I'll be honest, Alolan Persian is starting to grow on me a little bit. I don't think I'll ever love it or prefer it over regular Persian, but thinking about it, the only real issue I have with it is the size of its head. If its head was just a little smaller, I would be perfectly fine with it. Yeah, it would still be a goofy, more cartoony looking cat rather than the sleek black panther that people wanted, but is there really anything wrong with that? I've seen some non-joke fanart of it where its head is more proportional to its body, and it looks MUCH better that way.
Additionally, I did some research, and some speculate that Alolan Persian is supposed to be based on a more realistic Persian cat, which has a larger, rounder head and flatter face. And maybe it's just me, but Alolan Persian's tail certainly looks shorter and fluffier than regular Persian's. And it all fits with Alolan Meowth's lore about it living a life of pampering and luxury among the royal family and the possible implications of selective breeding.
Yeah, if that is what GF was going for, they could have done the whole Persian cat thing a lot better. It would look better if its head was more proportional to its body or if it was actually fluffier like a real Persian cat. But I don't think it's the worst thing in the world now that I can (sort of) see where GF was going for with it.