Review of Paul Andrew Spring 2025 Ad Campaign by Creative Director Paul Andrew and Artists Erica Ohmi, Jorden Steward, Sienna Murdoch, Natasha Stagg, Sungi Mlengeya, Jet Swan, Frederic Sanchez, Jasa Muller, Jack Lovatt, @_unfollowing, Rei Nadal, Luna Conte
A collaborative and innovative approach to campaigns is at the heart of what makes Paul Andrew’s brand special, and that practice only continues to grow. But the new Season 6 campaign is by far the most ambitious and multifaceted yet: the designer invited 12 artists to share their own interpretation of the brand’s world of shoe design, resulting in a dazzlingly eclectic portfolio of creative visions that are united in their subject but often vastly different in their style. It’s also one of the most forward-thinking campaigns we’ve seen when it comes to considering the evolution of fashion communication from print to digital and beyond.
Speaking to the genesis of this layered project, Paul Andrew shared, “This season I was keen to push boundaries of how one sees my shoes in campaign format. Many of my friends and people I admire on social media are working in varying forms of the arts. My collections often take inspiration from their work, which led me to think how rewarding and impactful it could be to engage these creatives to reinterpret my shoes through their varying art forms with total freedom. The final result is a gallery of images that bring me joy and are already inspiring me to create new work of my own.”
From painting that makes an impactful use of negative space and subversive twists on the tradition of the fashion editorial to more uncategorizable approaches, this gallery is joyfully expansive and individual. 3D illustrator Erica Ohmi draws a sense of tension and narrative from the shoes by situating them in surreally cartoonish domestic environments. Known for bespoke action figures of cultural icons, @_unfollowing created an action figure of model Alex Consani complete with a full wardrobe of Paul Andrew shoes. Sienna Murdcoh interpreted the forms of the collection through her unique medium of gelatin sculpture, capturing footprints for an uncanny meeting of the elegant and the organic. Writer Natasha Stagg responds to the collection and to the other artwork with a series of beginnings of stories that have not yet been written.
Not only does this celebration of artistic community and creative freedom make for a thoroughly engaging set of visuals (and music), but it also points to an important recognition of how fashion communication is evolving. Andrew reflects, “The demise of print magazines and the meteoric growth of social media has stirred me to consider why I am still creating campaigns in the same way as before. I want to engage and inspire my clients in new and moving ways. I am also keen to make noise and excite a wider audience in a flooded market online.”
The usual format of a campaign, with a single photographer and a small assortment of final images, somehow seemed stale and irrelevant for my brand and the community we are engaging and building in this moment. This new, collaborative, multi-faceted campaign concept feels really fresh for me and is something I am keen to continue building.”
The approach also smartly ties into the Paul Andrew’s timing when it comes to releasing collections, which, rather than sticking to the typical fashion calendar of fall and spring collections, marches to the beat of its own drum and releases each Season according to the brand’s design and production schedule. The collaborative campaign further extends that practice of doing of owning your narrative, and transforms the brand’s social media presence into a living breathing gallery by a community of artists. It has both the artisanality of a print campaign and the community feel and interactivity of a digital campaign, yet feels like something entirely unique.
Paul Andrew Creative Director | Paul Andrew,
Artists | Erica Ohmi, Jorden Steward, Sienna Murdoch, Natasha Stagg, Sungi Mlengeya, Jet Swan, Frederic Sanchez, Jasa Muller, Jack Lovatt, @_unfollowing, Rei Nadal, Luna Conte