Filming has officially begun in Dubai for LookBerry Fashion Battles, a new fashion show designed to answer one of the industry’s most uncomfortable questions: which models can actually help a brand sell its products, and which ones simply attract attention to themselves?
Some models collect thousands of likes, endless compliments, and significant male attention. Yet, a few minutes later, ask viewers which dress, piece of jewellery, or accessory was featured in the frame, and most will struggle to remember. Others may have a considerably smaller following, yet leave women wanting to know the brand, try on the featured piece, or buy the entire look.
For a fashion brand, this distinction is crucial. Attention directed at a model does not necessarily translate into interest in the product, and social media popularity does not always lead to sales. A beautiful face can stop the scroll, but a commercially successful model has to do much more: hold the audience’s attention, reveal the product, and create a genuine desire to buy it.
This is exactly the difference LookBerry Fashion Battles aims to reveal.
Not the Most Beautiful, but the Most Sellable
Fashion Battles is not designed to determine which participant is the most beautiful. Dubai already has no shortage of attractive and professional models. Instead, the show looks for the model who can turn audience attention into product interest, product interest into action, and that action into an actual purchase.
Looking striking on camera or generating a large number of reactions is not enough. A model has to remain the focus of the frame without overshadowing the product, create an emotional response, and direct that emotion back towards the brand. After watching, the audience should remember not only the face, but also the product the model was presenting.
That is why the result of Fashion Battles will not be determined by the number of compliments under a photograph, but by a model’s ability to influence how the audience perceives a product and whether that perception can affect a real purchasing decision.
How the Competition Works
In each episode, four models face five challenges, with each one testing a different aspect of their professional ability.
In Face, the participants work with emotion and facial expression. Pose tests how confidently they control their bodies and create a powerful static frame. Movement focuses on body language, physicality, and the ability to work dynamically on camera. Product addresses the central commercial question of the entire show: can a model present a product in a way that makes the audience want it? Finally, Freestyle gives each participant the opportunity to reveal her personality, individuality, and understanding of a fashion image.
But the models’ performances are only the first part of the competition. The real decision begins when their work is evaluated by the people who make decisions within the fashion industry.
Five Professional Perspectives on One Model
Fashion Battles does not follow the traditional format of a show where a host explains what is happening, moderates the judges, and controls the pace of the episode. Instead, the centre of each episode is occupied by five Brand Decision Makers, each representing a different professional perspective: styling, creative direction, brand management, model casting, and brand marketing.
This is not a conventional judging panel expected to reach one unified verdict. Each professional evaluates a model through the lens of their own responsibilities. A stylist considers whether she helps the clothing come to life. A creative director looks for character and originality. A casting professional evaluates her potential for future projects. Brand and marketing representatives consider whether her image connects with the target audience and whether it can ultimately contribute to a commercial result.
As a result, the same participant can receive completely different reactions.
She may be perfect for a fashion editorial but less convincing in a product campaign. She may impress a casting professional but fail to connect with a brand manager. Or she may create a beautiful image that generates thousands of views without generating a single purchase.
Fashion Battles brings the moment that normally happens behind closed doors into the spotlight. A model appears in front of industry professionals for only a few minutes, after which each of them has to decide whether they would invite her to work on a real project.
Male Attention or Buyer Interest?
After the episode is released, the competition continues on LookBerry, where viewers will be able to explore the looks created by the participants, support their favourite models, and purchase the products featured in the show.
This is where the central tension of the project becomes even more interesting. One model may receive an enormous amount of attention from men while generating little interest in the clothing itself. Another may receive fewer reactions, yet inspire women to explore the product and make a purchase.
Fashion Battles asks a simple but revealing question: who performed better, the model people looked at longer, or the model whose appearance made them want to buy what she was wearing?
A like represents an emotional reaction. A purchase is a more concrete form of behaviour, demonstrating that the model may have influenced an actual consumer decision. This is why LookBerry separates popularity from commercial influence rather than treating them as the same result.
When Professionals and the Audience Choose Different Winners
Most modelling competitions end when the judges make their decision. Fashion Battles continues beyond the studio, because the final picture will involve not only professional opinions but also audience behaviour.
Professionals may identify one participant as their standout model, while the audience may respond very differently. The participant considered the most promising by industry professionals may not necessarily generate the strongest commercial response, while a model who received less attention in the studio may ultimately prove more convincing to consumers.
This creates the central experiment of Fashion Battles: how closely do the predictions of fashion professionals correspond with the real behaviour of an audience?
Can industry experts identify in advance the model who can help a brand sell, or does the final answer always belong to the buyer?
The First Episode Has Already Been Filmed
Production of LookBerry Fashion Battles has officially begun in Dubai, with the first episode already completing its initial production stage. After reviewing the footage, the team decided to restructure the episode to remove anything that distracted from the central conflict between professional evaluation, audience attention, and commercial results.
The updated format keeps the focus on the models, the five Brand Decision Makers, and the decisions that are normally made behind closed doors during castings, advertising campaigns, and brand negotiations. Viewers will see not only the final result of a fashion shoot, but also the decision-making process that can determine whether a model receives her next opportunity and whether she can become a valuable face for brands.
The premiere of the first episode of LookBerry Fashion Battles will take place on YouTube on September 25. For the first time, viewers will be able to compare the opinions of industry professionals with their own choices and see which participant can do more than simply attract attention, turning that attention into real commercial interest.
She will be the one competing for the title of Dubai’s Most Sellable Model.
