With maximalist designer Alessandro Michele at the helm since 2015, Gucci shows are always an event. The Love Parade launch from the house on November 3rd, 2021, literally shut down a section of Hollywood Boulevard. It is one of the most extravagant in their storied history.
Paying tribute to the golden era of the silver screen, Michele lists the help of numerous stars for the campaign. Jodie Turner-Smith, Jeremy Pope, Macaulay Culkin, Kodi Smit-McPhee. Multiple musicians, Black Lives Matter activist Janaya Khan and filmmaker-writer Miranda July, among others.
They debuted looks that spanned everything from slick 70s-style suiting to show-stopping, crystal-dripping, feather-trimmed gowns reminiscent of the best worn by Hepburn or West.
After such a grand product launch, the line needed an advertising campaign to match. Of course, Gucci was more than up to the task, enlisting the help of another cadre of A-list talent to promote the new clothes.
Champagne-Soaked Party People
The new campaign features Jared Leto, Beanie Feldstein, Miley Cyrus (the face of Gucci’s 2021 Flora Fantasy fragrance campaign), Snoop Dogg, “Squid Game” star Lee Jung-Jae, Chinese actor Deng Lun and model Liu Wen.
The advertisement captures them living large at a Hollywood party, enjoying champagne and other libations as they dance the night away to the Velvet Underground’s tune “Venus in Furs.”
The dreamy mash-up of patterns, textures, and colours required an experienced hand behind the lens to capture the magic, and it is brought to life by the experience of photography duo Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott. Christopher Simmonds handles the art direction duties, and Alessandro Michele himself is the creative director for the campaign.
Letting Loose
Letting loose in the campaign is Cyrus, who, despite fronting up in a glamourous satin dress with crystal-studded earrings, finds herself being held aloft in the middle of a moshpit. As you would expect, the perenially laid-back Snoop Dogg is having a bit more of a sedate evening, stylish as only he can be in a lime-green suit and getting into a piece of pink-iced cake.
The campaign also features boudoir-inspired slip dresses that look like they came straight out of an F. Scott Fitzgerald novel, as well as Michele’s signature statement-patterned, wide-lapel suiting with velvet bow ties. GG-logo activewear collides with cowboy hats and tropical souvenir-inspired jackets and shirts.
The Coolest Party You’ve Never Been To
Leto looks very cool in a soft-pink satin; double-breasted suit finished with multiple floral corsages. He says that his ongoing collaborations with Gucci are “always an incredible experience,” adding that “the creativity, care, and fun they bring to the process makes it a celebration on set.”
Beanie Feldstein looks every inch the princess in a purple ball gown complete with a tiara. When asked what her favourite part of shooting the campaign was, she says: “getting to wear Alessandro’s outrageously gorgeous designs — I’ve genuinely never felt more beautiful and cool in my entire life. I use fashion as a way to express my femininity, creativity, and gregarious spirit.”
As to where they can typically be found at a party, Feldstein is the one “sitting in the corner having a heart-to-heart with friends,” while Leto confesses that he is the guy “showing up late and leaving early; seriously, I don’t go out often, but when I do, it’s often a Gucci event like LACMA [Art + Film Gala], which is nice because I see familiar faces.”
Check out the Gucci Love Parade campaign below:
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