Review of Blumarine x Marc Jacobs ‘Capsule Collection’ 2023 Ad Campaign by Creative Directors Ava Nirui & Nicola Brognano, with Photographer Petra Collins
It’s a match made in McBling heaven: Blumarine and Heaven by Marc Jacobs have collaborated. The resulting nostalgia-heavy capsule is celebrated in a campaign by photographer Petra Collins.
Blumarine and Heaven by Marc Jacobs are the two biggest names at the center of the early-2000s McBling (while it often gets labeled Y2K, it’s actually a somewhat related but distinct aesthetic) revival we, for better or worse, still seem to be experiencing. The collaborative capsule is pretty much exactly what you would expect, with plenty of rhinestone-encrusted denim, baby tees, low-slung waistlines, and pink camo prints.
The campaign imagery appropriately draws inspiration from the era’s defining high-school dramedy films and TV shows, especially Mean Girls. Taking over a high school hallway and gymnasium, the starring group of four young women stare accusingly at the camera as if to say: “you can’t sit with us.”
For many of us, one round of the totally gauche and garish early-to-mid-2000s aesthetic, with all of its celebration of consumer culture and shallow hedonism, was enough. But it’s also true that the McBling revival has a huge cult following, largely among young people on social media, and both Blumarine and Heaven by Marc Jacobs have thoroughly harnessed this movement. Love it or hate it, there’s no denying that here the two brands have succeeded in reaching peak McBling.
Heaven by Marc Jacobs Creative Director | Ava Nirui
Blumarine Creative Director | Nicola Brognano
Photographer | Petra Collins
Stylist | Lotta Volkova