Italian fashion label Gucci is shining a light on the breadth of humanity with its latest marketing initiative.
Launched July 22, the maison’s fall/winter 2025 campaign showcases the upcoming seasonal collection through a variety of still pictures and a short film. Titled “The Gucci Portrait Collection,” the advertisement features a diverse cast of 42 individuals, each photographed in their signature style and displaying their unique individuality.
“This latest Gucci campaign seems to signal a shift in the brand’s target audience messaging and relevance,” said Daymon Bruck, chief creative officer at The O Group, New York.
“Immediately, the look and tone of this campaign creative feels quite intimate and personal: a study of self-reflection and character over outward appeal and styled glamour,” Mr. Bruck said. “With this ‘Portrait Series’ campaign featuring 42 unique looks, people and expressions of identity, the creative speaks to an audience who sees their style as an extension of their individuality rather than an advocate for Gucci’s creative universe alone.”
Mr. Bruck is not affiliated with Gucci, but agreed to comment as an industry expert.
Unique Expressions
For The Gucci Portrait Collection, the brand enlisted renowned American photographer Catherine Opie for the first time.
The award-winning talent, best known for her humanist portraiture work, has had collections showcased in the Museum of Modern Art and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. Now, she lends her lens to the Italian luxury staple.
The campaign consists of 42 still images, one dedicated to each member of the expansive cast. Individuality serves as the core theme of the initiative, with the captured personas spanning a wide spectrum of generations and cultural backgrounds, all of whom display their personalities and respective life journeys through their dress.
Each portrait captures the talents in front of various neutral tone backdrops; some sit in chairs, others pose with various accessories, while most stand casually, letting their outfits speak for them. The photos take on a cinematic quality, with dramatic lighting and close-up framing.
Alongside the stills, Gucci released a short film directed by French American filmmaker Lisa Rovner. In the placement, the cast answers open-ended questions with brief, often single-word responses, which tie into their respective perceptions of themselves.
Music does not accompany the visuals, with the maison instead opting for the participants’ responses to fill in the audio track. Image courtesy of Gucci/Catherine Opie
The video’s style is slightly augmented from Ms. Opie’s frames, as Ms. Rovner instead opted for a more candid approach to capturing the different personalities. Visuals take on a grainy aesthetic, alongside a vignette along the edges, appearing to have been shot on film.
This style fits into the signature motifs of the campaign’s artistic director, Riccardo Zanola, a frequent collaborator of Gucci’s previous creative director, Sabato De Sarno. Mr. Zanola’s touch has been a mainstay on the brand’s marketing endeavors since Mr. De Sarno’s departure earlier this year, most recently guiding the GG Obsession campaign, launched in June (see story).
“The creative for this campaign is beautifully realized, filmed and edited, but perhaps sacrifices some authentic substance and messaging for brand style,” said Mr. Bruck.
“A campaign dedicated to individuality and uniqueness is toned down here by presenting a fashionably curated mix of unique-looking models instead of pushing the boundaries of actual diverse representation and style.”
The brand is positioning itself as a an opportunity for enhancing one’s personal expression. Image courtesy of Gucci/Catherine Opie
Gucci’s focus on silhouettes of the past, ranging from the 1960s to the 1990s, guides the seasonal ready-to-wear selection as well as its promotional imagery with established house codes appearing throughout the assemblage. The fall/winter 2025 collection will launch on Aug. 28, both on the maison’s website and in-store.
Sense of Self
While The Gucci Portrait Collection centers on the identities of its cast, it also serves as a reset point for the iconic label.
According to WWD, the new campaign marks the last released before Georgian fashion designer Demna Gvasalia, formerly of French fashion house Balenciaga, will step in as Gucci’s next creative director, as announced earlier this year (see story).
Mr. Gvasalia will present his vision for the future of the brand in September, followed by his first fashion show in March 2026. Image courtesy of Gucci/Catherine Opie
As Gucci prepares to redefine itself, other maisons, including Mr. Gvasalia’s previous career stop, are also spotlighting their selections through intimate portraits.
Balenciaga’s winter campaign follows a similar formula, swapping out mostly unknown faces for those of influential actors and house ambassadors, including names such as Nicole Kidman, Isabelle Huppert, Adut Akech and Patrick Schwarzenegger, among others (see story).
The growing trend of portraiture has also expanded outside of the clothing space, with diamond company De Beers Group’s flagship brand, De Beers London, rebranding with the art form at the center of its messaging (see story).
“The concept of Individuality has been growing in luxury brand campaigns recently, especially with an awareness that younger audiences respond favorably to messaging which touches on themes of values, beliefs and identity,” said Mr. Bruck.
“In many respects, today’s luxury audience has become their own independent content creators who are more likely to include a brand like Gucci into their edited ‘world’ as a reflection of their own personal style,” he said. “Gucci’s ‘Portrait Series’ campaign taps into this new audience awareness and offers up a fresh brand relationship of collaborative expression.”
Original article published in Luxury Daily, July 23, 2025
