[From The Daily Mail Online]
[Image: Virtual reality: On the H&M site, every single model’s pose and proportions are the same. The only thing that differs, apart from the swimwear, is the skin-tone, which has been altered to match each girl’s face.]
H&M under fire for using real models’ heads with computer-generated bodies to sell swimwear
By Tamara Abraham
Last updated 6th December 2011
With tiny waists, perfect bums and endless legs, many would agree that models’ bodies often look too flawless to be real. But in the case of H&M, it seems they actually are.
The Swedish retailer was forced to admit today that it used models’ heads with computer-generated bodies.
The fashion chain, which has been slammed by Scandinavian advertising watchdogs, created the images to showcase swimwear and lingerie on its e-commerce site.
Users of the website will have noticed that, unlike H&M’s high-profile campaigns, every single swimwear model has the same pose and proportions.
The only thing that differs, apart from the swimwear, is the skin tone, digitally altered to match each model’s face.
A spokesman for H&M explained that its intention was to draw attention to the garments, instead of the models’ bodies.
A spokesman told Swedish tabloid Aftonbladet: ‘It’s not a real body, it is completely virtual and made [by] the computer.
‘We take pictures of the clothes on a doll that stands in the shop, and then create the human appearance with a program on [a] computer.’
Such justification has not washed with Scandinavian advertising watchdogs, though.
The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation slammed the company for creating unrealistic physical ideals.
Spokesman Helle Vaagland said: ‘This illustrates very well the sky-high aesthetic demands placed on the female body. The demands are so great that H&M, among the poor photo models, cannot find someone with both body and face that can sell their bikinis.’
According to Jezebel, which translated the Aftonbladet article, the publication accused H&M of creating the computer-generated images because it is not satisfied with the quality of models it is seeing.
The retailer’s spokesman did not make any such suggestion, however, stating only that ‘we do this to show off the clothes.’
Indeed, the Smartplanet.com blog suggests H&M’s computer-generated bodies could be a good thing, explaining that it is likely intended to cut costs – and criticism.
‘The result is strange to look at, but the message is clear: buy our clothes, not our models,’ it read.