What are the hallmarks of a luxury brand? Exclusivity, artisan craftsmanship, and a high price tag to match. But iconic fashion house Gucci may have just learned the hard way that advertising can undermine all those qualities—especially if it’s made with artificial intelligence.
On February 23, Gucci started posting promotional images for its upcoming Primavera Fashion Show in Milan, its first show under new creative director Demna. The first few photos were inoffensive—Michelangelo’s David statue, a pair of leather loafers—but then, things took a turn. The next four pictures Gucci posted came with a disclaimer in their captions: “Created with AI.”
The AI-generated ads included renderings of a woman in a fur coat in the middle of a restaurant, a pair of legs emerging from a car’s back seat, two models framed against the night sky, and a sports car. They were all images that could easily have been created traditionally with models and photography, leaving fashion fans online scratching their heads as to why Gucci would turn to AI.
AI-generated content often falls flat in advertising. Take Svedka Vodka’s now-infamous Super Bowl ad, which featured a robotic duo straight from the uncanny valley. Social media users decried the ad as “nightmare fuel,” with one self-described Svedka fan rationalizing that “with how cheap it is, they can’t afford a real budget for an ad.”
Gucci, of course, doesn’t have that same excuse. It’s no doubt much less expensive to generate an image with AI than to hire a full crew and book a location for a photo shoot—but for a brand whose cheapest handbag sells for $850 (and whose most expensive retails for $10,000), disgruntled consumers are making it clear that cutting corners isn’t a good look.
Fashion lovers weren’t shy to critique Gucci’s move. “Any luxury brands that used AI slop should not be [considered] luxury anymore,” one X user wrote in a viral post.
“Fastest way for a luxury brand to lose its value,” said another.
Whether Gucci can make up any social ground with its actual products remains to be seen: Its Primavera Fashion Show will stream live on X on Friday, February 27, at 8 a.m. ET. But Gucci’s experiment with AI advertising suggests that if brands ask consumers to spare no expense for luxury products, they’ll need to shell out, too, where it counts.
Gucci did not respond to Fast Company’s request for comment.