Jimmy Choo Finds Beauty in the Wild
Review of Jimmy Choo ‘Wild Rose’ Fall 2026 men’s Ad Campaign by Creative Director Sandra Choi with model Alfie Nickerson
Jimmy Choo’s Fall 2026 men’s campaign, titled “Wild Rose,” returns to the British countryside with flower farmer and model Alfie Nickerson, extending the visual language established in the previous season while allowing it to become looser, more organic, and distinctly more rugged. At the center of the campaign is the English rose, a familiar symbol of Britishness that is reframed through the lens of Jimmy Choo’s Italian craftsmanship. The campaign is conceived under the creative direction of Sandra Choi, whose approach continues to position the house’s men’s collections between tradition and contemporary attitude.
There is something appropriately persistent about the rose here. Rather than treating the flower as a delicate decorative flourish, “Wild Rose” leans into its thorns, resilience, and ability to grow beyond the boundaries intended for it. Nickerson, who works as a flower farmer as well as a model, gives that idea a particularly natural expression. The campaign’s countryside imagery places him within the landscape he has made his own, creating a relationship between wearer, environment, and product that feels more considered than simply dropping a model into a picturesque English garden.
The accompanying studio imagery introduces a useful counterpoint. Where the countryside photographs emphasize the physicality of the collection and its connection to place, the studio assets bring the Jimmy Choo man back into the world of fashion and construction. The contrast reflects the collection’s central tension between heritage and innovation: the pastoral landscape on one side, the controlled environment of design on the other. It also suggests that the modern Jimmy Choo man does not belong exclusively to one world. He can move between the garden, the city, the workshop, and the wardrobe without needing to leave one identity behind.
That duality is where the campaign is most successful. Choi’s decision to use the rose as more than a surface motif gives the collection a coherent visual vocabulary, while Nickerson’s background provides an unusually direct connection to the campaign’s subject. As Choi explains, “The idea of Britishness is always at the root of Jimmy Choo. For this collection we escaped to country gardens for inspiration; English roses became the subject that we were enchanted by – the beauty, the formation, the resilience and strength all feeds into what we wanted to design for our men’s collection.” The language of resilience could easily become heavy-handed, but the imagery has enough restraint to let the idea breathe.
The footwear itself benefits from that restraint. The WILDER BOOT carries the rose through hand-appliqué using two leathers and laser-cut detailing, while the WILDER LOAFER lowers the silhouette and introduces a Vibram rubber sole alongside a traditional leather heel. On the ROWAN DERBY BOOT, the flower becomes a pattern of laser-cut perforations, while the VINE LACE UP translates the motif into a more formal shape. The EMBER MOCCASIN takes a quieter approach, using fabrication and tubular construction to introduce tactile interest. Together, the styles demonstrate that the rose does not need to look the same everywhere to remain recognizable as the collection’s organizing idea.
The accessories and casual footwear broaden the proposition without disrupting the narrative. The sculptural DIAMOND MAXI HI/M introduces a more contemporary high-top silhouette, while the SUNNY returns in new colorways and rose perforations. The BAR HOLDALL, with its signature hardware, provides a practical counterweight to the more expressive footwear. This mix helps prevent the floral concept from becoming overly literal; the collection retains enough restraint to feel like menswear rather than a botanical exercise in shoe decoration.
If there is room for the campaign to push further, it is in the tension between the two worlds it introduces. The countryside imagery establishes a compelling sense of place, while the studio photographs explain the collection’s more fashion-driven side, but a stronger narrative connection between those environments could make the campaign feel even more distinctive. The idea of a man who moves between cultivating flowers and constructing a wardrobe is rich territory, and there is an opportunity to make that relationship even more integral to the storytelling rather than allowing the studio and landscape to function primarily as contrasting backdrops.
Still, “Wild Rose” succeeds because it understands that Britishness need not arrive with a Union Jack attached. Instead, Jimmy Choo finds it in soil, weather, craftsmanship, and a flower that survives precisely because it is not as fragile as it looks. The rose may be blooming, but this one clearly has thorns.
Creative Director | Sandra Choi
Model | Alfie Nickerson