Zalando completes its acquisition of About You; Source: Reuters
• Date: 2025. Event: Zalando shuts both Berlin photo studios and About You closes its studio; Source: Reuters
• Date: Dec 2025. Event: New York signs its synthetic-performer ad disclosure law; Source: NY Governor release, 9 Jun 2026
• Date: Wed 21 Jan 2026. Event: Zalando confirms it is outsourcing about 180 Lounge Content Solutions jobs in Berlin; Source: rbb24
• Date: Tue 9 Jun 2026. Event: Synthetic-performer disclosure law takes effect in New York; Source: NY Governor release
• Date: Mon 20 Jul 2026. Event: About You launches Scayle Studios to outside brands, claiming about 90% lower production costs; Source: About You press release
• Date: Autumn 2026. Event: Zalando Partner Day: product studio closure cut 90 positions, about 60 people moved; Source: Apparel Stack, 2 Oct 2026
• Date: Tue 27 Oct 2026. Event: Reuters publishes the contracts investigation; Source: Reuters via CNA, Euronext, BoF
• Date: Wed 28 Oct 2026. Event: PetaPixel rewrite reports "dozens" of contracts; Source: PetaPixel

Sources and what is unconfirmed: Reuters, Helen Reid, 27 Oct 2026, read in full via CNA and Euronext syndication (we did not open reuters.com directly); About You press release, 20 Jul 2026; Scayle Studios FAQ, read 29 Oct 2026; rbb24, 21 Jan 2026; Apparel Stack, 2 Oct 2026; Zalando corporate blog, 7 May 2025; NY Department of Labor Fashion Workers Act FAQ; NY Governor release, 9 Jun 2026. Unconfirmed: whether any of the proposed clauses were signed, Zalando's job figures by unit, and Scayle's 90% saving, which is a company claim. All contract wording is as printed by Reuters; the documents themselves are unpublished. X reaction was not collected for this piece.