Heaven by Marc Jacobs Spring 2023 Ad Campaign Review

Review of Heaven by Marc Jacobs Spring 2023 Ad Campaign by Creative Director Ava Nirui and Marc Jacobs with Photographer Harley Weir with Talents Ice Spice, Michele Lamy, Liv Tyler, Lil Uzi Vert, Yves Tumor, Ethel Cain, and M3gan

Everytime we think Heaven by Marc Jacobs can’t get any more zoomer-friendly, it proves us wrong. Fronted by hip-hop’s reigning princess, Ice Spice, the brand’s latest campaign for Spring 2023 is another star-studded outing dripping with Y2K nostalgia and contemporary edge, captured in all its grungy glory by photographer Harley Weir.

In addition to Ms. Spice, the cast features longtime fashion icons Michele Lamy and Liv Tyler, as well as zoomer-favorite artists Lil Uzi Vert, Yves Tumor, and Ethel Cain. Also appearing is M3gan, the titular murderous robotic doll of the recent horror-comedy cult film sensation.

Taking its cue from the chaps featured prominently in the collection, Weir’s photographic narrative takes us on a journey through a grungified reimagining of wild-west Americana. Ice Spice sneaks through barbed wire on her way to do some cattle rustling. Liv Tyler hides from the law in a dusty motel. Ethel Cain rides a mechanical bull. Other images take the shape of more straightforward studio portraits, letting us bask in the personality of these idiosyncratic icons as they pose in destroyed knitwear, Deftones hoodies, and vaguely satanic symbolism.

While Heaven by Marc Jacobs may be sticking entirely to the formula – in terms of its design aesthetic that we’ve seen endless times before and 25 years ago, its campaign aesthetic, and its expectedly unexpected casting – when that formula made it so popular with young consumers, we can’t blame them.