By Olivia Hart

A collaboration between Rhode and Hunter Boots does not exist, despite AI-generated images that circulated widely on social media this week and convinced plenty of commenters otherwise.

The mockups, created by the account @claure_studio, show Hunter's classic rubber rain boots rendered in Rhode makeup-inspired shades. One detail did the heavy lifting: a slot in the boot shaft designed to hold lipgloss. The reference is unmistakable. Rhode sells phone cases that carry its peptide lip treatment, a fact Justin Bieber name-checks in a lyric: "That's my baby, she's iconic/iPhone case, lip gloss on it."

Why did people believe it?

The images were convincing. Viral memes joked about the concept of lip gloss on a boot, and the renders looked like standard product photography.

The original @claure_studio posts carried an AI label. Other accounts did not. They reposted the photos and video without disclosure, and commenters engaged with the content as if it showed a real product.

A quick Google search settles the matter. There is no Rhode x Hunter collaboration. FN has reached out to both brands for comment on the mockup.

The episode is a small case study in how AI product renders travel: one labeled post becomes a hundred unlabeled ones, and the label — the only fact-checking mechanism — falls off somewhere between the first share and the last.

What are the brands' real track records?

Hunter, which marks its 170th anniversary this year and recently staged a reunion campaign with Kate Moss, does run genuine collaborations. In 2026 the label released a limited-edition collection with LoveShackFancy and teamed up with Copenhagen-based Ganni.

Rhode's collaboration history is thinner. The brand, launched in 2022, has made pimple patches with Justin Bieber. It has not yet produced a collaborative collection with a fashion brand. E.l.f. Beauty acquired Rhode in a $1 billion deal.

Both brands, in other words, are plausible partners. That is precisely what made the fake land. A Ganni-tier label pairing with a billion-dollar beauty brand reads as ordinary industry news, not fantasy.

The virality says less about gullibility than about expectations. When lip-gloss phone cases are real, lip-gloss boots feel one product meeting away. Expect unlabeled renders to keep filling that gap until brands do.