Guess AI Model in Vogue Sparks Backlash Over Beauty Standards

The campaign, while clearly marked with a small disclaimer identifying the images as AI-generated, has raised alarms across social media and industry circles.

Critics argue that these hyper-realistic, computer-created models—engineered to embody flawless, Eurocentric beauty ideals—are not merely digital creations, but new benchmarks for beauty that real people can never attain.

Leading models and industry advocates warn that the shift could undermine years of progress in promoting diversity, body positivity, and inclusivity. “As if beauty standards haven’t become unrealistic enough, now girls will be competing with and comparing themselves to women who aren’t even real,” lamented one observer.

Guess’s management, however, defended the project as a technological innovation and cost-saving measure, with founder Paul Marciano directly commissioning Seraphinne Vallora’s team…