Pucci 'Initials E.P.' Resort 2023 Ad Campaign

Review of Pucci ‘Initials E.P.’ Resort 2023 Ad Campaign by Pucci Artistic Director Camille Miceli, Creative Director Al Dente Paris, Photographer Vito Fernicola, and Stylist Katie Grand with Model Raquel Zimmermann

Camille Miceli’s Pucci renaissance continues with the brand’s latest campaign. The “Initials E.P. Resort 2023 campaign features photography by Vito Fernicola and creative direction from Al Dente Paris.

Shot among the rooftops facades of the brand’s home of Florence, the campaign imagery puts Pucci’s vivid patterns – which took the world by storm in the 50s and 60s – in conversation with the city’s historic architecture, creating a unique visual blend of culture and history. The accompanying short film deploys snappy editing and an angular electro-acoustic soundtrack to further up the energy and emphasize the vibrant dynamism of the designs.

The main critique of Pucci’s output since it was acquired by LVMH and Miceli was appointed creative director in 2021 is that, while it has faithfully looked to the brand’s archives, it hasn’t really done anything to update the Pucci print in response to the changes in contemporary fashion, instead delivering pretty much the same clothes as the brand did in the 60s. While the eclecticism and fondness for the reboot that characterizes our post-modern, backward-looking creative culture means that these retro revivals don’t feel too out of place, it might be nice to see what could be done with the brands in the hands of a contemporary visionary. Then again, these prints do feel very of their time, and maybe that’s how they should stay.

The campaign has a bit of the same feel; aside from the digital editing in the video, there’s not much about it that feels fresh today.

But perhaps the Pucci customer is someone who values the brand’s history, and the campaign does make a strong play to that legacy by putting Pucci’s vibrant patterns in conversation with the city to which his family has even older aristocratic ties, making for a striking palimpsest of historical vision.