As a fashion retailer, you may find yourself struggling with a common challenge: should you showcase your products using a mannequin or a model? While this might seem like a simple choice, it can significantly influence how your products are perceived and ultimately impact your conversion rates.
Both mannequins and models offer distinct advantages and drawbacks, each shaping your brand’s image and customer experience differently. In this blog, we’ll explore the key differences, benefits, and considerations to help you make the best choice for your next photoshoot.
The Benefits of Using Models
Fashion models add personality, life, and palpable appeal to what might otherwise seem like inanimate objects. Using models can help create a connection with the potential customers that mannequins frequently miss. Let’s look at some of the benefits of using models:
Human Element and Appeal
Fashion models add an undeniable touch of sparkle to e-commerce that mannequins often lack: the human element. Flat lays and mannequin photos risk looking lifeless and bland due to the absence of human connection and interactivity.
On the contrary, professional models can take a non-descript product and portray it in a way that gives it personality, dimension, and life. This inherent ability to add a life-like quality to products instills a sense of relatability and realism in potential buyers.
Storytelling and Context
Using models in your e-commerce photography enhances the audience’s perception of your brand identity. A model helps you tell a story or establish a cohesive narrative for your marketing strategy. They can give a sense of the history behind the product or paint a picture for your customers, leading them along on the product journey.
Models help create an image of what your customers’ lives could look like if they purchase your product. They can be inspirational, crafting a lifestyle or look that your customers aim for.
Demonstrating Product Functionality
Certain products necessitate more than a static display; they need to convey how they function or look when used in real life.
For instance, garments with unique designs or hidden elements may not be effectively showcased by a mannequin. With models, you can highlight pockets, zippers and other unique features with ease.
Models can reveal how clothing looks and moves on a real person, thus allowing your audience to visualize themselves in the attire.
The Benefits of Using Mannequins
While models come with their share of advantages, mannequins hold their ground by offering advantages such as visual consistency, cost-effectiveness, and undivided attention. Let’s discuss these advantages in detail.
Visual Consistency
Maintaining a consistent aesthetic across your product line may be more achievable with mannequins. They offer a minimalistic look that is challenging to reproduce with human models due to their unique sizes, postures, and facial expressions. Mannequins are sleek and simple, thus always preserving uniformity in presentation across all your merchandise.
Cost-Effectiveness
Mannequins provide value for money, particularly for brands on a tighter budget. Hiring models often come with certain additional expenses, such as makeup artists, styling, travel costs, and catering. Mannequins, on the other hand, require a one-time investment, making them more cost-effective.
Additionally, mannequin photography typically involves minimal image editing, reducing post-production expenses. This affordability makes mannequins an ideal choice for startups or retailers operating on limited funds.
Undivided Focus on the Product
Sometimes, the product needs to be the showstopper all by itself. Mannequin shots allow the product to take center stage without any distractions.
Using a mannequin centers your product as the sole focal point. Elevate this effect by leveraging the ghost mannequin effect for your products – a simple touch of editing that makes your product stand out even more.
Also Read: Stay Ahead With These Product Photography Trends in 2025
Factors to Consider When Choosing Models or Mannequins
There are certain key factors to consider when choosing between models and mannequins for your photoshoot. In this section, we’ll discuss how budget constraints, brand identity, the goals of your photoshoot, and product features all play a role in this decision.
Whether you’re aiming for a more relatable, emotional connection with your audience or a clean, focused product display, understanding these elements will help guide your choice. Read on to find out which option best aligns with your brand and goals!
Budget Constraints
Choosing between a model or a mannequin often hinges on budget limitations. Though models bring life into your product displays, they come with recurring costs per photoshoot, which could strain your resources.
Mannequins cost less, require only a one-time payment, and demand minimal post-production work, making them a financially better option for many brands.
Brand Identity and Messaging
Your brand’s identity plays a pivotal role in the choice between a mannequin and a model. If your brand promotes diversity, inclusivity, and individuality, using models would resonate better with your message.
Conversely, if your brand prioritizes minimalism, precision, and focus on product detail, a mannequin would uphold your brand ethos better.
The Goals of the Photoshoot
Understanding what you aim to accomplish through the photoshoot can guide you in deciding which is best for you. If detailed storytelling and creating an emotional connection is your aim, models would be more suitable.
However, if your goal is to display as many products as possible without compromising their visibility and quality, choosing mannequins might be your best bet.
Product Type and Features
Specific product types might necessitate either a model or a mannequin. Clothing with intricate details, special features, or unique silhouettes often requires an animated display that only a model can provide.
Conversely, simple products like t-shirts or jeans can be effectively showcased utilizing mannequins.
So, Which is Better: Models or Mannequins?
The decision to choose between models and mannequins comes down to understanding your unique needs—your product line, brand identity, marketing goals, and budget. There’s no universal answer because the best choice varies not only from brand to brand but even for each individual piece of clothing.
What works for one photoshoot might not be the right fit for the next, so it’s all about tailoring your approach to align with your vision and priorities. Whether you’re aiming to tell a story, highlight a product’s features, or stay within budget, the key is to consider the bigger picture and how each option serves your goals.
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Conclusion
There is no definitive ‘better’ choice between a mannequin and a model for all circumstances. Both options bring their unique advantages to your e-commerce platform and can make your products stand out.
The best option, therefore, hinges on a multitude of factors – what kind of connection you want to make with your potential customers, the story you wish to tell through your product images, your budget limits, is it for store windows or for runways, and perhaps most importantly, what suits your specific product line.
Test and experiment with both options to find which works best for your brand. Ultimately, your aim should be to effectively communicate your product’s worth to your customer, and the choice of model or mannequin should be a means towards that goal.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are there alternatives to traditional mannequins and models?
Yes, alternatives like ghost mannequins can provide a unique perspective without the recurring cost of a model. You can also consider using hand models, especially if your products are accessories like jewelry or gloves.
How important is choosing the right model or mannequin for the success of my photoshoot?
Selecting the appropriate model or mannequin is vital as they either humanize your product when worn on a human body or provide a focused and consistent view of it, directly influencing customer engagement and sales conversions. Online shoppers rely on these images to make purchasing decisions, making their choice crucial.
What are realistic mannequins?
Realistic mannequins closely mimic the human form with features like natural proportions, lifelike skin tones, and detailed facial expressions. Used in retail displays, they create a more authentic representation of how clothes or accessories will look on a person, enhancing the shopping experience and improving the quality of photos.
Were models called mannequins?
Yes, the term “mannequin” historically referred to both human models and display figures. In fashion, models posing for clothing advertisements were often called mannequins, particularly when the focus was on showcasing the garments.
