Dsquared2 Spring 2024 Ad Campaign

Review of Dsquared2 Spring 2024 Ad Campaign by Creative Director Giovanni Bianco and Photographer & Director Nadia Lee Cohen with models Nataša Vojnović, Tony Ward, Brady Johnson, Hudson Primo, and Mahi

Dsquared2 celebrates creative freedom while blurring the lines between art and reality with its cinematic Spring 2024 campaign. The brand again reunited with frequent collaborator, creative director Giovanni Bianco, and further deepened its relationship with photographer and director Nadia Lee Cohen.

The campaign continues the narrative exploration of the golden age of pornographic film production that was the theme of the collection’s runway show, celebrating both the glamor of on-screen sexuality and the uniquely eclectic communities behind its creation.

Captured in Los Angeles’ San Fernando Valley – the home of the 90s’ booming porn industry – Cohen’s snapshots find her eclectic cast of characters in moments of anticipation, connection, and indulgence. Some images situate us within the fictional world of the porn films, where the characters pose glamorously on silk sheets or pick up a sexy hitchhiker in a vintage car. Boldly breaking down the fourth wall, other scenes offer a glimpse into the real world of the creators behind these stories: getting into makeup backstage before a shoot or setting up the camera to find the perfect angle.

Authenticity was key: we intentionally gave the actors their lines only on the morning of the shoot – that’s how it would have happened on an adult set in the 90s. This of course resulted in clunky, deadpan delivery and numerous mistakes, which, to me, only made the whole thing all the more charming.”
– Nadia Lee Cohen

The approach to casting similarly draws on the reality of Hollywood’s numerous bygone golden ages and the cultural tapestry that they fostered. Stars of the campaign are Nataša Vojnović, an early 2000s icon, and Tony Ward, the model and actor whose work helped to define the sleazy yet glamorous underbelly of 90s Los Angeles.

Yet while it remains grounded in a real history – with part of this reality being the creation of fantasy – Cohen’s imagery also draws from the self-referential cinematic language of the early 80s. We can detect traces of films like American Gigolo and Scarface, films that a new, elevated perspective on the atmosphere of indulgence and ambition that pervaded the playgrounds of Los Angeles and Miami, blurring the lines between art film and hedonistic voyeurism.

It’s a world in which the layered vision of Dean and Dan can come fully to life. Prep school or porno, masculine or feminine, daytime or evening, streetwear or luxury – these categories are freed from their ostensible opposition and revitalized as a sartorial language of self-expression, playfulness, and freedom. Dsquared2 looks forward to a long, hot summer.