Meet the top five fictional, computer-generated influencers that are sending the digital world into overdrive
Bengaluru: Virtual fashion influencers have been creating a splash in digital media marketing for the past few years. Despite their digitized appearance, these personas have become brand ambassadors, models and even musicians across different social media platforms.
Here, we introduce you to the top five life-like virtual influencers that rule social media and challenge real-life influencers. They’re listed in the order of their creation.
Barbie
Barbie is a virtual fashion influencer from Hawthorne, California who first appeared on 9 March 1959 as an iconic doll, created by American businesswoman Ruth Handler. Barbie is manufactured by the American toy company Mattel Inc.
In 2014, Barbie entered Instagram and its long-standing reputation among young girls has strengthened as she transitioned into the virtual influencer space. Apart from its Instagram account to showcase Barbie’s personality and interests as a virtual being, Barbie’s vlogs on YouTube cover a range of topics like makeup and cooking inspired by real-life influencers.
Currently, she has 2.5 million followers on Instagram, 11.4 million subscribers on YouTube, over 341,000 followers on Twitter, and more than 578, 260 monthly listeners on Spotify.
Lil Miquela
Miquela Sousa, popularly known as Lil Miquela, is a computer-generated 19-year-old Brazilian-American model, musical artist, and influencer from Los Angeles. Lil Miquela was created by Trevor McFedries and Sara Decou, co-founders of Los Angeles-based start-up Brud in 2016.
With her niche being fashion and lifestyle, Lil Miquela has collaborated with a range of brands from streetwear brands like Off-White and Supreme and luxury labels like Chanel, Prada, Proenza Schouler, Moncler and Calvin Klein. In 2019, Miquela even launched her own clothing line named Club 404.
Since its launch, the virtual social media influencer has gained over 2.8 million followers on Instagram, more than 2,80,000 subscribers on YouTube and 3.2 million followers on Tik Tok.
Imma
Japan’s first virtual influencer Imma is a pink-haired model from Tokyo who is interested in fashion, art, and movies. She was created by Modeling Cafe, a Tokyo-based CG company that builds virtual worlds and models for games, movies, and commercials. Imma made her debut on Instagram in July 2018.
She has been featured in multiple fashion and business magazines and cast for top brands such as Porsche Japan, Adidas, The North Face, Ikea, Dior, Puma, Nike, Valentino, Fendi, Chanel, Amazon and Calvin Klein.
The word Imma means ‘now’ in Japanese which goes with her up-to-date style and persona according to her Instagram profile. She poses in front of cars, makes videos around Tokyo, and even shares videos of her dog Einstein.
Today, Imma has over 4,00,000 followers on Instagram.
Noonoorui
Noonoouri is a cartoony, 23-year-old virtual fashion influencer from Munich, Germany. She is the brainchild of Joerg Zuber, a 47-year-old graphic designer and founder of the creative agency Opium Effect.
In 2018, Noonoouri started appearing on Instagram and YouTube. Since then, she has worked with luxury brands like Marc Jacobs, Dior, YSL, Miu Miu, Supreme, Versace and Tommy Hilfiger. She advertised Kim Kardashian’s makeup line and has been featured as a ‘friend’ of celebrities like Zendaya and Naomi Campbell.
Noonoouri is characterized as vegan, and advocates for sustainable fashion. She refuses to wear furs according to L’officiel. The avatar has an oriental look with kawaii traits and has more than 4,05,000 followers on Instagram.
Kyra
India’s first metaverse influencer, Kyra is a 22-year-old self-proclaimed model and traveller based out of Mumbai. She was launched on 28 January 2022 as an Instagram profile by Himanshu Goel and his colleagues at the influencer marketing agency TopSocial India. Kyra is inspired by international meta influencers like USA’s Lil Miquela and South Korea’s Rozy.
The short-haired model mimics real-life influencers by posting vacation photos, mirror selfies and occasional photoshoots. She gained more than 2,00,000 followers on Instagram in a span of one year. She also has an active YouTube channel where she shares travel or fashion videos. So far Kyra has collaborated with brands like boAt, John Jacobs Eyewear and Amazon Prime.
Currently, Kyra’s target audience is Gen Z with 90% of her followers being Indians, hailing mainly from Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Ahmedabad and Chennai, according to GQ.
