![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/ddd2af1a8eede62ea3516e4aa545998c3d-jcrew-ai-opt1.rsquare.w400.jpg\")
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\n Photo-Illustration: by The Cut; Photos: Screenshot from Blackbird Spyplane, J.Crew Instagram\n <\/p>\n
It seems the AI model<\/a> that shimmied her way into the pages of Vogue last month has referred her friends from the Uncanny Valley to J.Crew. On Tuesday morning, popular style Substack Blackbird Spyplane published<\/a> an investigation into a series<\/a> of nostalgic<\/a> images<\/a> recently posted to J.Crew\u2019s Instagram page. The posts, which hawked a collaboration with Vans, appear normal at first glance, in line with the brand\u2019s classic \u201980s prepster imagery memorialized on well-known accounts like lostjcrew<\/a>. But upon further inspection, the folks over at Blackbird identified several quirks that suggest the campaign photos are actually AI-generated.<\/p>\n\n As evidence, the publication pointed to a rugby-polo-wearing man whose foot \u201cbends backward\u201d and, in another image, identified a \u201cweird underleg\u201d shadow and several nautical inaccuracies, among other glitches. The third image, which is a clear reference to legendary street photographer Bill Cunningham, features one gnarly-looking handlebar and a suspicious white mark on the model\u2019s blue work jacket. In short, the incongruities are aplenty, and commenters noticed, too. One wrote, \u201cI don\u2019t know what\u2019s worse \u2014 that you used AI to regurge your own aesthetic in the first place, or that once you did, you couldn\u2019t even be bothered to pay a retoucher to fix the glitches.\u201d<\/p>\n Seemingly in response to Blackbird Spyplane\u2019s reporting, J.Crew updated the Instagram posts on Tuesday to include the credit \u201cDigital art by: @samfinn.studio.\u201d Sam Finn \u2014 or, as his website<\/a> describes him, AI Sam\u00a0\u2014 is an \u201cAI photographer\u201d who \u201cseamlessly merges the real with the artificial, challenging our perceptions of authenticity in virtual worlds.\u201d <\/strong>(It\u2019s unclear what he actually does to accomplish this.) The caption still does not state whether the images show AI models.<\/p>\n\n When asked about the campaign, J.Crew told The Cut, \u201cWe\u2019re always exploring new forms of creative expression, expanding how we work, and finding fresh, innovative ways to create content. This partnership with Sam Finn Studio is one of many examples of how we engage artists of all genres to interpret our brand and experiment with different art mediums.\u201d<\/p>\n The weirdest thing about this debacle is the fact that the vintage imagery J.Crew was trying to\u00a0re-create is surely right there in the brand\u2019s archives. But why use that when you can cannibalize your own aesthetic to push out imagery that nobody asked for and already exists? Here\u2019s hoping the reputational cost of using uncredited AI imagery will be far more expensive than a shoot ever was.<\/p>\n Stay in touch.<\/p>\n Get the Cut newsletter delivered daily<\/p>\n Vox Media, LLC Terms and Privacy Notice<\/p>\n