Ghost mannequin or on-model photos: which fits your store?

For a coat, a jacket or a dress with shape, customers want to see more than a piece lying flat. That leaves two choices: ghost mannequin, the piece on an invisible mannequin, or a photo on a model. Both show how a piece sits, but they tell different things. This guide puts them side by side: what they show, what they cost and when to choose which.

What ghost mannequin is

With ghost mannequin, a photographer dresses a mannequin in the piece and shoots it from the front, and often from the back. A retoucher then removes the mannequin. For a collar or a neckline, a second photo of the inside is usually added, so the piece looks hollow, as if someone just took it off. The result stands on white or a plain colour.

A ghost mannequin photo shows the shape without distraction: the shoulders, the length, how a coat falls when it is closed. There is no face, no pose and no place to look at, only the piece. That is why you often see it as the main photo on product pages and marketplaces.

It takes more work than a flat-lay: two photos and retouching per piece. Studios ask roughly €15 to €40 per photo for it.

What a photo on a model shows

A model shows what a mannequin cannot: how a fabric moves, how long a coat is on a body of a given height, and what to wear it with. A photo on a model has a place and a light, and with them a mood. It is the picture that lets customers imagine how it looks on them, and the picture that works on social media.

A shoot with a model is also the most expensive. A studio with a model costs roughly €600 to €1,200 per half day, before the model's fee. A lookbook or campaign day with model and styling comes to €1,500 to €5,000.

Side by side

• What it shows. Ghost mannequin: shape and fit, without distraction. On a model: shape, movement, length on a body, combinations and mood.
• Where it works. Ghost mannequin: as the main photo, on product pages and marketplaces with a white or plain background. On a model: as the second photo, on category pages, on social media and in campaigns.
• What it costs. Ghost mannequin: roughly €15 to €40 per photo. On a model: roughly €600 to €1,200 per half day in the studio, before the model.
• How fast. Ghost mannequin: planned per piece, the retouching sets the lead time. On a model: a shoot day to plan, with model, styling and location.

Which one should you choose?

It is rarely one or the other. Many fashion stores use both: a calm photo on white or ghost mannequin as the first image, and one or more photos on a model below it. The first shows the piece, the second shows how it looks on.

Ghost mannequin shows the piece. A model shows how it looks on.

Check the rules of your sales channel too. Some marketplaces ask for a white or plain background for the main photo; read their guidelines before you choose.

Where AI makes the difference

The photo on a model is the expensive part. That is where AI saves the most. From a flat-lay or a photo on white you make on-model pictures without a shoot day: the same piece on the model and in the place you choose, in the shape your channel asks for. How that works is in From flat-lay to on-model photo with AI.

VeyraGen itself does not make ghost mannequin photos. We make photos on a model, from your flat-lay or your photo on white. If you have that photo already, 25 free credits show you what it does on a model.

Want to see all the ways side by side first, from flat-lay to model? Read How to photograph clothes for your online store.

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Sources for the prices, excluding VAT and checked on 23 October 2026: Viralistic, Kledingfotografie (30 July 2026), indicative Dutch rates for ghost mannequin, studio with model and lookbook day. Prices elsewhere differ.