September and March are the months when luxury fashion labels introduce their new advertisement campaigns, launch their seasonal collections and fill the pages of lifestyle magazines with creative ads.
The magic of their advertising has to live up to the challenge of capturing the attention of the readers and improving the brand’s positioning in a market saturated with very creative information. Therefore, utmost care is bestowed on every campaign to convey the company’s values directly to the client. This includes the items to be promoted, the concept of the image, and of course, the model chosen to represent the brand.
Every season, luxury giant, Louis Vuitton, introduces familiar faces from the worlds of fashion, art and culture to represent their highly valued pieces. For its newest campaign, which is about to be launched, the label selected one of the most charismatic and stylish actresses of the moment. Michelle Williams has achieved a solid career and a sophisticated image and has become the style icon every woman wants to emulate.
Williams was chosen to be the image behind the promotion of Louis Vuitton’s new W and Capucines handbag collections. The campaign emplyed some of the most talented people in fashion today. For starters, Peter Lindbergh’s photographic genius, in his first job with Louis Vuitton, has created the precise environment to allow both the object (the handbags) and the model (Michelle Williams) to shine with their own light.
Lindbergh has been considered, for more than a decade, one of the most prestigious fashion photographers in the world. His lens has captured the likeness of Catherine Deneuve, Mick Jagger, Charlotte Rampling, Nastassja Kinski, Tina Turner, John Travolta, Madonna, Sharon Stone, John Malkovich and the most sought after models. In addition to photography, Lindbergh is also a filmmaker with several movies and documentaries of his authorship, including Models, The Film (1992), an exquisite documentary featuring some of the hottest supermodels of the 1990s: Stephanie Seymour, Naomi Campbell, Linda Evangelista, Cindy Crawford and Tatjana Patitz.
Hair and makeup did not go unnoticed in the campaign. Williams’s fingernails were painted black with vibrant red lips and marked eyebrows, in contrast to her fair skin and blonde hair. The actress wears a lace bodysuit beneath a, somewhat, masculine coat from Louis Vuitton’s latest collection. Stéphane Marais was in charge of makeup, and Sam McKnight was commissioned to do the hair styling.
The actress, who has been nominated three times for the Oscar for her performances in Brokeback Mountain, Blue Valentines, and My Week with Marilyn joins the long list of actors and celebrities who have posed for the lens on behalf of Louis Vuitton.
Sofia Coppola, Sean Connery, Angelina Jolie, Bono, Uma Thurman, Scarlett Johansson and Madonna are some of the faces the iconic French brand has employed to promote their luxury accessories. But this season belongs to Michelle Williams and the W and Capucines bags. ■
