Dior accused of duping users after “hand-drawn” holiday film raises suspicion

Dior says its short animated film celebrates human skill through hand drawings, so viewers want to know why some characters have six fingers.

Christian Dior’s Night in Color is the French luxury fashion house’s attempt to champion human creativity and skill in the age of AI slop.

The animated film, directed by French director and animator Sylvain Chomet, was created over several months and features “hand-drawn animations,” which mirror “the patience required to create haute couture.”Or so Dior claims.

The director, who also directed The Illusionist, claims that the campaign works in the same way as animators did in the 1940s.

“Everything is cut out, each character is animated separately, and everything is then assembled against the backdrops,” Chomet said.

But users are calling Chomet and Dior’s bluff, after many people exposed elements and inconsistencies within the film that point to one obvious culprit.

Users uncover one key sign of AI manipulation

Following the film’s social media debut, users noticed some peculiar details that didn’t align with Dior’s claims.

Many people asked whether this was computer-generated animation made to look hand-drawn or whether the short was AI-generated.

People speculate that certain errors observed within the film are commonly attributed to generative AI images.

One sign is AI’s inability to generate convincing human hands, supposedly evidenced by the animated version of Hollywood star Marlene Dietrich, who has 6 fingers on one hand in the film.

In another shot, users note that Christian Dior’s hands look malformed as the animated character clasps both hands behind his back.

There’s currently no evidence to support users’ claims that Dior’s campaign was synthetically generated or altered.

However, users are comparing Dior’s film to Prada’s human-first campaign, which was released at the end of October.

Studio yet to respond to AI accusations

Artists and graphic designers have commented on the situation, with many concluding that Dior is not being totally honest about its production process.

One user pointed out the difference between the two fashion houses, specifically what was going on behind the scenes.

While Prada showed the process through raw sketches, Dior provided no BTS evidence to support its claims.

“We saw more of the studio than the actual efforts and thought process behind the animation,” said one artist on X.

Catsuka, a platform dedicated to reporting on animation and graphic design since the 2000s, originally saw nothing wrong with the film. That’s until it looked closer.

“On closer inspection, I even think I see the use of AI in certain shots, particularly in the in-between spaces. This technical mix adds to the difficulty of deciphering what we're seeing; I'll try to get more information from the studio involved.”

Catsuka reached out to the studio involved but received no response, but agreed that the use of AI “now seems obvious.”

“Who would have imagined/suspected an artist like Chomet would one day use AI... It's quite sad, of course,” Catsuka said.