Ghost mannequin
What is a ghost mannequin?
A ghost mannequin is a clothing photograph in which the mannequin has been removed in post-production: the garment keeps its shape and the inside of the collar shows, but the body underneath is gone. It takes two frames — the garment on a form, then a shot of the inside back — combined into one image. A whole catalogue comes out consistent, with no model and no rights to clear.
Example
A shirt label is shooting 60 styles for the new season. A model shoot means a studio, a stylist, the model’s fee and a contract for the use of the frames; for 60 shirts that is two shooting days and a separate agreement for every face.
With a ghost mannequin one person dresses the form, takes the front frame, turns the collar and takes a second. Retouching joins them and removes the form. The pace in front of the camera is about eight minutes a shirt, at one angle, one light and one scale, so 60 shirts take one day of shooting and half a day of retouching. When another 12 styles arrive next year they are shot the same way and sit beside the old ones without looking like a different season.
Why it matters for a business
Online the photograph does the selling. A garment on a hanger loses its shape and reads as cheaper than the same garment holding volume and showing the collar lining. The consistency does the rest: the grid stops looking like a collection of borrowed pictures.
The arithmetic shows up in returns. At 1,200 orders a month and an 18% return rate, 216 parcels come back; if handling one costs around €6, that is €1,296 a month. One percentage point fewer returns is 12 parcels and roughly €72 a month. The same frames also move the conversion rate, so the sum has a second side to it. The limit is plain: a ghost mannequin shows the garment, not how it sits on a person, so the best sellers still earn one frame on a model.
What to ask
- Is there a form in the right size for every cut — shirt, jacket, dress, childrenswear? A small form under a large garment is visible.
- Is the second frame of the inside back actually taken, or will the collar stay closed in the final image?
- How are the same angle and the same frame height held across seasons, so the catalogue stays even?
- How far do creases, threads and tags get cleaned? Over-retouching turns a garment into a drawing and brings the parcels back.
- Which files come back: product on white, transparent PNG, sizes for the shop and for advertising?
Combining the frames, cleaning them and matching colour across the set is part of photo retouching, before the garments reach the shop.