4 Game-Changing Virtual Influencers You'll Want To Know (And Follow)

If you think that the future of fashion is digital, you might just be right, at least if the past few months have been any indication. In the face of lockdown measures, brands and designers have dug deep into their reserves of creativity and adapted their strategies to the current climate. And the result has been a marked shift towards the virtual direction.

For instance, presentations slated for the coming months have gone fully digital, including a newly gender-neutral London Fashion Week in July, the Paris Haute Couture shows, and Milan Fashion Week in the same month. Congolese designer and founder of Hanifa, Anifa Mvuemba, chose to debut her latest collection via 3D renderings on Instagram Live in a groundbreaking display of the possibilities that technology offers for fashion. Nintendo’s Animal Crossing, meanwhile, has become an unexpected hit with fashion lovers under lockdown, with Marc Jacobs, Valentino, and Sandy Liang among the labels who have collaborated on outfits for the simulation game. And that’s only the tip of the iceberg.

It’s in such a context that the rise of virtual influencers seems ever more imminent. Of course, avatars are nothing new in fashion – just take CGI influencer (and L’Officiel Singapore cover girl!) Lil Miquela as proof. But with real influencers still limited by social distancing mandates and travel restrictions, AI avatars are looking increasingly like viable options for creating editorial imagery that’s not confined to four walls or a nation’s borders. They don’t get sick, for one, nor do they age. Plus they always look their best, they’re reputed to be very hardworking, and in line with the importance of sustainability, they also have a far smaller carbon footprint.

Here are the names you’ll want to know and add to your list of Instagram accounts to follow.

Instagram: @lilmiquela

Followers: 2.3 million

With her heart-shaped face, smattering of freckles, signature space buns, and a résumé that includes brands like Prada and Calvin Klein, Miquela Sousa, aka Lil Miquela, seems like the ultimate LA cool girl.

Except she’s made of pixels. A CGI avatar who is widely considered to be the first of her kind, Miquela boasts over two million followers on Instagram, a platform she uses to advocate for causes such as the Black Lives Matter movement, feminism, and transgender rights. She’s also a singer whose songs are streamed by tens of thousands of people every month, and can often be spotted in the company of celebrities like Teyana Taylor, Rosalía, and Tracee Ellis Ross at fashion shows and music festivals like Coachella.

This trailblazing influencer is the work of California-based startup Brud, and definitely the one to watch.