Vogue World Milan Robots Spark Backlash Over Tech Ties
Unitree robots hijacked Vogue World Milan's fashion spotlight, fueling backlash over tech wealth, lost jobs and Vogue's deepening Silicon Valley ties.
Summary
Vogue World’s fifth annual traveling spectacle closed its Milan edition on September 22, 2026, with unclothed Unitree humanoid robots performing The Age of Intelligence in the Galleria. They danced to Gigi D’Agostino’s “L’Amour Toujours,” waved for applause and performed a lasso, despite the event promoting Italian craftsmanship and “the human touch.” Valentino creative director Alessandro Michele’s pained reaction went viral, robot discussion eclipsed the fashion, and similar machines appeared at London Fashion Week.
Meta Glasses partly sponsored Milan, with additional OpenAI support, before Vogue World moves to San Francisco in 2027. Culture Impact Agency founder Jason Johnson said Vogue has courted Silicon Valley for a decade, citing Jony Ive’s 2015 Met Gala role, Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez’s Vogue wedding cover, and their 2026 gala role. Critics connected the display to job displacement, AI, surveillance, energy consumption and tech wealth during a cost of living crisis. MKEDI founder Muna Ikedionwu said the robots poorly represented creative technology, contrasting them with AA Murakami’s bubble dress for Eileen Gu at the 2026 Met Gala.
Positives
- AA Murakami’s bubble dress for Eileen Gu at the 2026 Met Gala combined fashion design, engineering and ephemeral technology.
- Schiaparelli’s Spring 2024 collection integrated Swarovski crystals, PC microchips and vintage technology into couture.
- Jason Johnson said Vogue offers cultural influence and access while technology companies provide publications with valuable funding.
- Vogue World’s 2027 San Francisco edition could explore the fashion and technology crossover more substantively.
Risks & concerns
- Unitree robots eclipsed the Milan fashion, leaving public discussion focused on an awkward technological spectacle rather than the clothes.
- Alessandro Michele’s viral reaction crystallized discomfort with robots closing an event dedicated to craftsmanship and “the human touch.”
- Critics associated the performance with job displacement, AI, mass surveillance, energy consumption and extreme technology wealth.
- Muna Ikedionwu said runway robots barely represented the engineering and AI innovation already influencing fashion, design and art.
- Meta Glasses and OpenAI support intensified concerns that Vogue is aligning with wealthy technology interests during a cost of living crisis.