Ami Spring 2023 Ad Campaign Review

Review of Ami Spring 2023 Ad Campaign by Creative Director Alexandre Mattiussi and Photographer Michael Bailey-Gates with models Kristen McMenamy, Dylan O’Brien

Ami returns to its roots with a new Spring 2023 campaign photographed by longtime collaborator Michael Bailey-Gates.

Shot in studio, the campaign draws a subtly evocative energy from its simple yet carefully curated backdrop: regular photographic equipment serves as props, delicately instilling the portraits with an ephemeral feeling of being in progress. This sensibility also emphasizes the artistic flair and personalities of the eclectic cast of models (led by actor Dylan O’Brien and legendary model Kristen McMenamy), who are captured in a series of striking individual portraits and group compositions in both color and black and white. The mood is solemn and reflective, but not somber: the atmosphere of friendly closeness among the cast is perceptible.

Inspired by the typical casting process of fashion campaigns, the accompanying short films transform this familiar approach into a window for personal expression, connection, and discovery, furthering the photographs’ idea of photographic tools as a means for creative intimacy.

The ongoing partnership between Bailey-Gates and Ami has resulted in an impressive balance of simplicity and recognizability. Many conceptually similar in-studio intimacy campaigns have the feeling that they could belong to any brand, but the work of these two collaborators has the distinction of feeling uniquely Ami. It’s the kind of creative partnership that every brand should aspire to.

While the campaign may see Ami strip things down to their most simple, it’s also one of the brand’s strongest campaigns yet.