Gucci sparks backlash after using AI models for Milan Fashion Week campaign

Gucci has found itself at the centre of an unexpected online storm after releasing AI-generated visuals to promote its upcoming show at Milan Fashion Week, according to a BBC report.The luxury house shared a series of images on social media ahead of the show. They were clearly marked as AI-created, but that didn’t stop the backlash. Many users quickly questioned how relying on artificial intelligence fits with Gucci’s long-standing messaging around craftsmanship, heritage, and human creativity - especially Italian artistry, which the brand frequently celebrates.

One comment that gained traction summed up the mood online: “Bleak days when Gucci can’t find a real Milanese grandmother to model a 1976 outfit.”

The remark referred to one of the AI visuals featuring an elegant older Italian woman dressed in vintage-style Gucci.For critics, the issue isn’t just technology. It’s symbolism. Luxury fashion has always leaned heavily on real people - models, photographers, stylists, artisans - all contributing to the storytelling behind a campaign. So when a heritage label replaces that ecosystem with algorithms, some fans feel the soul of fashion gets diluted.

The images have been labelled as AI-generated, yet several users dismissed them as “AI slop,” an internet term used for the growing flood of synthetic content filling social feeds. Others wondered why a brand operating at luxury price points would choose cost-cutting technology for marketing at all.The debate arrives just as Gucci’s creative director Demna Gvasalia prepares to unveil his first runway vision for the house in Milan.

The timing has only amplified the conversation, with many viewing the campaign as a signal of where the brand — and perhaps luxury fashion itself, might be heading.This isn’t Gucci’s first experiment with AI. The brand has previously collaborated with digital artists on virtual visuals that were later auctioned as NFTs through Christie's. Late last year, it also released an AI-made video showing a model walking a runway while photographers comically tumbled over each other trying to capture her.

And Gucci isn’t alone. Labels like Valentino and H&M have also been testing generative AI for social campaigns and digital storytelling, often framing it as creative experimentation rather than replacement.Still, experts say luxury brands walk a delicate line. Dr Priscilla Chan from Manchester Metropolitan University’s Fashion Institute noted that while new technology can generate buzz, it can just as easily trigger negative attention if audiences feel authenticity is being compromised.

For luxury labels especially, brand image matters as much as innovation.Not everyone is against the move, though. Some social media users felt Gucci’s visuals still captured a certain “Milano glamour,” arguing that experimentation has always been part of fashion’s evolution.Photographer Tati Bruening, known online as illumitati, said she isn’t entirely opposed to AI in fashion, but believes its role should remain limited.

Using AI for minor edits, retouching, or mood boards feels acceptable to her. Fully generating campaign imagery, however, crosses into more complicated territory because it replaces rather than supports creative workers.She also floated another possibility: maybe the campaign itself is meant to provoke discussion. Instead of selling luxury in the traditional sense, it could be questioning what luxury even means in an era shaped by artificial intelligence.And that’s where the conversation now sits. Between innovation and authenticity. Between efficiency and artistry. Gucci may have launched a marketing campaign, but what it really started was a debate the fashion industry can’t avoid anymore.