Balmain enlists CGI models for latest campaign. Fashion house Balmain has a new gang of models…but, they’re not real. This season, creative director Olivier Rousteing has opted for a ‘virtual army’ to wear his newest collection.

“Anyone and everyone is always welcome to join Balmain army’s growing ranks — they need only share our bold spirit of adventure as our new virtual icons, Margot, Shudu and Zhi who mirror the beauty, the rock style and the confident power,” says Balmain’s official website.

The life-like models have been created by photographer Cameron-James Wilson, who created famous CGI model Shudu in 2017. The model’s clothing is ‘styled’ by CLO Virtual Fashion, which creates hyper-realistic, 3D garment simulations.

Shudu is known for being the ‘world’s first digital supermodel’. She has over 140,000 followers on Instagram and has featured in campaigns for Fenty Beauty and editorial shoots for Cosmopolitan.

Balmain’s Rousteing is known for his edgy style and his focus for bringing the French fashion house to the forefront of the digital age.

Chatting to the New York Times last year, he said: “We need to change. We need to push boundaries. We need to talk to the new generation. We need to make fashion relevant,”

Earlier this year, Rousteing created “My City of Lights,” a virtual reality experience and headset to help people understand his creative process. In a promo video for Balmain, he says he wanted to help “bridge the gap between fashion and technology.”