@article{60847,
  abstract     = {{With the rise of multimodal AI tools, such as DALL-E, Midjourney, or Stable
Diffusion, it has never been easier and faster to produce compelling fashion
images. While the proliferation of AI-generated fashion images can be
seen as the ultimate triumph of the fashion image over both fashion text
and fashionable garments, this paper critically examines how these images
are produced, what exactly they show, and ultimately, how this impacts our
understanding of fashion. Building on current research on multimodal AI,
specifically text-to-image models, I argue that AI-generated fashion images
are produced through textual means, that is, through “operative ekphrasis”
(Bajohr 2024: 83). This means that the generation of fashion images created
via multimodal AI is based on textual prompts that extract statistically
probable images from a latent space, which, in turn, is the result of previously
indexed and labeled image-text pairs. Because the indexing of images
requires a reduction of complexity, images generated through multimodal
AI are often generic. In the case of fashion images, this is reflected in the lack
of texture and the reproduction of fashion photography’s conventions. As
fashion photography is not necessarily a representation of ‘the world’ or even
fashionable garments, it resembles AI-generated images more than other photographic
genres. AI-generated fashion images are then not images of fashionable
garments, but images about fashion images—a statistically probable permutation
of fashion photographs from the past (cf. Meyer 2023: 108). As such,
AI-generated fashion images are not only the product of a mediated collective
imaginary but also feed back into it. The view on fashion shaped by AI-generated
fashion images is then based on reduction and stylized normativity.}},
  author       = {{Brachtendorf, Charlotte}},
  issn         = {{1614-0885}},
  journal      = {{Image: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Image Sciences}},
  number       = {{2}},
  pages        = {{155--168}},
  title        = {{{Possible Fashion Images: Operative Ekphrasis and the Reduction of Fashion Through Multimodal AI}}},
  doi          = {{10.1453/1614-0885-2-2025-16663}},
  volume       = {{42}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}

@article{60849,
  author       = {{Brachtendorf, Charlotte}},
  journal      = {{Annali. Sezione germanica}},
  pages        = {{221--246}},
  title        = {{{Zwischen Ästhetik und Funktion. Begriffstheoretische Perspektiven auf digitale Mode}}},
  volume       = {{34}},
  year         = {{2024}},
}

@article{48440,
  abstract     = {{Virtual fashion, meaning clothes that exist not as physical textile objects but rather as files is gaining popularity.
The Fabricant, a digital-only fashion label from Amsterdam is particularly famous for its creations. Within the fashion industry, virtual fashion is taken as a pioneering innovation that can solve problems such as lacking sustainability and unrealistic bodily ideals precisely because it is understood as immaterial. In contrast, this paper argues that virtual fashion is in fact a material phenomenon. For example, to be perceptible to humans in the first place, virtual fashion
depends upon various technologies and devices. These devices are themselves subject to specific non-sustainable
production processes. Virtual fashion can further be understood as material insofar that it is almost indistinguishable from other mediatized representations of physical fashion. Lastly, just like its physical counterpart, virtual fashion is bound to human bodies and largely adheres to existing bodily ideals.}},
  author       = {{Brachtendorf, Charlotte and Behrmann, Helga and Brachem, Judith}},
  journal      = {{Jahrbuch Netzwerk Mode Textil}},
  pages        = {{95--103}},
  title        = {{{Materialitäten virtueller Mode: das Fallbeispiel The Fabricant}}},
  doi          = {{https://doi.org/10.53193/221421485G}},
  volume       = {{2022}},
  year         = {{2023}},
}

@misc{48728,
  author       = {{Brachtendorf, Charlotte}},
  title        = {{{Auf Tuchfühlung mit dem Tod.}}},
  year         = {{2023}},
}

@article{48429,
  abstract     = {{Since her debut on Instagram in 2016, Lil Miquela has amassed over 3 million followers. She was the first of many virtual influencers; avatars with a hyper-realistic humanoid appearance who operate on social media. This article investigates how the fashioning of virtual influencers informs the relationship between virtual and human bodies. A visual and textual analysis of virtual influencers on Instagram has revealed that they are emblematic of a coalescence between the virtual and the actual. Virtual influencers often evoke discussions about human nature because their cyberpunk narratives and uncanny appearance position them as autonomous posthuman subjects. Virtual influencers are positioned as Bodies without Organs, as their bodies can be manipulated into any form. Yet, they adhere to normative ideals of youth, slimness and beauty, encouraging their audiences to follow suit. Their fashion reflects the streetwear aesthetic but is often designed by luxury brands. This strategy positions virtual influencers as authentic, while generating visibility within the attention economy. Further, the Deleuzian concept of the fold serves as a metaphor to understand fashion as an interface between surface and depth. It is fashion in its folded form that hominizes virtual influencers, although they are merely a fashionable surface.}},
  author       = {{Brachtendorf, Charlotte}},
  issn         = {{2050-0734}},
  journal      = {{Fashion, Style & Popular Culture}},
  keywords     = {{authenticity, body-without-organs, Deleuze, digital avatars, fashionable ideal, hominization, Instagram}},
  number       = {{4}},
  pages        = {{483--499}},
  title        = {{{Lil Miquela in the Folds of Fashion: (Ad-)Dressing Virtual Influencers}}},
  doi          = {{10.1386/fspc_00157_1}},
  volume       = {{9}},
  year         = {{2022}},
}