Kidswear is hard to sell without on-model shots,
and shooting child models is twice as hard as shooting adults.
A child cooperates for a short window, every booking needs a guardian’s consent,
and the child grows between seasons, so last season’s photos cannot be reused.
An AI child model removes all three problems at once.
In Create Model, pick an age band, a gender and facial features,
make the child model once, and you have a model who is not a real child,
so there is no one to ask for consent, and who does not grow,
so the same model can wear the next season’s clothes too.
How to make an AI child model
In Create Model, choose an age band.
The bands run from infant to teenager, and for children there are 7–9 and 10–12.
Add gender and facial-feature options, create the model,
and save it in My Assets (where models and backgrounds are kept).
Every on-model shot after that shows the same face.
A generated face is not a real person, so there is no likeness issue,
and the results can be used commercially on product pages,
in ads and on social media.
The paperwork that always came with child models, guardian consent,
usage periods, photo retention, never arises.
Write the age into the instruction as well: “as a girl in third or fourth grade”,
“as a boy aged five to six”.
The same garment fits differently by age,
so settle the age first and then dress the model.
Results made with library models for boys’ and girls’ lookbooks are in Kids flat lay to AI on-model shots, and infant wear in AI on-model shots for babywear.
What you need, and the instruction text
One garment photo, a cutout or a flat lay, is enough;
a shot taken on a mannequin is more accurate.
Length and looseness follow the uploaded garment photo and change little when you rewrite the instruction.
Files: JPG or PNG, 1024px or larger.
The instruction text goes in the instruction box on the lookbook creation screen.
Model: the saved child model (age band 10–12).
Top: the attached sweatshirt. Bottom: the attached joggers. Both slightly loose.
Pant hem just covering the top of the foot. Sleeves ending at the wrist. White sneakers.
Like a lookbook photographed in a professional studio: seamless warm grey background,
soft diffused top light. Full body.Write lengths as where they end on the body rather than in centimeters.
“Just covering the top of the foot” or “ending at the wrist” gives a result that holds.
In kidswear a few centimeters of length reads as a whole size,
so be more exact than with adult clothes.
If the child comes out with adult proportions, a small head and long limbs,
add one line: “real child proportions”.
The reasoning is in Getting model proportions right.
| Decide | What to write | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Model | Age band and gender | 10–12, girl |
| Garment photo | A shot worn in the fit you want | On a mannequin |
| Length | Where it ends on the body | Pant hem covering the top of the foot |
One model for the whole season: swap only the garment
Keep one good on-model shot as the base and change only the garment for the next product.
In Edit (the feature that changes a specified part of a finished image),
upload the new top’s cutout as a reference and write “replace only the top with this photo, keep everything else”.
The face, the bottom and the background stay; only the top changes.
Adding a vest or an outer layer works the same way.
When you need the back and the side
Side and back sets come from Horizon Lookbook (the feature that makes four cuts at once, front, two sides and back, on a plain seamless set).
One color gives one front, two side and one back cut for 20 credits per color.
If the back has a print, upload the garment’s back photo as well (Horizon Lookbook guide).
Five checks for kidswear on-model shots
- Same face as the saved child model (a different child after a garment swap is a fail)
- Length: pant hem and sleeve ends where the instruction said
- Looseness: “slightly loose” has not become oversized
- Prints and embroidery match the original; for a back view, match the back photo
- Shoes and socks as instructed
When you swap only the garment, check the face first.
Fix anything else in Edit, one thing at a time (Edit guide).
What it cannot do: changing the age, and sizes
The age band is chosen when the model is created and does not change afterwards.
Changing the age changes the face, so a different age band means a separate model.
Adjacent bands such as 7–9 and 10–12 produce small differences,
so showing clothes by age only makes sense when the bands are clearly apart,
such as a toddler and an older child.
Sizes work the same way.
Writing an age band and lengths does not make the measurements exact;
you see the difference in length and looseness, nothing more.
Put “fit reference — see the size chart” next to the on-model shot.
If you want to use a real child’s photo
You can also make on-model shots with the face of the owner’s child or a friend’s child.
In Create Model, upload the child’s photo as a face reference and choose “almost identical” as the reference mode, and the model comes out close to the child in the photo.
Because this is a real child’s likeness,
you need the guardian’s consent to commercial use, and the media,
period and photo retention should be agreed in writing.
If that is a burden, the generated child model is the simpler route.
Try this first
Signing up gives you free credits, and a standard lookbook image costs 10 credits.
In Create Model, make one child model in your main customers’ age band,
dress it in your best-selling top, then swap in another top on that cut.
Check whether the face stays the same in the second cut.
If it does, make the rest of the products the same way.