In a first for the UK’s high street retail, Marks and Spencer today introduce their own virtual influencer; that is, a computer-generated character who will pose in real life locations, draped in the brand’s latest fashions via CGI renderings. A digital clothes horse, if you will.
Meet Mira, the block fringed, brunette 32 year-old who has perfect, plumped lips, indie hand tattoos and terrifyingly piercing eyes. Her name, charmingly, is an acronym for Marks & Spencer, Influencer, Reality, Augmented, and with a shiny personal Instagram account she offers greater efficienticy in social content production than human influencers, and removes uncertainties like a rainy day wreaking havoc on a summer shoot.
M&S have certainly indulged in the fantasy of the moment. In a statement, they explain Mira “commutes to her office in West London where she works at the M&S Support Centre as a Digital Designer… charged with designing updates for M&S website and app, helping to drive innovation on these platforms.” Her style, they say, is “chic and classic with the occasional bold print thrown in for good measure.” And she “can’t wait” to try the M&S floral-cord and red velvet suit this Autumn season.
So far, so weird. But Mira joins the legions of artificial avatars who have long been championed by high fashion brands and celebrities alike. Lil Miquela is one of the earliest and best known, created in 2016 as a Brazilian-American 19-year-old who fast became a darling for the likes of Prada and Calvin Klein. She remains on top of trends today, sharing the looks of upcoming designers like London-based Chopova Loewena to her 2.9 million followers, and has a real-life boyfriend, LA model Nic Killian. (They broke up in 2020, but as of April this year are happily reunited.)
There is also Noonoouri, a doll like figure with 403k followers who has an IMG Models contract and poses with Italian influencer Chiara Ferragni at Schiaparelli fashion shows. And even digital babies; Serena Williams’ child’s doll Qai Qai is virtualised for Instagram, and has amassed an incredible 339K followers.
Tapping into the crowd engaging with these accounts is what M&S is after. In a statement, the brand says Mira offers “the opportunity to connect with a younger audience,” enticing “a demographic that are interested in this new form of technology.”
It comes at a time of strife for the company. This month, The Times reported M&S chief executive Stuart Machin told investors he was accelerating the shuttering of large, multi-category stores that sell clothing, homeware and food to increase focus on food-only outlets. 67 large shops are to be closed in the next three to five years.
Whether Mira is the figure to flip this trajectory is yet to be seen. For now, though, she appears quite content sipping on a bramble fizz cocktail in her M&S faux shearling coat, obediently listing it’s product code, T534293U, in the caption.
