Tamara Mellon Unveils Cardi B-Inspired ‘Leave Him on Red’ Campaign
Tamara Mellon, who is playing out her third act in the shoe business with her namesake Los Angeles-based, direct-to-consumer brand, is taking a pop-culture cue from none other than Cardi B, and leaving him on read.
Inspired by the rapper’s song “I Do,” in which she “left a n—a on read,” or slang for reading, but not answering, a text message, the capsule collection and Instagram campaign, dubbed “Leave Him on Red,” launches Tuesday.
The social media movement encourages women to stop answering text messages from people who no longer deserve their time, so Mellon decided to launch a celebrity-driven campaign on Instagram with La La Anthony, Angie Harmon and Denise Vasi.
“If you read between the lines, or lack thereof, to leave someone on read is about much more than not texting back,” Mellon says. “It means knowing your worth enough to be able to recognize when someone else doesn’t, and having the strength to move forward without them. This campaign recognizes confident and fearless women who’ve demonstrated this in their personal lives and careers.”
In addition to still portraits that will debut on the Tamara Mellon Instagram feed, the company will post video content on Instagram Stories and IGTV, making them among the earliest of adopters, along with Dior.
In the videos, the women share personal stories about when they left someone on read, while wearing the three red sandal styles from the Leave Him on Red collection: The Ombre ($475), Prism ($795) and Hue ($425). Each order comes with a red Smith & Cult nail polish also named Leave Him on Red.
In addition to sharing anecdotes, the women explained how they’d define the term in their own words.
Said Anthony, “Leave her, him, anyone on red means you’re just not f–king with them at that moment. You’re just not vibing with them or you just don’t feel they deserve your time or response.”
Harmon’s take was, “It’s about self-respect. We have value, and we deserve to be treated that way.”
And Vasi put it this way: “It means slimming down the guest list, so to speak. It means don’t do that, it’s not appropriate, I don’t stand for that. It means no. No thank you.”
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