Idris Elba and Calvin, GCDS Goes Paparazzi Style, Remmers Fronts Choo

ELBA AND CALVIN: Unlike Jeremy Allen White, who stripped to his underwear for Calvin Klein, Idris Elba kept his clothes on.

In the second installment of its spring 2024 campaign, the fashion brand tapped the actor and musician to appear in its ads. White starred in the first installment. This marks Elba’s first appearance for Calvin Klein.

In these images, photographer Mert Alas shot Elba in the brand’s spring styles including a classic trenchcoat, a seersucker full-zip shirt jacket and a sateen bomber. He is also featured in a new slim suit, which is offered in wool, sateen and cotton.

The campaign and collection launch Tuesday on calvinklein.com and will roll out on the brand’s social channels throughout the week. The images will also appear on out-of-home placements globally.

Emmanuelle Alt styled the campaign. — JEAN E. PALMIERI

CAUGHT ON CAMERA: Fashion’s obsession with paparazzi-style images keeps going strong.

Following in the footsteps of the Bottega Veneta shots featuring A$AP Rocky and Kendall Jenner that went viral last month, GCDS revealed it leveraged the same concept for its spring 2024 campaign, but added its irreverent spin.

Entirely shot and produced by celebrity paparazzi company Backgrid, the campaign nods to early 2000s tabloids and gossip culture, catching GCDS models in deceptively private moments, public day-to-day activities and even temper outbursts, all the while wearing the brand’s spring 2024 key designs.

While the collection was intended as a pop take on the Neapolitan roots of GCDS founder and creative director Giuliano Calza, the campaign was set in Los Angeles, considered by the designer the world’s entertainment capital and ultimate gravitational point for celebrities.  

“’Baci from Capri, Napoli, Los Angeles’ has evolved into a communication format for GCDS, exploring cities connected to the brand — major cities where GCDS is adored,” Calza told WWD, referring to previous campaigns themed after the Italian locations. 

“L.A. is the perfect playground to bring clothing to life, animating looks beyond the runway,” he continued. “It has long been in the spotlight as ‘the new real’ and the embodiment of the American dream as a global aspiration. However, we’ve chosen to craft a photo romance…offering almost tabloid-worthy images of an imaginary group of potential GCDS [people] in L.A.” 

In a statement, the brand said it drew inspiration from the hype culture as well as archival Vogue Italia imagery by Steven Meisel to recreate pictures that could “blur the line between reality and editorial.”

“This campaign is set to redefine the role of paparazzi in fashion, a realm where they have long existed in a fascinating limbo between low-brow and high-brow culture. Our collaboration with GCDS celebrates this intricate relationship between paparazzi and fashion, marking a new chapter in this ever-evolving story,” said Backgrid cofounder Alex Kantif.

On social media, the images will come with ironic headlines, ranging from “Girls day out” for the photo of two friends walking out and about in Beverly Hills with groceries tucked in their GCDS-logoed maxi tote bag to “Trouble in Paradise” for a shot of a young couple looking tense at Sushi Park.

Other images portray talents caught skinny-dipping in a pool or friends pushing away paparazzi by flipping smoothies — or flipping them off, directly. While close-up imagery spotlights the main accessories of the season — including the Heart bag, the home phone-shaped Call-Me Comma bag and the new asymmetric rendition Comme Notte bag — a picture taken outside Chateau Marmont also highlights the theatrical gown in silver Lurex and deep opening on the back that closed Calza’s fashion show in September. — SANDRA SALIBIAN

JIMMY CHOO’S ‘BUCCANEER’: British actor Guy Remmers, who rose to fame for his portrayal of Theo, Duke of Tintagel in Apple TV’s period drama “The Buccaneers,” has been tapped by the British luxury footwear and accessory brand Jimmy Choo to appear in its spring men’s campaign.

Posing in front of colorful doors, Remmers sported new season monk straps and mules in pastel tones. He also highlighted a few men’s bags for the occasion, a blue tote embossed with star motifs, and a small crossbody bag with a digitized logo print pattern.

In one shot where the actor is seen on a zebra crossing, Remmers went business casual with a pair of Sammy boots, which come with an exaggerated block heel and round toe, and a large black tote.

The campaign, shot by Anton Gottlob and styled by Ben Schofield, is accompanied by a short film that celebrates the creative spirit of London, where Jimmy Choo is headquartered.

Early this month, the brand unveiled its women’s spring 2024 campaign with model Vivienne Rohner walking the cobbled streets in Ibiza, Spain.

Last December, Jimmy Choo’s oyster-hued shoe boxes came to life in Tokyo‘s Ginza, where the brand teamed with Harry Nuriev, the founder and creative director of interior architecture and design firm Crosby Studios, to work on Choo’s largest store in Japan and fourth-biggest globally.

The store is more than 3,200 square feet and is on two floors. The interior takes cues from the brand’s pop-up on Avenue Montaigne in Paris, with the open design floor.

The second floor is dedicated to Jimmy Choo’s men’s offerings with a double-height staircase and a denim blue room that’s meant to resemble a secret stock room with a 200-foot sofa that fits the boxed room. — TIANWEI ZHANG

SUPER BOWL READY: When Usher breaks into his dance moves at the Apple Music Super Bowl LVIII Halftime Show stage on Feb. 11, fans in the stands and at home can sing and dance along wearing pieces from an exclusive co-branded capsule collection created by longtime NFL licensees.

To celebrate the Grammy Award-winning artist’s appearance, special pieces have been created with Mitchell & Ness, New Era, Riddell and Wilson Sporting Goods. They include Mitchell & Ness jerseys, hoodies, jackets and T-shirts; New Era headwear in collaboration with the Just Don apparel brand; Riddell helmets, and a limited-edition Wilson football.

The products will feature this year’s key colors, purple and pink, along with a “U” emblem inspired by Usher’s trademark diamond-studded “U” necklace.

“I can’t wait to hit the stage at the Apple Music Super Bowl LVIII Halftime Show for a 30-year celebration of my music in Las Vegas,” said Usher. “There is no better way to get fans pumped about the performance than with a one-of-a-kind merchandise collaboration with the NFL, with designs that embody my style. I hope to see all my fans decked out in pieces from the collection.”

The collection will go on sale Feb. 7 in Las Vegas at the Super Bowl experience pop-up as well as online at the NFLshop as well as each of the brands’ e-commerce sites. — JEAN E. PALMIERI

TRIFECTA: Moleskine has tapped three Asian creatives to celebrate the upcoming Lunar New Year.

The Italian manufacturer of luxury notebooks has created the 3 Artists, 3 Countries Collection to highlight the work of three distinct artists from three different countries in East Asia. The Year of the Dragon is celebrated by both Zeng Fanzhi, a Chinese painter based in Beijing, and by South Korean typographic designer Ahn Sang Soo. Meanwhile, the third style has been designed by Japanese manga artist Momoko Sakura, the creator of the manga character Chibi Maruko Chan, a third grader who has been featured in a series of popular books with her family and friends for the past 35 years. Sakura created artwork centered around the character.

Fanzhi graduated from the Hubei Institute of Fine Arts in 1991 and is known for his technical mastery. Soo is a visual designer and typographer who was awarded the Gutenberg Prize by Leipzig, Germany, in 2007 and established the independent design school PaTI (Paju Typography Institute) and currently serves as its principal.

Each created works that Moleskine placed on limited-edition notebooks that are available for purchase individually or collectively in a fabric-covered box with each of the notebooks housed in its own drawer. The collection is available now on the Moleskine website and retails for $39 for the Soo notebook and $185 for the box. — J.E.P.