Ludovic de Saint Sernin Cleavage Bag Fall 2024 Ad Campaign

Review of Ludovic de Saint Sernin Cleavage Bag Fall 2024 Ad Campaign by Creative Directors Lucas Lefler and Nic Burdekin and Photographer Parker Woods with models Dalton Dubois and Joaquín Ruiz

Ludovic de Saint Sernin explores the tension of desire, restraint, and power with the gorgeous new campaign for his Cleavage bag. The campaign was led by creative directors Lucas Lefler and Nic Burdekin with photography by Parker Woods.

The designer’s Fall 2024 collection was largely inspired by the work of Robert Mapplethorpe. The campaign for the collection’s star accessory continues that point of reference, drawing on the iconic photographer’s visual style, themes of kink and queer sexuality, and home of New York (where the collection’s runway show was held).

Woods’ sensual and intimate portraits of models Dalton Dubois and Joaquín Ruiz see them occupy a Manhattan apartment with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the cityscape. Seeing these subjects in various states of dress and undress – sometimes they just wear boots, sometimes the designer’s signature lace-up leather briefs and a matching mask – the images are taut with a sense of beauty and yearning.

We’ve seen many collections and campaigns that are influenced by and pay homage to the work of a particular artist, but few are executed with such consistency and such a close sensitivity for the original source material as Ludovic de Saint Sernin’s tribute to Mapplethorpe. It’s clear that, like so many queer creatives, de Saint Sernin has a deep respect and admiration for the artist’s work, and the campaign does beautiful work to convey this inspiration and reflect how that vision continues to inform identity, desire, and liberation today.