Madonna is to return as the face of Louis Vuitton. Following the success of the spring summer campaign, where, according to Louis Vuitton’s communication director Antoine Arnault, everything worn in the ads, from the art-cum-stilettos to the leather bag, sold out within months.
Marc Jacobs was so pleased with the campaign he was eager to do an encore. “But very quickly Marc said, ‘I want something completely different,’” said Arnault.
The new ingredients included a dash of Tamara de Lempicka and Man Ray for color-drenched images by Steven Meisel with a surreal edge, thanks to generous use of solarization, a technique of overexposure first perfected by Ray. “It gives something very graphic, more edgy” than the first Madonna campaign, also by Meisel, which depicted her as a French coquette in a Parisian bistro setting, Arnault said.
The campaign will be introduced in August issues of high end lifestyle titles and feature a variety of runway looks and leather goods, many in the house’s signature monogram.