Why Leila Lovit’s AI characters are totally unique to her
CLIP ART/2: Second of the three AI video banners Leila created specially for her Fetishistas interview (click the image to watch in page or expand it to full screen resolution)
I mention that my impression of other AI artists working in the fetish/BDSM genre is that they typically have stock bodies and faces that they use as their basic building blocks. And I have been assuming these will have been sourced from AI companies who’ve scraped millions of digital images.
“I know that many AI artists use stock bodies and faces as their building blocks,” Leila agrees, “because most platforms offer those options.
“But I honestly don’t know how other AI artists work in detail — every platform has its own logic, and I don’t study other people’s workflows. It distracts me from my own universe.
“What I can say is how I work: I don’t use stock faces, and I never start from real people — not from photo archives, not from models, not from references.
“All my characters are fully generated inside the AI engine, shaped by my base prompt and whatever emotional direction I’m working with at that moment.
“AI‑generated faces are unique faces. They’re constructed, not copied. Of course they can resemble someone, but real people resemble each other too — that’s just how faces work.
“And yes, there will always be people who use AI to imitate or even misuse the faces of celebrities or private individuals. That’s exactly why I choose not to work that way.
“My characters are anonymous by design. Most of my models or ‘dolls’ wear hoods, which hides identity even further. Their recognisability comes from my own aesthetic: the lips, the long lashes, the slightly artificial, doll‑like quality. That ‘almost fake’ look is part of my signature.”
Ah yes, the lips! You wouldn’t have to scroll through too many of Leila Lovit’s images in this article, on social media or elsewhere to discover that exaggerated lips are a recurring feature among her AI characters.
“The inflated lips are part of my dolls, and they reflect two sides of my work,” she explains.
“On one level, they’re humorous — playful exaggerations that parody beauty ideals. But on a deeper level, they expose my fetishes and come straight from my soul.
“My dolls bring together fetish elements like latex, facelessness, dollification, spikes, crowns, and exaggerated features.
“For me, these aren’t just stylistic tropes — they’re ways of showing that beauty can be found in the deviation, in unique and unconventional appearances.
“That tension between humour and seriousness, between parody and personal obsession, is exactly what makes them important to me.”
Although Leila has established that she does not use real people in her AI creations, there is in fact one important exception she makes to this rule.
“The only exception is myself. Very occasionally I’ll run my own face through the generator, but that’s the only real person who ever appears in my work — and I’m comfortable with that because the consent is built‑in.
“Because of this approach, my characters don’t exist outside my world. They’re not borrowed, they’re not recognisable, and they’re not tied to any real individual.
“They’re constructed from scratch, and then refined through lighting, materials, posture, composition — the sculpting phase that makes them feel intentional and alive.
“So no,“ she reiterates, “I don’t use stock bodies, and no, I don’t use real people.
“My characters are built, not sourced — and that’s why they belong to one coherent universe.”
BELOW: CLIP ART/3: Last of the three AI video banners Leila created specially for her Fetishistas interview (click the image to watch in page or expand it to full screen resolution)
More on Leila’s creative process: it starts with a feeling…
When I ask Leila if she’s prepared to share more detail about her own creative methods with us, it turns out she’s happy to oblige.
“For me, the beginning of an AI work is never a picture — it’s a feeling,” she reveals.
“Over the past two years I’ve developed a base prompt — a kind of internal skeleton — that sits underneath everything I create.
“It’s the foundation of all my work, no matter what I’m making. And yes, it contains a little ‘granny’s secret ingredient’ that I never fully reveal — the part that makes my universe mine.
“You describe the world you want to build, the mood, the materials, the light, the emotional tone. The AI responds to the intention behind the words, not just the words themselves.
“From that base prompt, I start adjusting it — adding, removing, refining or redirecting
depending on the atmosphere I want. It’s more like sculpting language than writing it.
“I shape the prompt until it matches the emotional temperature of the piece. For me, prompt-writing isn’t about describing an image; it’s about directing a world.”
After that comes the visual sculpting phase she refers to above. For video, the process is similar but with an extra layer, she explains.
“I generate the scenes with AI, but all the editing, pacing, transitions and effects are done with regular software. Rhythm can’t be automated; it has to be crafted by hand.
“So,” she summarises, “the ‘start’ of my work isn’t a reference image. It’s a mood — supported by a prompt architecture I’ve refined over years.
“And because I build on that foundation rather than replacing it, my work stays coherent, recognisable, and rooted in the same artistic universe.”
On being a woman in a field dominated by men
‘THINGS change when women run events’ (image: Leila Lovit)
The discussion moves on to my earlier observation that Lovit is a woman working in a field almost entirely dominated by men. How does that feel?
“I get that question a lot,” Leila replies. “Honestly, I don’t struggle with it much. Sometimes I have to prove myself a bit harder, but once they see my work, I get respect.
“What I find amusing is how many men expect me to throw myself at their feet if I want my work shown at their event. They’ll be waiting a long time. I’ve been
part of this scene for about 20 years now — there aren’t many surprises left.”
Can she give an example of the sort of male presumptiveness she’s talking about? “It’s rarely a formal ‘deal’,” she replies. “It’s more of a pattern.
“Every now and then a man in a gatekeeper position behaves as if offering me an opportunity automatically entitles him to personal access — a hand on your waist, a comment about ‘showing appreciation’, or even encouragement to be sexually available at an event.
“It’s subtle, but the implication is clear: visibility in exchange for compliance. You really do have to stand your ground in this scene.
“That’s why I appreciate events that are run by women. The dynamic is completely different — professional, modern, and based on merit rather than expectation.
“Torture Garden is a good example: Charlotte TG runs it with a clarity and structure that sets the tone.
“And closer to home, The Rubber Bunch — organised by Iris Fleur — shows the same thing.
“It’s welcoming, respectful, and focused on community rather than ego. When women run events, the whole atmosphere shifts.”
Changes to the party scenes in the Netherlands and UK
RUBBER BUNCH host Iris Fleur, left, pictured in Amsterdam’s Red Light District (photo: @spicyclicks). Right: Flyer art for The Rubber Bunch March 2026 edition created by Leila Lovit
As she mentioned earlier, Leila’s entry to the fetish party scene was via a Dominatrix event— and after her debut, she continued to attend its parties enthusiastically.
“it was one of the best events we ever had,” she says. “It’s such a shame it no longer exists. There aren’t many good events left in the Netherlands.
“Wasteland is basically the only major one that survived, though people complain it’s becoming more like B.I.T.C.H. every year. It’s sad to see the scene shrinking.”
However, some smaller Dutch events like Boudoir Bizarre and The Rubber Bunch are still going, albeit with very different styles.
“Boudoir Bizarre is very traditional, while The Rubber Bunch has a completely different energy. Iris does a great job with Rubber Bunch; it’s welcoming, modern, and community‑focused.
“I designed the full visual identity for The Rubber Bunch parties, which was a fun collaboration,” Leila recalls.
“I’ve said this before, but I do think the scene has changed dramatically because of the broader political shift.
“The world is tightening up at a rapid pace, and that creates a shortage of good venues — and the ones that remain have to raise their prices.”
The UK scene, post-covid and mid-cost-of-living crisis, has suffered too of course. In London, many of the larger venues we used to party in either no longer exist, or are no longer available for fetish events.
This has led, for example, to Torture Garden regularly having to stage two consecutive nights in smaller London venues to accommodate the numbers that used to fill a single TG night in one of its old, much larger locations.
“If things continue like this,” Lovit reflects, “I honestly think the fetish scene will be fully underground again within ten years.
“A lot of beautiful things have disappeared in the past few years.”
Finally (for pt1): how does Leila Lovit see her future?
Considering her prediction, above, about the fetish scene’s future, how then does Leila Lovit see her own future shaping up?
One broad hope she has is that increased exposure for her work will bring chances to grow further and contribute more to fetish events with her visuals.
“I’ve already done a lot in the past two years,” she says, citing flyer design for Berlin’s FetishGuerilla as well as her collaborations with Wasteland and The Rubber Bunch mentioned previously.
“But I’m also stepping away from graphic
design to fully focus on my art and the new projects I’m developing. One of them is a concept for an event that blends fetish culture with immersive art and performance.
“It’s not a typical fetish party — it’s a curated experience where art, atmosphere and performance come together in a way that feels more like stepping into a visual universe than attending a club night.
“This is the direction I want to grow into: creating spaces where my aesthetic can be lived, not just viewed.”
BELOW: Full-Frame Gallery versions of the four self-portraits of Leila used in this article.
CLICK/TAP any thumbnail to open full size image, which will automatically start slideshow
LEILA LOVIT PART 1 – FETISH AI VISIONARY: LINKS
OTHER IMAGERY
A Clockwork Orange
Hajime Sorayama
Robert Mapplethorpe
SpicyClicks
COMING SOON! Leila Lovit Part 2: ‘The only way is ethics’
Share On Facebook
Tweet It
