Vogue wanted to celebrate the human touch in an age of artificial intelligence. Then four naked humanoid robots walked down the runway. The bizarre moment unfolded at Vogue World: Milano on 22 September, when the fashion magazine's lavish showcase turned its attention to the future of technology.
Instead of another model in an elaborate Italian creation, the audience suddenly found itself watching small humanoid machines from Chinese robotics company Unitree strut, wave and gesture for applause. One even appeared to perform a lasso-style move.
For a show built around craftsmanship, human creativity and Italian fashion, the robots proved difficult to ignore, and not necessarily for the reasons Vogue intended. Clips of the machines quickly spread online, with viewers questioning why robots were being used at a fashion event celebrating the value of human work.
Why Did Vogue Put Robots on the Runway?
Vogue said the Milan event was conceived as an exploration of Italian craft and innovation, while also examining human creativity in an increasingly technological world. The show took place inside Milan's historic Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II during Milan Fashion Week.
Vogue World creative director Juan Costa Paz said the robots were intended to represent the early stage of a technological shift that is already under way. He acknowledged that the machines are still 'very clunky,' comparing their current stage of development with the early, suitcase-sized mobile phones.
The idea, according to Costa Paz, was not necessarily to present polished futuristic technology, but to show an 'inflection point' in human history.
'They're still very clunky,' Costa Paz told Vogue, adding that the robots were meant to reflect the beginning of robotics and the fact that AI and robots are not disappearing. That explanation, however, did little to stop the online debate.
The Robots Were Not Even Wearing Clothes
Perhaps the strangest detail was that the robots were not dressed. At a fashion show packed with models wearing carefully constructed garments, the machines simply appeared in their bare mechanical forms. That became part of the joke online.
Cosmopolitan noted that the contrast was particularly striking because Vogue World was supposed to be centred on Italian craftsmanship and the 'human touch.' The publication also highlighted the reaction from some members of the audience and social-media users who questioned the machines' place on a runway.
'And why were there robots at Vogue World? Vogue says it's to represent that we're living through the dawn of robotics and that they mark a turning point in human history. Plus, that they're fun, but also terrifying. The message is: neither AI nor robots are going to disappear,' an X user wrote.
Vogue World Milano ends (appropriately Europoor-kitschily) with tiny robottini dancing to L’Amour Toujours while Alessandro Michele slowly dies inside pic.twitter.com/xicYWWl6VW
— sascha (@SaschaAmato) September 22, 2026
Miuccia Prada and Alessandro Michele's Expressions Go Viral
The robots' reception was made even more awkward by footage of some of fashion's biggest names watching them from the audience. Miuccia Prada and Alessandro Michele were among those seen as the machines performed.
Their apparently unimpressed expressions quickly became part of the online conversation, although neither designer has publicly stated that they disliked the performance.
Vogue's Robots Were Made by Unitree
The machines were developed by Unitree Robotics, a Chinese company known for its humanoid and quadruped robots. The event also included a film featuring Italian model Vittoria Ceretti as 'Vittori-AI,' using artificial intelligence to explore the limits of machine-generated creativity and the human qualities of taste, emotion and experience.
In other words, the robots were not intended to be a random gimmick. They were part of Vogue's larger argument about where fashion and technology are heading.
Fashion Has Already Used Robots in More Meaningful Ways
The fashion industry is not new to robots. In 2023, Coperni worked with Boston Dynamics during its Paris show, using a robotic dog to interact with models and garments. The technology became part of the choreography rather than simply appearing as a futuristic prop.
That kind of integration demonstrates how robotics can actually change the relationship between clothing, bodies and machines. Vogue World's robots took a much simpler route.
They were essentially the spectacle. And that may explain why the response became so divided.
'If So, It Didn't Work'
The backlash has not been limited to random social-media comments. Fashion figures have also questioned the decision.
Former Gucci creative director Frida Giannini criticised the event on Instagram, describing the show as an 'embarrassing circus' and questioning the presence of robots and OpenAI at an event intended to celebrate Italian craftsmanship.
Meanwhile, Muna Ikedionwu, founder of strategy firm MKEDI, told TechCrunch that there are far more sophisticated examples of engineering and AI being used in fashion, design and art. She questioned whether simply sending robots down the runway represented the kind of innovation taking place at the intersection of technology and creativity.
'If so, it didn't work' she said of the idea that the performance might have been intended to make people more comfortable with technology and fashion overlapping.
Vogue World Is Heading to San Francisco Next
There is another reason the stunt may prove more significant than a few viral clips. Vogue has already announced that the next edition of Vogue World will take place in San Francisco in 2027, placing the event in one of the world's most recognisable technology hubs.
The Milan show therefore looks less like an isolated experiment and more like part of Vogue's increasingly visible relationship with the technology industry. The Milan event had technology connections of its own, including support from OpenAI and Meta's Ray-Ban Meta glasses, alongside other commercial partners. That makes the next Vogue World particularly intriguing.
If Milan was Vogue's attempt to ask what happens to human creativity when technology arrives, San Francisco will put the event directly in the middle of the industry driving much of that technological change.
