Rainbow Warns Models as AI Creates Lookalikes

New York fashion model Francheska Pujols filed and then refiled her lawsuit against budget retailer Rainbow Shops, alleging the company used AI to generate unauthorized images of her likeness after a 2024 photoshoot contract expired. The case was originally filed May 22, then withdrawn May 29 for private settlement talks; after those failed, attorney Richard Altman refiled at New York State Supreme Court on June 15. Rainbow has denied wrongdoing, stating it "used our images properly and there's no violation of her rights."

According to PetaPixel and WWD, Pujols's original photoshoot involved straightforward product shots against a plain white background. Rainbow is alleged to have used AI to composite her likeness into entirely different, suggestive scenes - including an image of her with legs spread over a barstool and another with her head on another model's lap holding a cocktail. She says these images harm her professional reputation; she has appeared on Amazon Prime's Hood Deals and on the cover of Canadian fashion magazine Vigour. The refiled case added new evidence: an Instagram post from a linked account showing Pujols in an outfit from a Rainbow shoot, posed in a way she says she never approved.

Business Insider reports that last year Rainbow studio manager Phil Caraway sent freelance models a message stating the retailer had begun "styling certain products, and generating avatars, with the assistance of A.I," and advised freelancers to "plan accordingly," saying "fewer people will be needed in the long term." Business Insider reports models subsequently found AI-generated doppelgangers of their likenesses appearing in Rainbow's output. These details are from Business Insider's reporting and have not been independently verified by other outlets in the search results reviewed.

New York's Fashion Workers Act, which took effect one year ago, requires model-management companies to obtain "clear, conspicuous and separate written consent" before creating or altering a model's digital likeness through AI. Modeling agencies must register under the law by June 19. Strategic business attorney Joshua R. Bressler told the New York Post that AI-likeness disputes are "coming fast and furious." Fashion law attorney Anthony Lupo told the Post that less-established models - accounting for the bulk of catalog work - will face serious income pressure as AI-generated imagery spreads through everyday commercial production.

Observers should track the court proceedings and whether Pujols secures an injunction or damages award; any public statements from Rainbow about its AI vendor relationships or training-data sourcing; and how New York's Fashion Workers Act registration requirement affects agency agreements going forward. The case is also a live example of how standard photoshoot contracts, drafted before generative AI was in common commercial use, may fail to address synthetic reuse of captured likenesses.