Mara Brock Akil Adds Actress To Résumé With New Fashion Campaigns
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
Mara Brock Akil is subtly hinting at a career pivot. The Girlfriends and Love Is… creator is the star of Tyler, The Creator’s new Lacoste campaign.
In the visual promo for the rapper’s new le FLEUR* collection, Akil embarks on a wild adventure after her flight gets cancelled. She winds up stranded on a beach before she’s rescued by a helicopter and literally dropped off at her family’s home, just in time for family portraits.
“BEAUTIFUL FAMILY. When THE @feliciathegoat calls. You answer!” she said of the campaign. “What a beautiful composer of mediums you are Tyler! Had so much fun creating with you all. Just a girl and her BLUSH pink suitcase (and her baby, Nasir).”
Fellow creatives couldn’t get enough of the partnership.
Director Melina Matsoukas commented, “You better ACT!!! Love this.” Comedian Franchesca Ramsey added, “This is AMAZING! The colors! The lewks!” Author Ty Alexander gushed, “I tried really hard to pay attention to the clothes but the drama, the direction, the acting… let me go back” with a series of laughing emojis.
This is the second campaign to display Akil’s hidden acting chops. For Suzie Kondi, she gave a peek into her “get ready with me” process as she danced to Whitney Houston’s “Exhale (Shoop Shoop).”
Akil described the campaign like the opening of a scene. “INT. GRANDMA’S BATHROOM – DAY,” her Instagram post’s caption reads. “A young Mara has the world at her fingertips within these four walls. Her adventure stems from carefree bike rides up and down Slauson and Overhill. Her imagination is a direct correlation to eavesdropping from the ‘kids table.’ Her beauty… well her beauty derives from the blush pink bathroom where she would watch her Grandmother, Mother, and Aunt, do the impossible — become even more stunning than before. Where they would paint their nails, apply rouge in the infinity mirrors, or find the perfect scent that amplified their look of the day. It was that blush pink bathroom where she aspired to be as beautiful as the women before her.”
The 53-year-old added, “I NEVER thought of myself to be a blush-pink kinda girl. However, this tone, this color, means so much more than #ecbaa8 to me. It tells a story of a color passed on to me for generations. An heirloom color.”
While wearing the Kondi’s Elma jumpsuit in “Mara Blush,” Akil considered the look to be the “embodiment of fashion-meets-function bringing an effortless coziness for writing, running errands, or simply lounging in your personal sanctuary space.” Watch the campaign above.
More from VIBE.com
