Ferragamo Spring 2011 Ad Campaign: A Tribute to La Piscine
Fashion has a funny way of co-opting the ephemeral energy of film and sublimating it into so much more.
Take, for example, 1968’s French cinematic touchstone La Piscine: While critics found the Jacques Deray vehicle ambiguous in plot and narrative, its continued impact on the fashion industry proves that style and ambience alone can go a long way in cementing pop legacy.
Clothed by André Courrèges throughout, the film’s heroines became emblems of quintessential Gallic style; Jane Birkin famously inspired Hermès’s most popular bag, while Romy Schneider christened the enduring popularity of the chignon hairstyle.
Countless La Piscine–influenced editorials have passed through glossies over the years, while Christian Dior recently used its footage as primary source material for an Eau Sauvage television ad. That the film’s imagery would eventually resurface on the fashion front was a pleasant inevitability.
Indeed, its most recent incarnation will arrive next month, when Salvatore Ferragamo’s Spring 2011 ad campaign hits all major fashion publications.
Tastefully shot in Ibiza by Mikael Jansson, Ferragamo’s campaign is a reverent tribute to La Piscine’s seductive escapist appeal.
In a bit of cunning casting, Daria Werbowy embodies the easy, bohemian spirit of Birkin with preternatural grace, dressed for the part by stylist Anastasia Barbieri in Ferragamo’s latest white, ecru, and marine-hued crocheted knits, maxidresses, and minis.
Photo Courtesy of Salvatore Ferragamo
Ferragamo takes it poolside for one of its Spring 2011 ads.
Meanwhile, Clément Chabernaud channels the suave Alain Delon, appearing alternately moody and insouciant in Werbowy’s arms.
Like the film it channels, the campaign isn’t exactly rewriting the rules of stylish storytelling but conveys a sense of broody romanticism that fashion thrives upon—that terribly attractive impossibility of a life spent ricocheting between cocktail parties, seaside car chases, and tempestuous love affairs.
