All too often it seems that fashion advertisements are all the same. Take some pretty models, add an exotic location, and of course those gorgeous luxury handbags, rinse and repeat. So I was thrilled to see Bottega Veneta taking some risks with its latest campaign.
The Italian fashion house has teamed with up postmodern New York artist Robert Longo for the dynamic commercials. Longo took inspiration from his own 1979 work Men in the Cities, which he reinterpreted in a bold, contemporary way. The result is an advertising campaign which captures the models out of control and struggling to survive in a climate of corporate greed and alienation.
The grand statement may be a bit much to make in a fashion spread, and in fact many critics have called it pretentious. Personally I think it looks great, although I’m not sure whether the staging overshadows the fashions. At any rate, I applaud Bottega Veneta for trying some new here, even if it isn’t entirely successful.
