Yorgos Lanthimos has gained a cult following for his unique and surrealistic take on the thriller genre. From the Killing of a Sacred Deer to The Lobster, the Greek director has become renowned for his ability to create bizarre worlds inside of his films. 

Applying his unique eye to the world of fashion by shooting Gucci’s Cruise 2020 look book earlier this summer, new images by the director have now been put together in a new art book for the Italian house titled Ωοτοκία. 

Shot at the Leda Gallery of Villa Albani Torlonia in Rome, models are captured posing among Ancient Roman and Greek sculptures. Elderly men and women with powdered white skin mimic the marble statues, while younger models are seen in Gucci’s colourful and eclectic outfits. 

“Having the actors and models interact with the environment, juxtaposed against these ancient sculptures and hundreds of years old walls felt very exhilarating,” Lanthimos explains. “The process seemed at the time like a rehearsal for a future play or the beginnings of a creation of a ritual that these people in the photographs would keep repeating for years to come.”

Using a specific statue in the villa’s garden called Leda and the Swan, a first-century Roman copy of an earlier Greek statue from the fourth century, Alessandro Michele was inspired to create a shoot which explores, among other things, the importance of the value of the copy. 

With Lanthimos’ style being well suited to the otherworldly dreamscape that Michele has created around Gucci, the director said it was a “joy to be given the opportunity to create these images inspired by the work of Alessandro Michele.”

Check out the book above and revisit Gucci’s SS20 show below.