Byredo Kantha Blueprint Bag Fall 2024 Ad Campaign

Review of Byredo Kantha Blueprint Bag Fall 2024 Ad Campaign by Creative Director Ben Gorham with Photographer Luis Alberto Rodriguez and model Bibi Breslin

Byredo continues its push into the leather goods space with a dramatic campaign for its new Kantha Blueprint bag. The campaign was lensed by photographer Luis Alberto Rodriguez.

The imagery is anchored by model Bibi Breslin, whom Rodriguez captures in shadowy scenes of deconstructed domesticity. In a studio space that is bare except for a rustic table and chair, she is wrapped only in a leather poncho or apron as she peels potatoes and gazes melodramatically beyond the camera.

Why potatoes, you ask? Your guess is as good as ours. Perhaps the goal was to find an echo between this simple and timeless act and the bag’s handcrafted details, which are influenced by traditional Indian techniques. However, especially when coupled with the partial nudity and sense of psychodrama in Breslin’s acting, the symbolic and emotional intent of these disparate elements never quite come together.

Perhaps that’s okay, though; the campaign may be doing enough simply by creating a unique visual combination and inviting viewers to engage with its emotional impact – or lack thereof – on their own terms. Byredo is, after all, primarily a fragrance brand, and scent is one of the most personal and powerful triggers of memory. The enigmatic, fractured quality of the imagery may be an ode to the mysterious personal connections and sensuous signifiers that characterize the act of recollection.

Since Puig was handed control of the brand’s activities by CEO and founder Ben Gorham in February, we can expect that it will continue to make steady pushes into new product ranges. Though this campaign may not exactly clearly line up with the Byredo’s established identity or make its goals clear, it’s exciting to see the brand experiment with new visual narrative and find ways to embrace new ways of expression as it moves forward.