In 1986, Helmut Newton and Manuela Pavesi teamed up to conceive a campaign for the Prada brand whose carefully the cut image from an old magazine of my mother is still firmly attached to one of the wardrobe doors in my teenage bedroom.
It is a gray, static photo but its colorless stillness is charged with an unprecedented cinematic tension. It is a clear story, in one shot: the woman lying lifeless on a dirty floor has a chic-bag full of dollars. It is the cruel image of a Hitchcockian crime masterfully recreated by the duo of artists, it is a tribute.
In 2022, Alessandro Michele tries again. Gucci Exquisite F/W22-23 Campaign (created in collaboration with Adidas) is also a tribute, this time to director Stanley Kubrick and his films.
Alongside Mert and Marcus and Christopher Simmonds, Michele chooses to recreate some of the most representative scenes of 2001: A Space Odyssey, A Clockwork Orange, Barry Lyndon, Eyes Wide Shut, The Shining. The twist is served and the effect is disruptive. The masterpieces of the master of suspense become the very core of a parallel universe that transports the viewer into its oneiric dimension.
The flavor is vintage (like in the brand’s DNA) and the intention is sincere: to re-propose the past by comparing it with the present and modeling the present based on the past.
