Prada Seeds
Prada's fall flowers are blooming, literally.
The Italian luxury brand is celebrating its fall ad campaign, fronted for the first time by Benedict Cumberbatch alongside Chinese actor Li Xian,
Kodi Smit- McPhee, Hunter Schafer and Letitia Wright, with a real- life activation.
Starting Thursday, a range of flower kiosks across the world will sell Pradapackaged flower seeds. Coming in a silver can embellished with the Prada logo, seeds of marigold, daisy and sunflower will be available for purchase in selected locations across Milan; London; Paris; New York; Dubai; Seoul; Hong Kong; Beijing; Shanghai; Chengdu; Guangzhou; Qinhuangdao, and Tokyo.
Some vendors include local flower shops such as Orlando Fiori on Milan's central Piazza della Repubblica and Z Flora in Beijing, while in Tokyo, for example, the special seeds can also be purchased at the Prada Aoyama flagship.
The activation intends to “use the act of planting and propagation to spread new blooms across the world — conveying emotions and taking an intangible concept to physical form,” the company said in a statement.
As reported, the fall campaign, shot by Willy Vanderperre, portrays talents against an intense black backdrop standing opposite life- size flowers. It explores “eternal, timeless values of humanity, universal emotions,” such as beauty, care and love, with blown- up flowers used as a metaphor of “beauty between the everyday and the extraordinary.”
A video flanking the ad campaign scripted by Michael Cunningham, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of “The Hours,” shows each talent in paradoxical conversation with the respective blooms.
The activation comes full circle as the brand has created an exclusive filter to be used across social media platforms Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat and WeChat consisting of a digital, 3D version of the flowers for users to replicate campaign imagery.
This is not the first time Prada has taken its campaign concepts on the road.
In 2019, the luxury brand introduced a new medium to promote its resort 2020 ad campaign having florists across key international cities wrap fresh flower bouquets in paper sheets bearing images of the campaign. In 2021 Prada was on an out-of-home spree, having wrapped the facades of several buildings in Milan, London, New York and Tokyo, among other cities, as well as Shanghai's wet market with the signature geometric patterns included in the fall 2021 men's and women's collections. It also teamed up with local bakeries and food markets to sell customized paper bags containing bread, fruits and vegetables.