Can Gucci make luxury AI?
https://www.cnn.com/2026/02/27/style/demna-gucci-ai
Publish Date: 2026-02-27 16:33:00
Source Domain: www.cnn.com
Milan, Italy
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Backstage at the runway debut of the new new Gucci – the third rebrand that the luxury titan has undergone since Alessandro Michele left in 2022 – designer Demna was feeling the amore. “I hope I made you feel Gucci today,” he said. “The energy, the passion, the fun, the sexy…. I feel like I’m falling in love with this feeling I cannot really understand.”
Before a single look appeared on the runway, Demna had already generated big feelings with a series of AI-generated images shared to Gucci’s Instagram page earlier this week. Alongside real pictures of Sophia Loren exiting a Gucci boutique in 1966 and Michelangelo’s David were peculiar pictures of conspicuous wealth: a helmet-haired sciura in Gucci accessories striding through a wood-paneled restaurant while drab business people locked eyes on her; a sleazy 1980s couple perched on a muscle car. Though the origins of the pictures weren’t quite clear at first, Gucci soon added a tag to the posts indicating that they had been generated using artificial intelligence – a bold choice when the use of the technology remains contentious, and one that left many commenters aghast.
“I heard about that,” Demna said backstage, rolling his eyes and smiling.
Did he think his use of AI was controversial? “I don’t think so! I think this is 2026. I’m using things as a tool,” he said. “If I can use it to do something that gives me a quick idea or visualization of something, why shouldn’t I do it? It’s like, in 2008 retailers were refusing e-com because it was not quality. I mean, I find it ridiculous.”
No one understands the art of fashion provocation better than Demna, who over a decade at Balenciaga reshaped the world’s understanding of luxury from a conservative…
