Stanley Kubrick Directed Gucci's Latest Campaign (Kinda)
Gucci doesn't shy away from excess — in fact, Alessandro Michele's luxury house revels in it, spinning the phrase into a term of endearment. So, it ought to be utterly unsurprising that when Gucci set out to recreate a handful of iconic scenes from Stanley Kubrick's legendary filmography, it didn't cut a single corner.
Unforgettable moments from standouts like The Shining, A Clockwork Orange, 2001: A Space Odyssey, and even Kubrick's early-years period piece, Barry Lyndon are all directly referenced and reimagined with a Gucci spin.
And don't think this is a mere homage: Gucci partnered with Warner Bros., the distributor of the Kubrick's movies being alluded to in this campaign save for 2001 (a Turner joint), to create images that faithfully reframe shots from the films.
From The Shining's terrifying twin girls to the brutal droogs of Clockwork Orange and even the masked party from Eyes Wide Shut, Gucci spared no expense in bringing the scenes to life as only Gucci can.
And, of course, it also situated plenty of Fall/Winter 2022 collection "Exquisite Gucci" items and models into the photos.
Especially with the models, the integration is rather seamless.
There are some lookalikes cast to imitate the actors and, especially with the Wendy and Danny Torrance stand-ins, they're pretty bang-on and only serve the heighten the fragmentation of the familiar.
We recognize the horrifyingly empty hallways of The Shining and 2001's rotating corridor, but the presence of Gucci's fresh-faced, fashion-forward models unsettles the eye, by design.
Of all the Kubrick films pictured in the campaign, you'd think that the Barry Lyndon snaps would most seamlessly integrate with Michele's borderline baroque Gucci garments but the creative director's retro-chic design inclinations creates some pretty complementary juxtaposition with sets from The Shining, 2001, and Eyes Wide Shut.
Though, there's also some intentionally jarring mash-ups, especially with the adidas x Gucci clothing, that make for some playful clashing.
This organic-inorganic dreamlike hybridization is all intentional, according to Michele.
"Kubrick was, in essence, a real sculptor of genres: the 'cross-genre' director, ahead of his time," Michele said in a lengthy note that accompanied the Exquisite Gucci campaign. "His ability to build stories that exceed significance, crossing borders and setting labels on fire, has always been deeply inspiring to me."
"As an act of love, I decided to re-inhabit Kubrick’s films. I took the liberty of disassembling, blending, grafting and reassembling them. Sticking to my creative praxis, I seized those movies, re-semanticizing them, populating them with my clothes. The past explodes into the present."
