How to make a lookbook with AI
A lookbook is a sequence of styled photos that presents a collection as outfits, made for buyers, press and fans rather than for a product page. To make one with AI, write the looks and their order first, approve one model on a character sheet, fix one backdrop and light for the whole book, render each look from real photos of the garments, then lay it out as a PDF, a web page and an Instagram carousel of up to 20 images.
Lookbook, catalogue or campaign
The Cambridge Dictionary defines a lookbook as a collection of photographs showing fashion collections. In practice the three formats do different jobs, and the job decides what to check hardest when the photos come from AI.
| Question | Lookbook | Catalogue | Campaign |
|---|---|---|---|
| Job | Show the collection as outfits and a mood | Show each product clearly so people can buy it | Sell an idea of the brand for a season |
| Main reader | Wholesale buyers, press, stylists and fans | Shoppers on a product page | Everyone who sees the ads |
| Photos | Full looks in one consistent setting, in a planned order | Every product, front, back and detail, often on white | A few hero images, adapted to every ad size |
| Words | Look numbers and product names, plus SKUs and prices for buyers | Full product data | A headline and a call to action |
| What to check hardest in AI photos | The same face, light and styling on every page | Every garment detail against the product | The hero garment and any text |
At Zalando, AI already makes most editorial images. The company told Reuters that about 70 percent of its editorial campaign images in the last quarter of 2024 were made with generative AI.
Plan the looks and the order before you render
Write the book as a list before any prompt. Group looks into short runs by color, occasion or fabric, open with the look that sums up the collection, and end on one that stays with the reader. Mark which pages show a garment’s back or a fabric close-up, because those need their own reference photos.
Fixed for every page: model [character sheet v1], backdrop [name and hex], light [side, angle, quality], lens [85mm, f/8], grade [e.g. clean, low grain] Page 1 Cover: the hero look, full body, collection name and season Page 2 Look 01 [pieces by name and color], full body, front Page 3 Look 02 [pieces], front | Look 03 [pieces], three-quarter Page 4 Fabric page: close-up of [hero fabric], raking light, macro Page 5 Look 04 [pieces], mid-step walk, full body Page 6 Look 05 [pieces], back view (send the back flat lay) Page 7 Looks 06 and 07 side by side, same pose, a colorway story Page 8 Look 08 [pieces], seated or leaning (lookbook only, not for store use) Page 9 Look 09 [pieces], close crop on accessories Page 10 Line sheet: every look as a thumbnail, with look number, product names, colors, sizes and SKUs
A line sheet lists each style with its photo, colors, sizes and wholesale price, and it is the page wholesale buyers order from. Keep it as live text in your layout file rather than text drawn into an image, so names and numbers stay sharp and correct. To plan the shots themselves, adapt the AI campaign shot list template.
Keep one model and one light across the book
A lookbook reads as one book when the same person stands in the same light on every page. Approve one model on a character sheet (one image of the same person from several angles) and send it as the first reference for every look; the method is in how to keep the same model in every AI photo. Then write the backdrop, light and camera once and paste the same sentences into every prompt. On our trousers job, the backdrop and lighting sentences were reused word for word across the store photos, and only the framing and pose changed from shot to shot.
| Keep fixed | Change per page |
|---|---|
| Face, hair and build (the character sheet) | The outfit |
| Backdrop or location, and its color | Pose and framing |
| Light direction, quality and color | Crop: full body, three-quarter or detail |
| Lens, camera height and color grade | Which garment references go with the render |
Style full looks without losing the garments
A look is several products at once, so the risk adds up. One wrong button in a five-piece outfit spoils the page. Give each look a reference photo for every piece you sell, and name each piece with its key details. Keep props and accessories you do not sell plain and unbranded, and check that no other brand’s logo appears. For shoes and bags in a look, see AI photos for shoes, jewelry and accessories.
Render each look against the garments’ own flat lays, never from a description alone. The steps are in how to turn a flat lay into on-model photos.
Sizes for PDF, web and Instagram
| Format | What to export | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Instagram carousel | Up to 20 photos in one post, 1080 pixels wide, between 1.91:1 landscape and 3:4 portrait (1080 x 1440) | The orientation you pick applies to every photo in the post, so render the whole book in one ratio |
| PDF for buyers and press | The largest size your image model offers. Google’s Nano Banana 2 and Nano Banana Pro go up to 4K (4096 pixels square) | Keep look numbers, names and SKUs as live text |
| Web lookbook page | Your store theme’s image sizes; see Shopify product image sizes | Link each look to its product pages |
| Ads cut from the book | Plan the tallest crop when you render; see adapting one campaign to every ad size | Keep the product identical across crops |
Instagram stores photos at up to 1080 pixels wide and crops any photo whose ratio falls outside 1.91:1 to 3:4, so a portrait book at 4:5 or 3:4 avoids surprise crops.
Check the book before it goes out
- The same face, hair and build on every page
- Every garment matches its flat lay: details, color and print scale
- Light comes from the same side on every page, with matching shadows
- Look numbers, product names and SKUs match the line sheet
- No other brand’s logo on props or accessories
- Captions and alt text written for the web version
- An AI credit line if the models are synthetic, for example "Images made with AI. Garments are real samples."
For the photo-by-photo checks, use the AI image QA checklist.
Questions people also ask
- How many looks should a lookbook have?
- As many as the collection has outfits worth selling. Decide which looks buyers must see, then build the pages around them, rather than filling a set page count.
- Can I mix AI photos with photos from a real shoot?
- Yes, if they match in light, lens and grade. Write the real shoot’s lighting and lens into your prompts, and color grade both sets together at the end. Tell buyers which images are AI if they will judge fit from them.
- Should a lookbook show prices?
- A wholesale lookbook often goes out with a line sheet that lists SKUs and wholesale prices. A consumer lookbook links each look to its product pages instead, so prices stay current.
Where Overs fits
Overs plans a set around what it is for, such as editorial, store page or feed ads, in sets of 5, 8, 10 or 12 photos with one approved model. You can export the whole campaign with the prompt, model and reference pictures behind each photo, or send a client one review file whose decisions come back into Overs.
Free for 40 photos a month. The AI that makes the photos is billed separately, on your own key, with no markup from Overs.
Sources
- Cambridge Dictionary: lookbook
- Instagram Help Center: Share a post with multiple photos or videos
- Instagram Help Center: Image resolution of photos you share on Instagram
- Google AI for Developers: Gemini API pricing (image sizes)
- Reuters via Yahoo Finance: Zalando uses AI to speed up marketing campaigns, cut costs (May 7, 2025)