Lil Miquela has a perfect life. Like any other social influencer/model, she parties at clubs, attends the latest art gallery openings, wears designer clothes, and posts selfies with friends. But what sets her apart from other influencers? She doesn’t exist.
You see, Miquela is a computer-generated animation that appears only online.
Since joining Instagram in 2016, the virtual Insta It-Girl has accumulated over 600k followers rocking in brands such as Chanel, Vans and Supreme. Her latest endeavour is collaborating with Prada to promote its Fall 2018 collection via animated GIFs on Instagram Stories.
In conjunction with the label’s Milan Fashion Week runway show, Miquela announced the partnership by posting a series of short Instagram videos featuring the GIFs and invited her followers to head to Stories and play. The call to action read: “Go off!! #pradagifs are live in stories! Start posting and tag me.”
On Prada’s account, the CGI It girl gave followers a mini tour of the show space, a new Rem Koolhaas venue while flying a drone around, which she controlled with her phone. GIFs ranged from the inspiration of Prada’s current collection, as well as nods to more archival pieces such as the SS10 flame shoe and the SS11 banana print.
Prada reached out to Miquela to discuss collaboration, and she happily said yes.
“I’m such a huge fan of Mrs Prada and the brand… Prada and I have a lot of the same passions and objectives.” She said in an interview with Dazed Digital.
Miquela says she’s “always viewed Prada as an extension of Mrs Prada and her deep political roots.” She notes their desire to “push for change” as something they have in common.
This isn’t the influencer’s first fashion endorsement. In recent months, Miquela has plugged Moncler’s Genius collection and Diesel’s knockoff pop-up shop. She’s worn Proenza Schouler’s PSWL label, read A Magazine Curated by Eckhaus Latta, and her first post was a Sandy Liang top.
Speaking to the Business of Fashion, Miquela explains how she makes money and her partnership with fashion brands.
“I’ve never been paid to wear pieces, but I’m starting to get sent free stuff from brands. I try to support and tag brands that I love, especially from young designers who are trying to break through.
I probably shouldn’t name them, but some of the biggest agencies in the world have reached out. I’ve only really partnered with brands to create, so I think monetising would be a great next step. Making things is time-consuming and being rewarded for my creativity with money would be amazing.”
She also has Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr accounts and with uses these platforms to support social causes: from protesting the Dakota Access Pipeline to having a link in her bio to donate money to Black Girls Code.