What is effort signalling? The anti-AI trend taking over luxury fashion
The distinctive sound of pencil scratching against paper is increasingly unusual in the world of fashion imagery, yet this half-forgotten sound opens Prada ’s 2026 holiday campaign. Across a series of films for the Italian luxury house, woodland creatures, snow-covered landscapes and fantastical characters all come to life through the painstaking art of hand-drawn animation. For the project, the…
Effort signalling, also known as effort maxxing, is a trend in the luxury fashion industry where brands deliberately display the human input and creative labour behind their products as a way to convey authenticity and value. This concept has gained traction as generative artificial intelligence can create elaborate visual content rapidly, leading brands to emphasize the unique finesse of human touch.
Prada's 2026 holiday campaign is a prime example of this trend, featuring hand-drawn animation by veteran Disney animator John Pomeroy, who emphasizes the importance of the human touch in his work. Other luxury houses, such as Loewe, Hermès, Chanel, and Oribe, are also embracing this approach, either through elaborate hand-drawn illustrations, crafted collections, or collaborations with skilled artists.
The use of AI-generated imagery in luxury marketing has faced criticism, with brands like Valentino and Gucci facing backlash for employing such technology. Consumers are increasingly valuing the skill, craftsmanship, and human effort that goes into luxury products, even as prices continue to soar. Luxury houses are responding by highlighting their creative processes and emphasizing human talent as a counterpoint to the growing influence of AI.
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