THE MACHINE ON THE CATWALK

Philippe Buka

Talent Agent · Founder

Talent and model agent who worked for years with the biggest names of world modelling: Claudia Schiffer, Eva Herzigova, Ines Rivero, Raquel Zimmermann, Mariacarla Boscono, Angie Everhart and Melania Knauss, later Melania Trump, as well as actresses January Jones and Cobie Smulders. He ran campaigns with Victoria's Secret, Versace, Calvin Klein, Dior and Gucci, and with titles from Vogue to GQ. At Vela Partners he brings that experience into digital twins.

Pola Lachnik

Model · AI Regulation · Poland

Top model who has worked with brands such as Giorgio Armani and Carolina Herrera, with editorials published by Vogue among others. Recognised in the industry by models.com; RMF FM has covered her achievements and La Mode has published interviews with her. Today she joins the runway with research: she is pursuing a doctorate on likeness rights in the generative AI era, looking at digital replicas from both sides, as someone whose image is her profession and as a scholar writing about how to protect it.

Junho Her

Director · Founder

Twenty years in fashion, then a hard turn: today he directs films made with generative AI, which he treats as a film language rather than a tool, and uses to give voice to stories and emotions that were left out. His debut, the AI music film Make Us a School (HAEKGYO MANGGLA), was generated end to end and took the Grand Prize at the Seoul International AI Film Festival, three awards at the Oniros Film Awards in New York, for Best AI Film, Best Music Video and Best Inspirational Film, and the President’s Award from KACES, the Korean government’s arts and culture education service, along with a plaque of appreciation from the education authority of Gyeonggi Province. The same film was a finalist at the New York International Film Awards and an official selection in Rome, Beijing and at the Southeast Asia International Film Festival. His music video Unchained Gold won for AI composition and for storytelling at the Hollywood AI music video festival, and at the Chroma Awards he finished among the eleven finalists with two honourable mentions. More than twenty festival awards so far.

He founded GRAB AI Studio in Seoul and directs for Bamboo Network and Studio Yeoubyeol. He is the lead instructor for AI cinema at FastCampus, the largest education platform in Korea, and he works on commercial productions and state-funded animation, with POSCO and Hyundai among his clients. His switch of trade has been covered by the Korean press, including JoongAng Ilbo and the Maeil Business Newspaper. He holds a master’s in design management from Yonsei University.

Mariusz Polec

CEO · Founder · Poland

CEO and founder of casting.studio, a next-generation app for the creative industry that pairs agents' work with AI and gathers a community of over twenty thousand actors, influencers and content creators. For years he has been joining casting with technology: building tools for data-driven casting, likeness licensing and generative acting techniques, from live action to motion control, opening a new way for creators and brands to work with talent. He has run castings for global brands such as Netflix, Disney, HBO, Mercedes, McDonald's, Apple and BMW.