As the consumer grows ever more intelligent, designers have had to adapt the codes of their campaigns. The current mood for cinematography has influenced a new direction for fashion advertising, but there’s still an inkling of the original studio aeshetic of the millennium.
By Christopher Prince
Cinematic
Today’s campaigns have come full circle by re-referencing the past and transporting the audience into a new, cinematic realm. No longer is the focus solely on fashion, but mood, context and fantasy is now paramount. The shake up at Gucci with the appointment of Alessandro Michele did more than just change the aesthetic of the clothes. Michele looked to the talent of British-born Glen Luchford to shoot his scenic campaign for the AW15 season. The campaign stripped back the familiar bronzed, long-legged Gucci goddesses coveted by the house’s predecessor, Frida Giannini, and instead transported the brand to Los Angeles – dishevelled hair and bohemian vibes et al.
There was a familiar mood for Miu Miu’s retro AW15 campaign, with Hollywood starlets, Maddison Brown, Hailey Gates, Mia Goth and Stacy Martin shot by the iconic Steven Meisel on the streets of New York. While Jonathan Anderson conjured his very own fashion coven shot by Jamie Hawkesworth in Estonia.
Studio
Noticeably some of the most detail-heavy collections from the AW15 season were captured with simplicity in mind, as designers harnessed the power of their clothes within the walls of the photographer’s studio. Miuccia Prada followed similar codes from her famous campaigns of the late 90s by showcasing her saccharine AW15 designs against a minimal backdrop, captured by Steven Meisel in a New York studio.
All that remained of Diana Vreeland – the inspiration for Marc Jacobs AW15 foray – was her signature red lipstick shade that provided the background to the designers simple studio set up, photographed by David Sims. The campaign itself featured a roster of famous faces, from Cher, Winona Ryder to Willow Smith and Sofia Coppola. Meanwhile the boys at Dsquared2 took us back to the early noughties with a slick studio campaign, photographed by Paolo Musa.
Influencers
Advertising campaigns used to be all about selling the clothes. During the waif era of the 90s and the supermodel era of the 80s, designers recruited iconic photographers like Richard Avedon and Patrick Demarchelier to promote their brands. Just before the turn of the millennium campaigns were used to create iconic fashion moments. Supermodels like Kate Moss were appointed as zeitgeists for fashion houses to embody the brand’s aesthetic, with sharp commercial imagery created to feed to the consumer.
