Vincent Cassel, Letitia Wright, Louis Partridge Front Cinematic Prada Spring Ad Campaign

MILAN — Building on their love of cinematographic references, Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons have cast a starry pack for Prada’s spring ad campaign.

Photographed by David Sims, the images channel Hollywood vibes featuring prominent industry figures including Vincent Cassel, Jaehyun Jeong, Louis Partridge, Hunter Schafer and Letitia Wright posing for the camera against ordinary settings, be they office or home interiors.

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The minimalist images spotlight each character’s identity candidly, as if they were screen grabs taken from a movie or shots from a film set. For instance, Cassel is seen sitting on the edge of a bathtub, his Prada leather tote bag displayed prominently, while Partridge looks like a detective interviewing a suspect, and Schafer is portrayed dumbfounded, her gaze directed slightly off-camera.

Models Guinevere van Seenus and Rachel Williams also appear in the campaign, the latter giving off Catherine Deneuve vibes courtesy of dramatic lighting.

The campaign’s concept nods to the spring 2023 show, held last September in Milan, when Prada and Simons partnered with film director Nicolas Winding Refn on a project called “Touch of Crude.”

The director behind movies including the “Pusher” trilogy and “Drive” conceived an immersive installation, the runway show’s physical environment in collaboration with AMO, and a series of interrelated film shorts, presented both digitally and at the show.

“Touch of Crude” hinged on the notion of observation, looking inward and outward from different perspectives, Winding Refn told WWD at the time, a concept befitting Prada’s women’s spring show theme, domestic voyeurism.

The movie premiered at the Lyon Lumière Film Festival in October and was shown at the Geneva International Film Festival and the Stockholm Film Festival in November. In conjunction with the release of the ad campaign, it will make its debut on the brand’s website and social platforms.

Milan-based Prada and movie fans will have a chance to watch it at the movie theater inside Fondazione Prada, with special screenings taking place on Wednesday and Thursday — ahead of the brand’s menswear show on Sunday.

The Italian luxury brand is no novice to the movie industry, having often scouted breakthrough talents for its campaigns and toyed with the video medium and cinematic references.

Over the years it has tapped actors including Willem Dafoe, Ethan Hawke, Dane DeHaan and Ezra Miller, as well as Julia Garner, Shira Haas and Hunter Schafer, Jeff Goldblum, Damson Idris and Rami Malek.

Marking the launch of Pradoxe, the first major Prada scent for women introduced by L’Oréal, the brand’s fragrance and beauty licensee, and meant to become a global feminine pillar, the brand tapped Emma Watson, who also made her directorial debut with the campaign.

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