COPY: Sweden's first AI fashion magazine hits print

In August 2023, Swedish creative director Carl-Axel Wahlström, 41, launched COPY, a 333-page print fashion magazine he calls 'the first AI fashion magazine.' The entire content—photographs, models, texts, captions—is generated by Midjourney for images and ChatGPT for texts. The magazine features nine themed editorials including cosmetics, Formula 1, Hamptons millionaires, and career women. Despite the AI generation, images were retouched by humans, with up to ten hours of editing per image. Wahlström told Business Insider on September 6, 2023, that he was 'stunned and in love' with the technology. The project aims to explore synergies between human creativity and AI, while also critiquing fashion industry excesses. Midjourney, which reworks existing internet images, reflects beauty standards and stereotypes from the past 20 years. Wahlström noted to Vogue that the AI struggles with 2022 fashion references but excels with 1980s and 1990s styles. COPY sells for €30 and uses high-quality paper with both glossy and matte finishes. The magazine's captions include ironic provocations such as 'Who needs Cinderella's fairy godmother when you have a credit card and great taste?'