Saint Laurent Spring 2023 Ad Campaign Review

Review of Saint Laurent Spring 2023 Ad Campaign by Creative Director Anthony Vaccarello and Photographer & Director Juergen Teller with models Awar Odhiang, Camille Chifflot, Chaima Ameziane, Freja Beha Erichsen, and Marilou Hanriot.

Saint Laurent explores a gorgeous intersection of natural ambience and manmade elegance with its new Spring 2023 campaign by photographer and director Juergen Teller.

While it does fit nicely within the visual language that Teller has been developing across his recent collaborations with brand creative director Anthony Vacarello, the imagery feels atypically intimate and elegant for the photographer, who tends to opt for a somewhat stark naturalism. While a feeling of openness and the organic is still present, the portraits and their play of color and texture feel intentional and nuanced. Captured at an undisclosed location that appears to be a historic estate in the French countryside, where winter is just starting to give way to the new life of spring, his photographs find an evocative dialogue between the collection’s rakish elegance and the frank beauty of weathered stone, bare trees, or a slow-moving river.

The short film sets these portraits delicately in motion while treating us to more intimate looks at the beauty, both natural and man-made, of this location. The film’s soundtrack features music by legendary musician and composer Ryuchi Sakamoto, who sadly passed away in the final week of March, just days after the campaign was released. While his career encompassed a dazzling breadth of different musical styles, much of his minimal and ambient work was influenced by a desire to capture the sounds we don’t hear in nature, or rather those we do hear but to which we don’t listen. Delicate and moving, the music fills up the imagery with meaning, creating a mood that is organic, serene, and transcendent.

The partnership between Anthony Vacarello and Juergen Teller continues to be one of the most consistent and strong creative partnerships in fashion communication. Intimate, elegant, and organic, this latest chapter is an especially powerful example of their shared vision.