You won’t believe your eyes when you meet Miquela Sousa.
By all appearances Miquela Sousa, AKA @lilimiquela, appears to be a 19-year-old Brazilian/Spanish model and musician who lives in Los Angeles. But under closer inspection you soon realise that there’s something very different about this up and coming influencer.
As a virtual avatar, Miquela is in a league of her own, and despite being computer generated, she still manages to engage with her audience on a real-life basis.
She attends events with influencers, produced a song that hit number eight on the Spotify viral charts and supports social causes like Black Lives Matter and gun control.
And that’s not all… Miquela’s worked with brands like Chanel, Proenza Schouler and Supreme, and has just been named makeup artist Pat McGrath’s latest muse.
Seriously, with 548,000 Instagram followers this 19-year-old is leaving a lot of influencers in her dust.
And while the identity behind the virtual influencer is unknown, Miquela is quoted in an interview with Business of Fashion saying she’d like to “denote [her] craft rather than focus on the superficial qualities of who [she is]”.
Miquela is the latest addition to the world of virtual celebrities following on from the likes of the band Gorillaz and 16-year-old Japanese singer Hatsume Miku who has collaborated with Lady Gaga and brands like Givenchy and Marc Jacobs.
Real or fake? Is this the future for fashion’s It-girls?
