Review of Gucci Valentine’s Day 2025 Ad Campaign by Creative Director Sabato De Sarno, Art Director Riccardo Zanola, and Director and Photographer Tina Barney with talent Mariacarla Boscono, Claudio Stecchi, Kristen Coffey, Sharon Osterbind, Duyen Nguyen, Marc Nguyen, Hong Lin, Senyao Chen, George Barnett, Pixie Geldof, Rae Boxer, Etienne Deroeux, Lula Deroeux Boxer, Carlos Nazario, Joe Morris, Liya Kebede, Philippe Rousselet, Raee Kebede, Kayla Rousselet, Christian Pedrini, Suhul Kebede, Elijah Rousselet, and Miles Rousselet
Gucci celebrates the many faces of love with its new Valentine’s Day 2025 campaign. The campaign was created in collaboration with photographer and director Tina Barney.
The cast features creative individuals with connections to the world of fashion – including the likes of superstar model Mariacarla Boscono and stylist Carlos Nazario – alongside their real-life partners and families, bringing a unique sense of authentic romance. “With this campaign, we wanted to tell and celebrate love in all its nuances,” explained creative director Sabato De Sarno. “The cast includes families of all kinds, couples in love, friends bound by deep affection. It was amazing to work with Tina Barney, an artist who has been documenting love and relationships for decades. Her gaze and lens are able to combine beauty and truth, giving us a fragment of life that speaks to us all.”
The portraits are lensed among ornate interior home settings, detailed backdrops that speak to the warmth of shared life and love there. Barney’s shots feel like casually posed home photos, reflecting the romantic desire to capture a moment in memory.
The accompanying films put these moments in motion while layering over voice tracks drawn from conversations between the families and couples. This is an approach the brand has used before, but in this intimate context it takes on a new sense of meaning as a celebration of the language of love.
With its recent Holiday and Spring 2025 campaigns, Gucci marked a shift away from the straightforward visual and conceptual minimalism that had characterized the campaigns of the Sabato De Sarno era to introduce a greater sense of narrative and visual depth. It felt like a step in the right direction, and this latest campaign continues that progress. De Sarno’s design vision is much more concerned with how luxury is worn in real life, but an element of frivolity and fantasy is a core aspect of the house of Gucci. While the casting means this campaign still feels very grounded in reality, Barney’s ability to draw an artfulness out of documentary-style photography elevates it to something more, taking the brand closer to the perfect balance.
Gucci Creative Director | Sabato De Sarno
Art Director | Riccardo Zanola
Director & Photographer | Tina Barney
Talent | Mariacarla Boscono, Claudio Stecchi, Kristen Coffey, Sharon Osterbind, Duyen Nguyen, Marc Nguyen, Hong Lin, Senyao Chen, George Barnett, Pixie Geldof, Rae Boxer, Etienne Deroeux, Lula Deroeux Boxer, Carlos Nazario, Joe Morris, Liya Kebede, Philippe Rousselet, Raee Kebede, Kayla Rousselet, Christian Pedrini, Suhul Kebede, Elijah Rousselet, and Miles Rousselet
Stylist | Francesca Burns
Hair | Jawara
Makeup | Diane Kendal
Casting Director | Piergiorgio Del Moro