It’s Britney Spears return day! And just like our favourite twirling pop star who’s been teasing us with new music for a while and has now finally delivered, the AW22 collections we coveted when we saw them go down the runway are now making themselves available for us to purchase (one wait was six years and the other was six months, but you get the point). And with the collections, of course, comes some breathtaking campaign visuals. There’s an Oscar-worthy Gucci moment, Burberry’s spotlighting of community and Dior Men transcending time. We hear you screaming gimme more though and so there’s also an exciting new Browns exclusive, Courrèges x David Sims and an Adidas sneaker from Parisian-brand Song for the Mute. Here’s what’s in fashion.
Gucci hacks Kubrick for its exquisite campaign
Fashion and film are, of course, old bedfellows, but there are few houses quite as obsessed with the world as seen on the big screen as Gucci. An avid cinephile, Alessandro Michele’s work has always been imbued with a transformative, cinematic quality — a sense that his clothes are designed to elevate their wearers above prosaic normality; to cast them as characters in their very own epics. “I’ve always imagined my collections as films able to convey a cinematography of the present: a score of stories, eclectic and dissonant, that can sacralize the human and its metamorphic ability,” he writes in a new release. It’s a fact evident in examples like the seven-part series he created in collaboration with Gus van Sant, Ouverture of Something that Never Ended, and Love Parade, the house’s centenary show on Hollywood Boulevard.
For the campaign for Exquisite Gucci, the collection presented by the house during Milan Fashion Week back in February, Alessandro and the team not only chose to celebrate cinema, but to hack the silver screen, and write the collection into annals of cinematic history itself. A powerful homage to Stanley Kubrick — “A philosophic filmmaker who, better than others, emanated the magic of that inextricable knot through which cinema exudes life and magnifies it,” Alessandro says — it sees some of the most iconic scenes from the “sculptor of genres” most emblematic films — The Shining, 2001: A Space Odyssey, A Clockwork Orange, Eyes Wide Shut and Barry Lyndon — recreated with looks from the collection at their heart.
“Sticking to my creative praxis, I seized those movies, re-semanticizing them, populating them with my clothes,” he continues, discussing the collaborative process between himself, imagemakers Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott, film studio Warner Bros. and Milena Canonero, the esteemed costume designer who worked closely with Kubrick, that brought the mesmerising campaign to life. A bodice gown from Gucci’s collaboration with Adidas is worn by a croquet player in a reimagined scene from Barry Lyndon; “90s shoes with a fetish flavour” pepper the frames of A Clockwork Orange; a tumbling tulle evening dress hovers in the clinically backlit corridor of Discovery One in 2001: A Space Odyssey. ‘Exquisite’ doesn’t even come close! MS
Burberry leans into community spirit for AW22
The end of summer may be but a stone’s throw away, but if Burberry’s AW22 campaign is anything to go by, that’s far from cause for despair. A celebration of “the power of community”, a release reads, a new Inez & Vinoodh-shot film and image series sees a bevvy of some of the hottest faces in fashion and culture — including Mariacarla Boscono and Moses Sumney — transported to sunny LA. With each person shown in a light that brings their full sense of individuality to the fore, the campaign comprises plays of contrast — dainty, candy-cotton pink pleated skirts and floral lace corset tops are juxtaposed by hard, all-black leather ensembles. Pragmatic car coats and harrington jackets in Burberry’s iconic beige gabardine sit next to belted gowns cut from the same cloth. The campaign’s celebration of community is extended through the spotlighting of The Compton Cowboys, a Black-owned LA-based non-profit organisation dedicated to uplifting “local African-American communities by combating stereotypes and building lasting skills through equestrianism and a connection to the outdoors.” As part of the partnership, Burberry will be issuing a donation to the organisation, proving how fashion can go beyond its immediate remit to be a force for good. MS
Dior Men looks to the present for its AW22 campaign
Those evening lockdown strolls through quiet cityscapes of the last two autumns feel like a lifetime ago, living on only as hazy memories of a time of both uncertain chaos and simple tranquillity. It’s unlikely we will go back to that this fall, but that lingering worry-slash-hope still sits deep within us. It was that period which imbued Kim Jones’ AW22 collection for Dior Men at the end of last winter when it took to a recreation of Paris’ Pont Alexander III, mixing sweatpants with tailoring and gardening references with ‘going out’ pearls and emeralds for a collection that transcended time. Now, in the new campaign, photographer Rafael Pavarotti places the collection in front of a dream-like backdrop of that same bridge in chilling winter morning tones, with those same beret-ed young men (their headwear in new styles by Stephen Jones) in those knife-edge cinched bar-jackets, leather puffer jackets, leopard print macs, flower embroidered bags and chic Birkenstocks. No, we seemingly may not be returning to the worries of last winter, but Dior’s campaign notes how something about that period has changed our relationship between informal and formal dressing in the present. TG
Browns new exclusive drop is a wholesome artsy takeover of Carhartt WIP
There is, of course, a long documented history between the fashion world and the art world. What is slightly more new, however, is the way fashion has been getting green-fingered as of late for SS23. Bringing all three into one creative mix is the new capsule collection from Carhartt WIP and Small Talk sold exclusively at Browns. Traditional Carhartt WIP workwear — from neutral denim double-knee cargo trousers and a matching gilet and jacket, to organic and cotton tees, a sweatshirt and a tote bag — are adorned with a patchwork of stunning botanical artworks by NY brand Small Talk, including frogs, flowers, sun gods, ducks, the earth and more. Each design is inspired by gardening magazines, seed packets, grocery store finds and outdoor guidebooks and then carefully hand-embroidered over many hours onto each item. Incredibly limited edition, get your new unique and chic khakis at the Browns website. TG
Courrèges taps David Sims for its new campaign
Among the many recent brand revamps, one of the ones that we’re truly here for is Nicolas di Felice’s phenomenal overhaul of the house of Courrèges. In just three seasons, the Belgian designer — and Nicolas Ghesquière alum — has toed a fine line between paying due homage to the house’s namesake founder, a fashion legend in his own right, and bringing a contemporary spirit of hot-girl (and boy!) sensuality into the mix, creating understandably chic yet seriously sexy clothes that have taken the streets of Paris, London and New York by storm. This week, Nicolas and the gang released their most ambitious campaign to date, shot by a living legend of fashion photography — David Sims. Holding crumpled silver cans in their hands — a nod to the glistening set of the most recent Courrèges show – an intergenerational crew of models including David’s daughter Stevie and Belgian veteran Anne-Catherine Lacroix are caught mid-motion, as if writhing to an irresistible, thumping beat. Trust us, it’s one that we’re more than down to dance to! MS
Song for the Mute have crafted a new 90s style sneaker with Adidas
In the late 60s and early 70s an urban housing project was set up within Paris’ 13th Arrondissement called Les Olympiades that was designed to be a hub for the young people of the moment to occupy (now, it’s more known for its shopping mall Pagode). But this was where Lyna Ty, creative director of Song for the Mute, spent much of her early childhood, and her nostalgic memories of youth, belonging and finding your tribe serve as the cornerstone of the brand’s new collaboration with Adidas. Their debut for the collaboration is the SFTM-001 shadowturf sneaker in honeycomb with a 90s feel in its distressed style, mesh and leather upper, reflective detailing and text embroidery. With the shoe available via the Adidas Confirmed app now, keep your eyes peeled for more releases from the collaboration over the course of AW22. TG