AI Killed “Trust Me Bro” Luxury
We've all heard the term AI slop by now, bizarre videos of newborn babies doing backflips and talking fruit explaining why it's good for you surfacing on our FYPs. Online sentiment tends to frame AI as something that is making us collectively dumber, lowering the quality of the media we consume. Given that Gen Z is the first generation to see a decline in IQ scores, public discourse paints a fairly holistic picture that AI is making us dumber than ever.
However, private uses of AI tell a very different story.
According to The State of Fashion 2026 report by Business of Fashion and McKinsey, more than half of US consumers using generative AI for search are now using it to assist with purchasing decisions. Brands are already rethinking their product description pages to make them more legible to large language models, meaning less reliance on prestige and vibes and more emphasis on materials, construction and quality.
AI is not creating a new desire for discernment; it's a tool for a desire that has been building for a long time. It's the hitman for "trust me bro" branding. Because if brand prestige and storytelling were enough, there would be no reason to consult AI in the first place. The very act of opening ChatGPT and asking whether a product is worth the money suggests a consumer looking for something beyond status. So while Tyla may have claimed that if he loves you he should put you in Chanel, for the modern consumer 'how you say you love me? you aint put me in a 100% handcrafted Italian leather bag' feels a little more accurate.
I experienced this first hand during a recent trip to Turkey. A group of friends and I wandered into a leather goods store lined wall to wall with counterfeit designer bags. However, we were immediately drawn to a Turkish leather brand we had never seen before called Gon. The manufacturer had previously produced bags for Mulberry before launching its own label, and every bag came with a lifetime guarantee, words I've previously only heard in reference to a television at PC World. We left thoroughly chuffed with our purchases and our pockets considerably lighter. What struck me afterwards was how little anybody cared that the bags weren't attached to a famous luxury house. A group of young women raised on designer aspiration had willingly chosen the unknown brand because the quality case was stronger.
Brands seem to be noticing this shift too. Take Salomon's recent partnership with Blackpink's Jisoo. What interests me is not that Salomon chose a musician but that they chose a K-pop idol specifically, a figure whose public perception is built entirely on years of training, relentless competition and near obsessive discipline. Salomon isn't borrowing proximity to fame; they're borrowing proximity to excellence.
So ironically, at a time when AI is being widely blamed for making us less discerning, one of its most popular use cases is helping people fulfil their need to be more discerning consumers. The era of “trust me bro” branding is coming to an end. If brands want us to pay, they're going to have to provide receipts.