Alessandro Michele, I Couldn’t Agree More
By: Ella Barchie, Staff Writer Edited by: Olena Conrad
Milan Fashion Week has ended. We saw beautiful, thought-out collections from Prada, Diesel, and more. They were bittersweet, they were noteworthy; and yet, Alessandro Michele’s reaction to the robots at Vogue World: Milano stands out the most. Vogue, the fashion magazine, revered for its craftsmanship and influence, has put robots on its runway. Like Michele, many were appalled and disappointed by this choice.
Vogue World is an annual event hosted by the famous fashion and culture magazine that celebrates fashion and its intersection with other aspects of life. This year, the show took place at the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II in Milan on September 22, the first day of Milan fashion week. The theme was craftsmanship and human touch in the age of technology, as described by Vogue. “Over a series of thematic acts, Vogue World: Milano surveyed and celebrated fashion’s ability to ‘preserve heritage, drive innovation, and shape the future,’” Vogue writes.
Vogue World: Milano was quite the spectacle. If there were not twenty models strutting down the runway at the same time, then there was a large ensemble of dancers performing instead (sometimes both.) The show explored the beauty of fashion through different eras of time. In typical Italian fashion, there was a cascade of color, gold, patterns, and dramatics. And yet, one of the most striking looks is one Alessandro Michele gave to the robots.
In the fourth act of the show, titled, “The Age of Intelligence,” models were dressed to represent how today’s technology has greatly evolved and is in a constant state of change. These looks were the messiest of the entire show. There was no pattern in performance, only bad-looking wigs and an odd amount of winter coats. The worst part was the finale. As models started to run off the runway, short, silver robots with blue faces slowly started to walk on. The robots were not Italian, nor were they in any way related to fashion. The robots were made by Unitree, a Chinese technology company focused on the development, production and sales of high-performance quadruped robots, according to their website. On the runway, the robots each took a stand in the center of the stage, and then waved their arms up and down as a motion to applaud. And while the audience did so, Michele, the creative director of Valentino, did not. Instead, he looked at those robots with a blank stare that made it clear he believed the machines should not be standing in the same space as his brand’s couture looks.
Technology on the runway isn’t new. Alexander McQueen brought out robotic arms to paint a dress as part of his 1999 “No. 13” show. Coperni spray painted a dress onto Bella Hadid during their Spring 2023 show, winning her Model of the Year at the British Fashion Council’s Fashion Awards the same year. Fashion and technology are both constantly evolving fields of creation where innovation is essential for growth and success. It is no surprise that the two are compared and mixed together. But this is not what Vogue World has done. They’ve instead taken fashion off the runway.
Juan Costa Paz, the creative director of Vogue World: Milano, says the robots are meant to represent the age of uncertainty in technology today. In an interview, he explains, “It’s not going to stop; it is here. So it’s up to us to do what we can with it. We can sit down and just hate on the fucking robots, or we can look at them and say, ‘Okay, what do we do with this?’” Paz also criticizes those who only focused on the robots, saying that they needed to appreciate and watch the full show to understand.
The whole robot performance seemed symbolic in a way; an omen to what technology could do to the arts. All the models ran off the runway, taking color and expression with them. It’s as if these robots needed their own space to perform, and could not co-exist alongside human fashion. They erased the models, and with it the emotion and character that comes with a fashion show. Within the swirl of singing and dancing and costumes, these robots were a separate performance from everything. They shine a light on what could happen to fashion if the world continues to undermine the evolution of AI.
© 2026 by FETCH COLLECTIVE
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