You might have seen her in a Skims campaign or most recently working out next to influencer guru Pamela Reif to promote her debut single “Dominoes” on Instagram Reels.
In August, the fashion-lover and model announced that she signed with record label Warner Music, releasing the song “Dominoes” in collaboration with German DJ Allan Farbe. Entering the music industry is the latest territory for Noonoouri to conquer as she first rose to fame in the fashion industry.
Created by Opium Effect founder Joerg Zuber in 2018, Noonoouri inspires big dreams and aspirations for fans. With an astonishing 408K following, her Instagram is filled with visionary posts of Noonoouri posing in the latest fashion and paying tribute to designers such as Donnatella Versace, Zuhair Murad, and Iris van Herpen. She also pays homage to fashion history by wearing iconic archive pieces from Alexander McQueen, Viktor & Rolf, and Thierry Mugler.
However, Noonoouri is not only born into the virtual influencer world to play dress-up. She also advocates for sustainability, ecology, and wildlife protection, which is why she’s vegan and wouldn’t photograph in real fur.
Her creator is based in Munich, Germany, yet her storyline unfolds in Paris, speaking to Noonoouri’s love for luxury fashion. Noonoouri is also represented by the modelling agency IMG, who has famously launched the careers of Gigi and Bella Hadid, Alek Wek, Jordan Dunn, and Candice Swanepole.
Noonoouri’s appearance is cartoon-like and fully CGI-created. She’s been mislabelled as an AI influencer by various media outlets in articles about her new music release. This sparked Noonoouri to create a video series, where she explains how the production was entirely human-created from her clothes and makeup to poses, dance moves, and vocals.
With a manga-like appearance, Noonoouri can’t be mistaken for a human influencer like other virtual influencers such as Lil Miquela, Imma, and Shudu, who are hyper-realistic. Non-human influencers achieve big success on social media, because they provide a break from reality. By watching content from influencers such as Nobody Sausage, Qai Qai, Good Advice Cupcake, or famous VTubers like Kizuna AI, fans get to detach from the real world.
Their quirky and cartoonish appearances make it easier for fans to get emotionally invested in the characters. They come across as less scary. For brands, hiring a non-human influencer brings a playful and enjoyable element to campaigns. It makes the product content more noticeable, potentially evoking emotions within consumers.
Noonoouri has worked with Kim Kardashian for Skims and KKWbeauty, trying out the latest contour and highlight kit. Dior featured her in their Dior Rouge lipstick campaign, where she paid tribute to the original campaign starring Nathalie Portmann. For the Tommy Hilfiger x Lewis Hamilton collection launch, Noonoouri sported an outfit next to Hamilton on her Instagram as part of the social media campaign. She’s also been featured in an advertisement for the tech brand Honor, entering different worlds with an Alice in Wonderland impression to promote their smartphone.
Despite her digital build, not everything unfolds on social media. In 2020, Noonoouri entered the real world when she made a guest appearance in season one of the fashion reality TV-show ‘Making The Cut’ hosted by Heidi Klum. Here, Noonoouri sat front row next to audience members to watch the fashion designers present their clothes. By looking and reacting to the clothes, the virtual influencer became an active participant in the fashion industry — similarly to when Lil Miquela attended the FW18 Prada show and took over their Instagram backstage.
Virtual influencers like Noonoouri have the ability to redefine creative content and storytelling as their digital capabilities reach beyond physical limitations. Unlike human influencers, Noonoouri can have an effortless and glamorous photoshoot on the moon or deep underwater.
For instance, a Gucci collaboration in 2019 saw her inside a spaceship, then teletransported into a jungle with a robot, and fighting off a dinosaur with a Gucci handbag. Storytelling such as these adds another creative and entertaining element to Gucci and their products, which stands out from the rest of the fashion content on social media.
At the same time, working with virtual influencers helps fashion brands show their interest in technological development and keeping up with trends outside of the fashion industry. Since their collaboration with Noonoouri, Gucci has worked more with the tech and web3 industry, focusing on gaming and also partnering with Yuga Labs, the company behind the Bored Ape Yacht Collection.
It’ll be interesting to see where Noonoouri heads next, as she just launched her music career. Will fashion and music become more intertwined on her social media? What do you want to see next from Noonoouri?
