Giorgio Armani Fall 2021 Ad Campaign

Review of Giorgio Armani Fall 2021 Ad Campaign by Photographer Leslie Zhang with models Liu Wen and Zhao Lei

Giorgio Armani wears his inspirations on his well-tailored sleeve with a new campaign for Fall 2021. Thoughtfully developing the collection’s influence from Chinese culture and fashion, the campaign was created by photographer Leslie Zhang.

In an exciting moment of exploration for the designer, Armani’s Fall 2021 collection is heavily influenced by Chinese fashion, both contemporary and traditional. Armani’s eye for sharp tailoring meets distinctly Chinese elements like standing collars, widely tapered sleeves, and silk dresses. Silks are illuminated with prints drawn from traditional Chinese design, like flowers and clouds.

This motif is developed throughout the campaign imagery. Zhang captures models Liu Wen and Zhao Lei among an elegantly crafted studio space that abstracts from elements of Chinese art and architecture.

The film makes excellent use of the space’s smart lighting design, which can shift rapidly between various colors of light, from deep red and gold to silvery blue, or flood the space with shadow. Set to a frenetic drumming soundtrack, the models’ motions through this space create a dramatic sense of elegance and intrigue.

The campaign feels like an important example of how to celebrate cultural exchange without cultural appropriation. While Armani tends to stick close to his heritage and history of Italian tailoring, only subtly mixing in outside influence, this collection is much more visibly influenced and indebted to a specific cultural style of design and dressing.

The decision to rely on an all-Chinese creative team – not just for the faces of the campaign, but for the photography and art as well – is a good way to emphasize the designer’s respect for the culture’s creativity and the people who drive it today, and not just its surface-level aesthetics. And with gorgeous lighting, an excellent consideration of structure and space, and a deeply stylish sense of mood, the results that this team produced speak for themselves.