For its SS16 campaign, Prada tapped two established models – Sasha Pivovarova and Natalia Vodianova – and one new face, 17-year-old Dutch model Yasmin Wijnaldum. However the campaign features one more talent: Alejandro Ghersi AKA Arca, the 25-year-old Venezuelan producer, Björk collaborator and Dazed 100 star, who is behind the music (“Family Violence” from his 2014 album Xen) that soundtracks the film.
The label describes the campaign as “an investigation into cyclical evolution, fragmenting and layering the decades of the past to refigure them into modernity”. These elements of “fragmenting” and “layering the decades” also exist in “Family Violence”, in which Arca brings together his own audio signature of otherworldly electronic compositions and the sound of more traditional instruments: a piano and some string instruments.
The video itself sees Pivovarova, Vodianova and Wijnaldum pose within the Art Deco-style interior of a New York house modelling the label’s SS16 collection. It’s an offering marked by its subtle reference to 70s wallpaper and Tom Dixon furniture, as well as its bauble Christmas decoration earrings (one of which Vodianova is filmed absent-mindedly playing with).
However “Family Violence” isn’t Prada’s only recent good song choice. “Slay” by Texas-born producer Lōtic soundtracks the label’s SS16 men’s campaign film, going to show that when it comes to music, Prada is at the bleeding edge – just like it is with fashion.
Watch Prada SS16 campaign film below:
