Inside Rainbow's AI clash with its fashion models

The friction began last June when studio manager Phil Caraway warned freelancers that AI would soon reduce the need for human labor. By early 2025, the warnings materialized into a drastic slowdown of bookings. Models watching from the sidelines reported seeing staff upload product photos to Lica, an AI tool designed to generate synthetic avatars. As human work dried up, models began spotting marketing images that featured their own likenesses—hair, facial features, and apparel—posed in positions they had never performed during their original shoots.

Francheska Pujols, one of the models, filed a lawsuit alleging defamation and unauthorized use of her image, arguing that her contract never permitted the creation of entirely new, sexualized poses or compositions. Although Rainbow has maintained that its actions comply with signed agreements, the company recently began rehiring some models with updated contracts that explicitly restrict the use of their likenesses for AI training or digital replicas. Despite these concessions, the retailer continues to experiment with synthetic imagery, leaving a workforce to navigate the blurred lines between creative efficiency and professional displacement.