Ad campaigns

On Gap, M&S, and the fashion paradox of Dressing Normal



Angelica-Huston-Gap-Dress-Normal

Well, isn’t Gap’s new ‘Dress Normal’ campaign interesting?

As we all know, this year’s buzzword ‘normcore’ is steeped in anony Gap-style dressing, so Gap has nodded to that in its Dress Normal strapline. But don’t expect 90s-tinged bland-chic. Gap’s imagery is far more elevated and beautiful, so we’re shown not normal people (thank God, I’m a bit over normal people), but Hollywood elite types in ‘normal’ situations to represent modern-day Gap.

My favourite is Angelica Huston (top) having a coffee in a gorgeously lit diner situation (as opposed to a normcore Starbucks). (more…)



On Louis Vuitton and creativity in advertising



Louis-Vuitton-Fall-Winter-2014-Campaign-charlotte-gainsbourg 1

I’ve finally seen the much talked-about Louis Vuitton ‘series 1’ ad campaign on a printed page and my favourite images by far are the ones of Charlotte Gainsbourg by Annie Leibowitz. Which surprised me as I expected to be more excited by Juergen Teller and Bruce Weber. I love Gainsbourg shot in an artist’s studio setting (whose, I wonder?*) but mostly it’s the muted, moody lighting. It feels personal, warm and portrait-y where the others feel like fashion shoots. (more…)



THE DRG STYLE INDEX: HERMES, SONIA RYKIEL, EBAY, BELLA FREUD



Here’s the latest weekly DRG STYLE INDEX ranking, a round-up of the brands currently buzzing on my radar…

A NEW NAME AT HERMES

Nadege-Vanhee-Cybulski-hermes (more…)



Buy it now: McQ AW14



McQ-Aw14 4

Love the new McQ campaign, shot by Karim Sadli. McQ has been up and down for me, I find sometimes the collections are super-cool and other times they dip too far into commercial territory. I have kept some of the earlier printed look books (I don’t think they make them any more) and they really capture the essence of McQ which for me is steeped in outsider-y youth culture with a very British feel.  (more…)