R.M.Williams 'The Role of a Lifetime' 2025 Ad Campaign

Review of R.M.Williams ‘The Role of a Lifetime’ 2025 Ad Campaign by Creative Director Nic Briand of Agency Skye Campbell with Photographer Simon Lekias with models Bryan Brown

There’s a kind of masculinity that doesn’t shout. It doesn’t swagger or try too hard. It simply shows up—day in, day out—with sleeves rolled up, boots dusted from use, and a quiet pride in doing what needs to be done. That’s the masculinity R.M.Williams taps into with its new campaign, The Role of a Lifetime, fronted by one of Australia’s most revered actors and storytellers, Bryan Brown.

Brown is no stranger to playing memorable roles, but here he plays himself: a father, a grandfather, and a man shaped by the land he lives on and the family he lives for. Set against the sweeping hills of his own rural property in northern New South Wales, the campaign is an ode to fatherhood—not as an archetype, but as a lived reality, complete with its imperfections, resilience, humour, and quiet triumphs.

What sets this campaign apart is its refusal to over-style or over-script. The strength lies in its simplicity. Brown is pictured in his element: striding through tall grass, tending to cattle, laughing with his grandchildren, sitting in well-worn denim under wide Australian skies. These are not posed portraits; they’re lived-in moments. There’s no effort to glamorize the grit. Instead, we’re given something far more compelling—truth, age, legacy.

In a beautifully candid short film accompanying the campaign, Brown sits in his car alongside his daughter, filmmaker Matilda Brown, and his young grandchildren. The conversation that unfolds is light and intimate, but also profound. When asked to describe fatherhood in three words, Brown doesn’t hesitate: “It’s bloody hard.” But the phrase isn’t delivered with complaint—it’s full of affection, of knowing. He goes on to speak of being raised by a single mother, who, in his words, “taught me how to be a bloke.” Her example, he says, shaped how he fathers his own children.

Brown doesn’t pontificate. He shares. And what he shares is gold: “When you’re a father, you stop thinking about yourself—it’s their life that’s far more important than your own.” And perhaps most charmingly: “The best part? When we’re all just bloody silly together, enjoying the fact we’re alive. Silly is really bloody important.” That last line isn’t just a quip—it’s a philosophy. One that values laughter over ego, connection over control.

The campaign finds poetry in the practical—something R.M.Williams has always excelled at. With clothing made for wear, not worship, the brand has built its legacy on enduring craftsmanship and outback authenticity. Brown, with his weathered charm and workshirt gravitas, couldn’t be a more fitting embodiment. He’s not here to pose. He’s here to pass something on.

There’s also something poignant in the campaign’s intergenerational spirit. The scenes between Brown and his daughter, and between Brown and his grandchildren, feel deeply intimate—less like an ad than a love letter to family. We see children on horseback, hands in the dirt, and the kind of tactile joy that only comes from being truly present. At a time when much of modern fashion still tries to sell aspiration through distance, this campaign moves in the opposite direction: toward closeness, toward roots, toward meaning.

And therein lies its power. It’s not just about boots, jackets, and jeans. It’s about the people who wear them—and the stories stitched into the seams. The men and women who get up early, who raise kids, who drive cattle, who grow old with their partners, who laugh at themselves, and who, like Brown, remain grateful not in spite of life’s hardships, but because of them.

“Be grateful,” he says, when asked what advice he’d give his children. “Be grateful sometimes for the struggles. They make you.” That’s not just fatherly advice—it’s a philosophy for living, and a message that gives the campaign its quiet, enduring strength.

Timed to coincide with Father’s Day in the Southern Hemisphere, The Role of a Lifetime is more than seasonal sentiment—it’s a timeless meditation on what really lasts. R.M.Williams reminds us that true style isn’t loud. It doesn’t fade. It just gets better with time.