The encyclopedia · Marketing & Brand · Marketing decision · 2026
Huffer ran an AI campaign that models say recreated their faces without consent
Huffer's ad used AI-generated figures that former models say look like them; the brand called it coincidence and blocked one model who complained.
Huffer · Red 11 Model Management · 2026-06-05
What happened
In June 2026, New Zealand streetwear brand Huffer faced a backlash after model Elijah Timmins-Scanlon posted a video saying the brand had used AI to generate campaign images that looked like him and other former models, without consent or extra payment.
A second model, Akshay Raju, said the AI figures wore the same garments in similar poses and looked like 'a hybrid between me, Elijah and a few other people'. Timmins-Scanlon said Huffer blocked him on Instagram after he raised the issue. Managing director Kate Berry called the resemblance 'a coincidence' and said Huffer used 'computer-assisted technologies', but declined to answer directly.
Red 11 Model Management backed the models and called it an industry-wide reckoning, noting that several clients had reused model images with AI. RNZ and 1News covered the dispute, which exposed that New Zealand has no standalone right of publicity, leaving contract law, the Fair Trading Act and copyright as the only possible routes.
Why it happened
- Huffer, the New Zealand streetwear label, ran a 2026 campaign whose AI figures looked like models Elijah Timmins-Scanlon and Akshay Raju, who were never told their likenesses would be recreated.
- Timmins-Scanlon posted a video raising concerns and said Huffer then blocked him on Instagram; Raju described the figures as 'a hybrid between me, Elijah and a few other people'.
- Managing director Kate Berry called the resemblance 'a coincidence', said Huffer used 'computer-assisted technologies' and 'we do not take people's faces', but declined to say what it was based on.
The lesson
A brand that pays for a model's face once cannot quietly near-copy it in AI for the next campaign, and in New Zealand, with no right of publicity, the model's only lever was going public.
Aftermath
The episode became New Zealand's AI-and-likeness reckoning. Red 11 Model Management, the models' agency, backed its roster and said several clients had manipulated model images with AI without extra compensation, and at least one client added a policy against it. Because New Zealand has no standalone right of publicity, the legal routes were contract, the Fair Trading Act and copyright — none of which answered the question models actually asked. RNZ and 1News both covered the fallout as the industry's AI moment.
Sources
- Huffer accused of using AI to recreate real models without permission (1News)
- NZ fashion faces AI reckoning after Huffer allegations (RNZ)
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