Pushing pixels
Tomas Maier gives the Art of Collaboration a digital-first reboot, observes Jacquie Ang
they say print is dead but recent fashion advertisements are far from boring. In the new batch of Spring/summer 2018 ad campaigns, Bottega Veneta leads the conversation. Tomas Maier embraces the digital age with a groundbreaking anthology of six films directed by Fabien Baron, the legendary French art director, who’s chalked up an acclaimed body of work that spans more than 30 years.
To be released episodically throughout the season, the films also mark an evolution in luxury storytelling: Instead of a famed photographer shooting a parallel print campaign, stills are extracted from the films, ensuring the same visual vocabulary and cinematic spirit carries across into print.
To achieve this technical feat, cinematographer Philippe Le Sourd, whose light wizardry graced Wong Kar-wai’s The Grandmaster and Sofia Coppola’s The Beguiled, customised lenses for Panavision’s new Millennium DXL 8K camera. Maier and Baron share more details in the following interview. Why did the cinematic approach make sense for Bottega Veneta? tomas maier (tm): When you are shooting a campaign, there’s a desire to tell more of a story. You are in an interesting environment with great talent, and the wheels start to spin. Who is this woman? What’s the man doing there? Whose house is this? Film allows us to take the story further. To me it is always more interesting when a film ends and the plot could go one way or the other. It’s open to interpretation. We like it when people make something their own. It goes back to the individuality of the clothing and to our motto, “When your own initials are enough”. the films have a Very noir and surreal quality. how does that connect to the new collection?
tm: These films have layers and depth. They’re not easily categorised. The Spring/summer collection features garments that are the same way. You can’t just say, “Oh, it’s workwear. Oh, it’s for cocktails.” These pieces can go in so many different directions. That’s how I see my clients as well.
You’ve known Fabien baron For a long time but are working with him For the First time.
tm: Fabien has attended the Bottega Veneta show every season for a long time. When he comes backstage, he always has something interesting to say. Obviously, he has a great reputation and we all know his body of work. I like when we have a similar approach. I believe that every millimetre matters, and with him, there is so much precision. Everything is considered. how did You come to decide to make moving images the core of the new campaign?
Fabien baron (Fb): First, we felt that it was important for a brand like Bottega Veneta to be more narrative. Second, the moving image has grown more significantly lately, and with the new generation not caring much about still images, film was the best way to communicate the brand message. So everything came from the film instead of the traditional campaign, with a print element, a film element and digital element. We took the stills for the print campaign from the film. There was no photographer.
that’s quite an unconventional move.
fb: This is the first time I’ve worked on a big campaign without a photographer. But we had a director of photography instead since it was film. And the rest of the team: Hair and make-up, a stylist, but no photographer. We didn’t have that brand asset that most companies want — to be able to say my campaign was shot by such-and-such. I ended up being the director on set, but only because I [regard] the work I do with the director of photography [to be] very similar to the work I usually do with a photographer anyway — ultimately protecting the brand message and Tomas’ work.
where does the print campaign Fit into the new media landscape?
fb: Even with the world moving toward digital, you still need a print campaign. But I think of it as more to entice people. It’s almost the advertisement for the films. The layout is also unique. It’s not something you’ve seen before. The repetition of images gives you that cinematic vibe. It has a different rhythm and look. I think it’s going to get noticed, because it’s unique. And people will know immediately it’s Bottega Veneta.
the Art of Collaboration in its original Form was conceived by You in 2002 — working with a different Fine art photographer each season. what do You see as its legacy?
tm: We talked to many different people and we also did it in a different way. I like the idea of bringing in something educational. Maybe I can help them discover unknown territory. Perhaps they knew some photographers we collaborated with but not all. I think this new campaign — since these striking moving images can exist on so many platforms — will bring the same dynamic, just in a different way.