Ray-Ban 'The Icons' 2025 Ad Campaign

Review of Ray-Ban ‘The Icons’ 2025 Ad Campaign by Creative Directors Fedra Malara & Filippo Vezzali with Photographer Rafael Pavarotti with models Saul Symon, Lucy Rosiek, Samuel Elie, Haojie QI, Athiec Geng

Ray-Ban returns to its roots with “The Icons” 2025 campaign—a visual ode to its legendary status in eyewear, masterminded under the refined lens of Rafael Pavarotti and the creative direction of Fedra Malara & Filippo Vezzali. With a brand heritage so tightly woven into the fabric of 20th-century pop culture, Ray-Ban faces a unique challenge: how does one reimagine the iconic without diluting its essence? This campaign attempts precisely that, leaning into nostalgia while whispering a modern recalibration. It’s a sleek balancing act between reverence and reinvention, all wrapped in that timeless Ray-Ban allure.

Set against a stark black-and-white palette, the visuals strip back excess to place the frames—and the faces within them—at center stage. There’s a cinematic quality at play here: brooding light, pensive glances, and minimalist backdrops lend an almost Bergmanesque stillness. The campaign highlights four of Ray-Ban’s classic silhouettes—the Aviator, Wayfarer, Clubmaster, and Round Metal—worn by a cast that reads like a cross-section of global cool: deliberately ambiguous in age, gender, and provenance. The mood is contemplative, stylishly introverted, and quietly confident, as if each subject has a private story only hinted at through their gaze.

In terms of strengths, the campaign is exceptionally well-composed. Rafael’s photography is both intimate and restrained, honoring the frames as cultural artifacts rather than mere accessories. The black-and-white aesthetic cleverly abstracts time, suggesting that true style neither dates nor shouts. Furthermore, Verderi’s direction avoids the common pitfall of over-intellectualizing heritage. Instead, we’re invited into a quiet conversation about identity and permanence. That said, one wonders whether the campaign, in its elegant restraint, misses a chance to reflect Ray-Ban’s more rebellious DNA. The rock ‘n’ roll, the anti-establishment edge—the chutzpah—is mostly implied rather than felt. While the minimalism is beautiful, a touch more friction might have helped the visuals burn brighter in the crowded field of luxury advertising.

Still, “The Icons” achieves something increasingly rare in fashion marketing: it allows the product to speak softly, trusting the weight of its legacy to fill the silence. This is branding as quiet confidence, and it works—though perhaps a hint more daring wouldn’t hurt next time.

In the end, Ray-Ban reminds us that being iconic isn’t about shouting—it’s about staying unmistakably recognizable in a world obsessed with reinvention. But even legends, every now and then, benefit from a little chaos.