Fashion week has never exactly been known for playing it safe, but Vogue World’s latest runway moment managed to leave even some seasoned fashion faces looking completely stunned. At the fifth annual edition of the fashion spectacle in Milan, the runway welcomed an unexpected addition alongside A-list celebrities, supermodels and some of the biggest names in fashion: humanoid robots.
Yes, robots walked the runway.
The Vogue fashion show took place on September 22 at Milan’s Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, bringing together some of the most recognisable faces from the fashion and entertainment world. But it was the appearance of humanoid robots that quickly became one of the most talked-about moments from the event, with clips spreading across social media and viewers debating whether the futuristic interruption belonged on a fashion runway at all.
Watch the video below:
Humanoid robots join the runway
In the middle of the star-studded show, humanoid robots made their way onto the runway, walking alongside the spectacle and even appearing to cheer during the presentation.
The unexpected appearance immediately grabbed the attention of guests. While futuristic technology has increasingly found its way into fashion, the sight of humanoid robots actually walking the runway at Vogue World was enough to leave many viewers doing a double take.
Among those caught reacting to the unexpected moment was Alessandro Michele, creative director of Valentino S.p.A. A clip showing Michele appearing visibly stunned as Donatella Versace clapped has since gone viral.
Michele’s expression, seemingly frozen in disbelief while Versace applauded, quickly became meme material online, with social media users focusing as much on his reaction as the robots themselves.
Internet asks: ‘Where are the clothes?’
While some viewers saw the moment as an interesting intersection of fashion and technology, others were far less convinced.
One user reacting to a viral video on X, formerly Twitter, wrote: “That’s such a bizarre fashion-week moment. Humanoid robots walking the runway while even the designer looks surprised feels like something out of a sci-fi movie, not Vogue.”
Another simply wrote, “I’m irritated”, while others questioned whether the footage was even real, asking, “Is this video AI?”
The robots’ lack of conventional clothing also became a major talking point. “I mean, they could have dressed them up,” one user commented, while another asked, “Why nobody dressed them?” The question was echoed by several others, with one social media user bluntly asking, “Where are the clothes?”
The reactions quickly ranged from confusion to outright criticism. “This needs to STOP now lol before it gets out of hand,” one person wrote, while another called the entire scene “ridiculous”.
Others described the appearance as “embarrassing”, “Horrific” and complained that the robots were “not even wearing clothes smh”.
