Futuristic Closeup by Lady Stromfield

This fashion month was undoubtedly all about tech: a Transformers-esque robot walked hand-in-hand with model Irina Shayk at Philipp Plein, drones carried handbags at Dolce and Gabbana, and cyber it-girl Lil Miquela made a backstage appearance at Prada. Even Gucci’s creative director, Alessandro Michele, was inspired by “A Cyborg Manifesto” and sent models down the runway carrying creepy replicas of their own heads.

Could it be that the industry is just trying to play catch up with millennials by participating in the tech, or is it just a sales gimmick? An article in Vanity Fair suggests that supermodels and influencers, like the Hadid sisters or Kendall Jenner, aren’t sufficient anymore for bringing major attention to a runway show or brand. Flashy technology may now be the new way for brands to gain attention and show that they’re relevant.

The irony is that although they seem to be embracing the future, fashion houses are still enforcing old school traditions. For example, at the same Dolce and Gabbana show, attendees were requested to turn off their cellphones. They even used a loudspeaker to call out the usernames of people in the room who continued to post despite the rules.

If success in fashion is all about exposure, then what’s the point of limiting access to images of clothing? What’s the point of going all out and renting drones if only a handful of people will ever see the display? It was reported that everyone pulled out their cellphones when the show started anyway. Let this be a lesson for D&G and other brands who refuse to acknowledge the power of tech: you can’t fight the future.