Miquela, or “Lil Miquela”, is a freckled, fresh-faced singer, fashion influencer, model and activist. In two years, she has accrued a following of 1m on Instagram. Her Spotify page has had millions of song streams and she is granted backstage access to exclusive events. Recently she showed them around the Prada AW18 show space by flying a drone around the venue. She has also starred on the front cover of King Kong magazine showing off a bare and rather perky posterior. The thing that sets her apart? She doesn’t really exist.

Miquela is an avatar. But when first scrolling through Miquela’s Instagram page she could easily pass off as a real person: she wears the latest designer labels, attends fashion dinners and book signings and enjoys spaghetti lunches with her friends. It’s only on closer inspection you start to notice the strange homogeneity about her features — the too immaculately shiny smooth and brightened skin, facial symmetry and the hair, always in the same style, two buns with a straight uniform fringe with never a strand out of place. She’s just a little too perfect.

Her provenance is mysterious. Is she modelled on a real person? Who controls her? And from where did she come? Industry insiders suggest that Miquela is the product of a team effort, but precious little else is known about her. Her privacy is very closely guarded.