Loewe's adorable anime ads show art is still so much better than AI

If you spent any time on social media last month, you probably noticed the sudden glut of AI-generated Studio Ghibli-style imagery after the release of OpenAI's new image generator in GTP-4o. For a few days, everything from memes to holiday snaps and worse were being 'Ghiblified' with abandon (probably to Hayao Miyazaki's horror).

That could make it bad timing for a luxury fashion brand like Loewe to launch a series of anime-style ads. In a sign of these fickle times, the AI Ghibli trend has been and gone, and any brand arriving so late to the party would be cringeworthy. But the Spanish fashion house has instead proven how real bespoke art is still so much more valuable.

It's the kind of use of an animation style that could inspire, if so read our guide to the best animation software and catch-up on which of the best laptops for animation we recommend.

The series of animations was created by New York-based Annie Choi (Ancho Poncho). One shows a fantastical interpretation of the Loewe logo on a purse. The famous mark is supposed to be four intertwined 'L's, inspired by the branding irons used to mark leather, but Annie's vision is just as feasible.

The idea seems to be that great fashion is as exciting as being a frog on a rollercoaster... or something. I have no idea, but I'm here for the beautiful animation. Ancho's style is surreal but also soft and soothing. It feels clean and modern but also nostalgic, which is on brand for Loewe.

The dreamy, whimsical animations were created for Loewe's Spring/Summer 2025 collection in Japan, which includes daisy and frog charms.

Alongside the frogs on a rollercoaster, another piece shows a man in a ramen shop, whose Loewe wallet opens up and turns other diners into frogs.

Other pieces depict frogs cooking, sheltering from the rain or just chilling out. They show how well animation can work for a brand, creating personal and evocative advertising.

Annie Choi has worked with Loewe in the past, creating an animation based on Howl's Moving Castle for the launch of the Loewe x Studio Ghibli collection in 2023. She's also done some adorable animations for Hermes and Dior. This was for Hermes is lovely.

Loewe's done some other fun things in recent years, including its optical illusion pixel fashion. It even let On hijack its logo design in a collab.

For more branding news, see the new Google logo and the meaning of Pope Leo XIV's coat of arms.