ai slave
I’m sure by now you’ve come across posts about MANGO using AI-generated images for one of their collections. When I first heard about it, I got excited. Finally, I thought, we’d get to see it: cats in clothes, ruling the fashion industry like they’ve always been destined to. After all, human models have been imitating the feline grace of the “catwalk” for decades.
But… nope. Turns out I got my hopes up for nothing.
Instead, what MANGO and their AI design team delivered was something far less exciting or progressive. They chose to use AI to generate images based on the same unhealthy beauty standards the fashion industry is infamous for. Images that, even though disclosed as AI-generated, probably would have gone unnoticed by most untrained eyes if left unmentioned.
The result? Yet another reinforcement of a singular definition of beauty for young girls: tall, skinny, and flawless. And now, many blame the AI for this while few actually question the humans who prompted it to generate such images. It’s not the AI at fault here, it’s just the same old message repackaged in “innovative” AI wrapping paper: This is what the feminine ideal looks like. Anything else doesn’t belong, not even in our trained AI model.
Frankly, it’s disappointing (at least for me) and feels like a missed opportunity. AI has the potential to disrupt and reimagine industries, celebrating diversity, creativity, and inclusivity. Yet here, it’s just another tool to double down on stereotypes that perpetuate insecurity and enforce outdated norms.
For a technology praised as revolutionary, this use case feels ironically stale. Imagine the possibilities if AI were used to embrace differences, challenge conventions, or, yes, bring cats in clothes to the forefront of fashion. Now that would be groundbreaking.
Instead, we’re left with more of the same, a cycle that desperately needs to break.
Let’s hope the next iteration of AI-generated fashion, and the brands choosing to publicly use it, actually take a step forward instead of reinforcing the past. Until then, I’ll stick to generating my own feline takeover of the fashion industry.
