Branded content continues to permeate the web, especially in the case of fashion. The latest from luxury brand PRADA enlisted director Roman Polanski to write and direct a film for them that debuted at Cannes.
A Therapy stars Ben Kingsley as a therapist to patient Helena Bonham Carter. Both clad in Prada, with a few subtle and not so subtle product shots (like the stills I grabbed of the shoes and coat shown below), we see that Kingsley is obsessively drawn to his patient's purple Prada coat, culminating in the conclusion that "Prada Suits Everyone."
Hesitant at first, Polanski was given creative freedom and reunited his favorite group of actors, screenwriters, D.P and editors to produce the three and a half minute film shown below.
PRADA presents A Therapy by Roman Polanski.
"A game, a thought, that through friendship and mutual respect has come true. When I was asked to shoot a short movie for Prada, I did not think that I could really be myself, but the reality is that in the total freedom I was given, I had the opportunity to reunite my favorite group of people on set and just have fun.
The chance to dwell on what the fashion world represents nowadays, and the fact that it is accompanied by so many stereotypes is fascinating and at the same time a bit upsetting, but you definitely can not ignore it.
It's very refreshing to know there are still places open to irony and wit, and for sure, Prada is one of them" --Roman Polanski
Images from behind the scenes at the shoot:
Credits:
Starring Helena Bonham Carter, Ben Kingsley Screenplay: Roman Polanski and Ronald Hardwood Music: Alexandre Desplat Production Designer: Dean Tavoularis Director of Photography: Eduardo Serra Editor: Hervé de Luze Executive Producer: Max Brun
Produced by HI! Production and R.P. Productions
Francesco Vezzoli's project 'Greed' is a faux ad campaign for an imagined perfume. The entire project consists of a video trailer, a video (faux commercial), the bottle design and print campaign. The video was directed by the notoriously-exiled director Roman Polanski and features Natalie Portman and Michelle Williams embroiled in a fierce battle over the fanciful scent. The spurious campaign attempts to isolate and imitate the hype created by the promotion of a new luxury product in the mass market.
THE BOTTLE DESIGN
Just as Marcel Duchamp created Belle Haleine: Eau de Voilette in 1921 using a Rigaud perfume bottle with an altered label Francesco Vezzoli has created a signature perfume for the contemporary moment. Greed’s label features Vezzoli in drag, photographed by Francesco Scavullo, where Duchamp appeared on his perfume bottle as Rrose Sélavy, photographed by Man Ray.
Duchamps' Faux perfume bottle and label:
Francesco Vezzoli's Greed: above: artist Francesco Vezzoli's Greed, The Perfume That Doesn't Exist, 2009 Crystal, paper and ribbon, 15 11/16 x 10 5/8 x 5 1/8 inches (40 x 27 x 13 cm)
THE INSTALLATION:
The installation at the Gagosian Gallery in Rome features the perfume in the center of the room flanked by the 'faux movie posters' (more on those below) and the faux commercial ran on a monitor:
THE GALLERY SHOW INVITE:
THE POSTERS
The series of needlework portraits of leading female figures in art history –including Tamara de Lempicka, Eva Hesse, Leonor Fini – serve as immortalized endorsements of Vezzoli’s fragrance.
The posters for the product by Francesco Vezzoli are made of inkjet, wool, cotton, metallic embroidery and custom jewelry on brocade. Each features a different famous female and measures 70 7/8 x 51 3/16 inches (180 x 130 cm):
above bottle, posters and installation photos courtesy of Gagosian Gallery
THE VIDEO / FAUX COMMERCIAL:
stills: still photos courtesy of Francesco Vezzoli Studio
GREED is just the latest castle in what the Gagosian Gallery coins Vezzoli's "ongoing preoccupation with the fundamental ambiguity of truth, the seductive powers of language, and the instability of the human persona in a series of works that explore the undisputed power of contemporary media culture."
According to Vezzoli, his art is designed to hold a mirror to society which idolizes the concept of celebrity. At the same time, Vezzoli's racy art plumbs the depths of celebrity culture itself and seemingly revels in it, with devastatingly funny results. "It's all part of this kind of style of promotional deconstruction that I've been researching for a long time. I'm not so much of a moralist trying to make a statement," he said. "I'm fascinated by celebrity. It's a phenomenon, and I don't think the whole celebrity culture is silly. It invades everything: fashion, cinema. Without stars, no event is deemed worthy of the media to cover - you need that red carpet. My work is the study of media."
About the artist: Francesco Vezzoli was born in 1971, in Brescia, Italy. He studied at the Central St. Martin’s School of Art in London from 1992 to 1995. His work has been exhibited at many institutions including: Castello di Rivoli Museo d’Arte Contemporanea, Turin (2002); Fondazione Prada, Milan (2004 and 2005); Museu Serralves, Porto (2005); Le Consortium, Dijon (2006); and the Power Plant, Toronto (2007). Vezzoli’s work has also been featured in the 26th São Paulo Biennial (2004); the 51st Venice Biennale (2005); the Whitney Biennial (2006); and the 52nd Venice Biennale (2007). He currently lives and works in Milan.
