Our favourite Autumn/Winter ‘19 campaigns

As the balmy summer days are slowly but surely tapering away and are replaced by crisp autumnal nights, so too must our wardrobes transition. As effortless as it is to slip on a skirt or a pair of shorts,, we’re quite excited to add some extra layers, update our wardrobes and ditch the sweltering heat. As we Berliners know, autumn is but a fleeting segway into yet another grim, grey and long winter, so why not seek respite in retail therapy, or at the very least some window shopping. With the AW19 collections hitting stores, it’s no crime to indulge in a few new pieces to weather the cold months. To make your selection a bit easier, we’ve gathered up some of our favourite AW19 campaigns.

Posh meets punk in brutalist Berlin—Celine

We’re a little biased when it comes to this one. While we’re not too quick to forgive Hedi Slimane for his total upheaval of Phoebe Philo’s Céline (the accent now dropped), we are fans of his new campaign set in Berlin. Featuring recognisable landmarks such as the Bierpinsel in Steiglitz, the brooding black and white photographs and accompanying video (shot by Slimane himself) are sleek, sophisticated and make Berlin seem sexy and glamorous. They made good use of the city’s harsh brutalist architecture and cavernous warehouses as backdrops, as well as shooting in SO36—the infamous punk nightclub frequented by Iggy Pop and David Bowie during his illustrious love affair with the city. And while Slimane’s Celine boys are definitely more posh than punk, they certainly look damn good. 

ECKHAUS LATTA—UGGs, but make them sexy

UGG’s have been having a renaissance lately. Ever since Y-Project managed to miraculously vamp up the wooly, bulbous, ugly boots that, inexplicably, every hot girl in high school wanted to wear, it seems like every fashion season they come out of the woodwork with a new collaboration. Their most recent is with arty and avant-garde Eckhaus Latta who have become a fixture in the New York art and fashion scenes. The AW19 campaign is a melancholic ode to the savage beauty of Mono County, California, which was also the inspiration for the collection. Models sport the square toed and high heeled rendition of the UGG against a backdrop of black sand dunes and salt lakes. Stripped of its traditional rounded front, there’s something sexy and cool about Eckhaus Latta’s boxy boot. Besides the shoes, UGG also collaborated with the design duo on several shearling and sheepskin pieces, also showcased in the campaign.

Unapologetically queer, and definitely NSFW—Palomo

For Alejandro Gómez Palomo’s most recent campaign, he called in the talents of Berlin-based photographer and filmmaker Matt Lambert heralded for his exploration of queer intimacy, having previously worked with gay dating app Grindr and Stefano Pilati’s Random Identity. This campaign is perfectly on brand for him. It’s a bacchanalian tableau of intertwined bodies, both clothed and unclothed, and a sultry celebration of both the garments and queer love. The viewer feels as though they’ve stumbled on some sort of couture orgy. No stranger to risque marketing, Palomo’s AW18 campaign, lensed by Kito Muñoz, showed his models being touted about the streets of Madrid on leashes. Known for his unapologetic confrontation of gender stereotypes, Palomo continues to push the boundaries of the gender binary with each new collection, regularly sending his male models down the runway in dresses and corsets. This one in particular was inspired by the costumes from Serguei Diaguilev’s Ballet Russes, a frequent source of inspiration for designers such as Christian Lacroix. 

A lesson in love from fashion’s biggest trolls—Balenciaga 

In a departure from their meme-ish Instagram which is essentially a mockery of the mundane and a big middle finger to conventional fashion marketing, Balenciaga’s AW19 campaign is a genuine celebration of love, in all its shapes, colours and sizes. It seems Balenciaga can take itself seriously every once in a while. Photographed in the city of love by photographer Greg Finck, the campaign features real street cast Parisian couples locking lips and snuggling up on the streets of Paris decked out in pieces from the new collection. The casting is diverse, showing that love comes in different forms. The moving photographs are accompanied by a video which shows the couples discussing their relationships in a blank room on a CCTV camera. And, thankfully, not a pair of Triple-S is in sight.

A digital orgy from the brand that brought you denim panties—Y-PROJECT 

From those infamous thigh high UGGs to denim panties, Glenn Martens of Y-Project clearly likes to stir it up a bit each fashion week. The pièce de résistance of the AW19 collection? A range of ceramic jewellery featuring bracelets, earrings, and necklaces all depicting sex acts from the Kama Sutra. And the accompanying campaign is most definitely NSFW. Their newest accessories’ campaign was made in collaboration with Belgian multimedia artist Frederik Heyman, who previously created Gentle Monster’s techy dystopia for their “13” campaign. This one is no less bizarre. Heyman has created a digital orgy which seems to literally defy gravity. Nude figures with robotic extensions and missing limbs are stacked one on top of the other in various explicit positions. The video shows a man orchestrating the orgy via remote control. And while it may just look like a grotesque art piece, if you look closely, the jewellery they are marketing is very subtly 3-D scanned onto the figures. 

Alessandro’s Michele’s tribute to prêt-à-porter—Gucci 

Is there a single bad thing to say about Gucci’s Alessandro Michele? We sure can’t think of any. Gucci’s AW19 campaign lensed by Glen Luchford is a boisterous and extravagant lesson in the history of prêt-à-porter, spanning from the ‘50s through to the ‘80s. We are taken on a journey through the stages of a garment’s life, from ideation, to the sewing room, to the fittings and runway, and then to the newsstands and culminating on the streets of Paris to be ogled by curious onlookers. The clothes themselves are decadent and resplendent, as to be expected of Michele’s Gucci. It’s refreshing to see a campaign that actually has a narrative with a tangible beginning, middle, and end. Alessandro is a true storyteller, both with the garments he creates and the campaigns he concocts. His other campaigns have been just as theatrical, with the SS19 campaign inspired by the glitz and glamour of old Hollywood, and the Pre-Fall 2019 campaign shot against the ruins of Pompeii. 

Modern day cowboy meets mosh pit—Telfar 

Having partnered up with the Black Lives Matter movement, Budweiser, and creating uniforms for White Castle employees, it’s safe to say that Telfar Clemens of his eponymous label Telfar is one of the hottest American designers of the moment. His designs have been genderless since the brand’s inception in 2005, well before it was the “hip” thing to do. His AW19 presentation turned Irving Plaza in NYC into a mosh pit, with models being lifted into the audience, readings by acclaimed playwright Jeremy O’Harris, and performances by British-Nigerian singer, Oyinda. Inspired by O’Harris’ Slave Play, the collection and campaign imagery are an exploration of American history and the concept of country. 

Country music, being quintessentially American, has strong ties to the South and is often thought of as a soundtrack for the more conservative minded. The imagery of a black woman dressed in a cowboy hat, riding boots, and a large buckled belt, the de facto “country” uniform, is, therefore, subversive in its own right. A tattered and distorted American flag is superimposed over a black model’s face, referencing the controversial form of political protest. Telfar is challenging the notion of American identity, unapologetically political, and just so damn cool. Buckle up buckaroos—Telfar is definitely one to watch out for this NYFW. 

Stuart Vevers puts the cool back in Coach—Coach

Since his appointment as creative director in 2013, Stuart Vevers has turned Coach from a middle American “mommy” brand (think Michael Kors) into a viable player in the luxury fashion world. Rather than raising prices to compete with brands that are considered more “high-end,” Vevers injected the cool factor it was missing before. Geared towards a younger, more “woke” millennial audience, they’ve employed the talents of brand ambassadors such as Selena Gomez, Maisie Williams and other socially conscious public figures who are involved in activism and have massive influence over a younger generation. 

Their AW19 campaign, shot by seminal counterculture photographer Juergen Teller in New York City, casts Yara Shahidi—the activist star of the TV series Black-ish— outspoken actor Michael B. Jordan, Jemima Kirke, and several other young creatives as Coach’s “21st Century Dreamers.”  Along with the other cast members of the campaign, the “dreamers” are depicted as heroes, with dramatic shots taken high above the Manhattan skyline like high-fashion vigilantes, some even floating like superheroes. In the video campaign, the stars discuss their dreams and hopes, albeit only briefly. Over the next few months Coach will be releasing sequels that focus on each “dreamer” and their personal aspirations. The new bags are front and centre in the campaign shots, and while we can’t seem to shake off the association between Coach and suburban mums, seeing these inspirational figures proudly toting a Coach bag kind of makes us want one too.