Gucci has been the protagonist of the conversation in the fashion industry in recent days. Mainly because on February 27 a parade will take place in Milan to present the brand’s spring-summer collection, which is Demna Gvasalia’s first show for the Italian brand since he assumed creative direction in March 2025. Also because of the advertising campaign to promote it or because of the use of artificial intelligence, which threatens to cause a reputation crisis.

Since the launch of the collection, titled “La Famiglia”, Gucci has been actively communicating in various ways. He has created a series of characters who, together, form a particular family to which the proposal alludes; and has collaborated with the creative Pablo Rochat in a series of pieces that combine surrealism and italianity to highlight items in the collection.

But, to host the parade, which will be broadcast live on X, it has published a series of promotional images with which it seeks to reinforce the essence of the brand and its link with Italian culture. Some of these images are real photographs, provided by entities, such as the one that presents Michelangelo’s David, which has been provided by the Ministry of Culture; coming from archives or made by professionals, such as the one that shows rapper Latto under the lenses of Shamaal.

Others, however, have been generated using artificial intelligence, as the brand itself indicates in the publications. These are images of an old car, a horse at sunset or a space satellite with the brand logo in metal engraving. However, technology has also created one that shows the legs of a woman getting out of a car, or that of a glamorous Italian walking through a restaurant dressed in a classic Gucci outfit.

These last images are the ones that have aroused the curiosity of users, who question Gucci’s motivation when resorting to artificial intelligence when, for the most part, they could have easily been made using the traditional method.

They criticize that a luxury brand, whose clothing and accessories reach prices of four and five figures, has chosen to reduce costs by renouncing the work of creative professionals and real models. “There is no reason why you couldn’t have made this image with real models. Don’t pretend you don’t have a budget”; comments a user on the image that shows a boy and a girl posing on the hood of a car.

They point out that the use of technology lowers Gucci’s status, making it look cheap. “I guess you are lowering the prices, since you are also being stingy, right?” comments one user.
They also accuse the brand of creating “AI slop”, as junk content created by artificial intelligence is called; and not showing their real products in the images, something they consider essential in the communication of a luxury brand.

Users also criticize the quality of the images created. Some highlight errors, such as the presence of two forks together on the table; flaws in people’s hands or poorly defined watches that are not well located on the wrists of the figures wearing them.

But, above all, they negatively value that a luxury brand, which has traditionally been associated with creativity, exclusivity and craftsmanship, uses artificial intelligence for its communication. “If you consider yourself a luxury brand and charge so much for your products, people expect talent. Creating an ad with AI is a blow to your own industry, which is supposed to focus on highly skilled craftsmen“, comments one user. “Therefore, no one should take these brands seriously and instead support real local artists”.

Some users point out that the publication of the images could correspond to some type of communication experiment, and that the brand would be analyzing the users’ responses. However, this is not the first time that Gucci has explored the use of artificial intelligence: in 2023 it created a collection of NFTs generated with AI, and on its social networks it has published a piece in which it applies said technology.

The reaction of users to the Gucci images demonstrates the negative perception that much of society still maintains regarding artificial intelligence, as well as how strategic, in terms of perception and ethics, the use of technology should be, especially for brands in certain categories.
In the case of luxury, it suggests that if brands ask consumers to spare no expense in purchasing their luxury products, brands may have to reciprocate with creativity that lives up to their reputation.