Mary Katrantzou’s new campaign is an ode to vintage-style stamps
With photo shoots called off, the designer’s new collection is being brought to life in a beautiful campaign that reinforces the illustration renaissance in the fashion world
By now we’re all in much need of a holiday in the sun, yet for most it’s still a faraway fantasy. It therefore might not seem like the most convenient time to launch a holiday clothing collection, yet London-based fashion designer Mary Katrantzou has changed the narrative surrounding her new resort range Mary Mare to suit the current climate, with a new campaign that invites us to dream of far-flung destinations.
Tapping into the fact that holidaying abroad won’t be a reality for some time, the campaign flips the ‘wish you were here’ saying on its head with a new line in keeping with these times: #WishWeWereThere.
Of course, the limit on travel isn’t the only factor to have influenced the launch of the new campaign. With photo shoots grinding to a halt amid the pandemic, the in-house creative team instead turned to illustration to bring the range to life – an idea that perfectly plays into the collection’s key visual cues.
The illustrated campaign takes inspiration from vintage holiday stamps, with each creation devoted to various holiday hotspots along the Mediterranean. It’s a visual reference that served as an integral source of inspiration for the collection itself, where stamps figure prominently across the range.
The campaign borrows cues from early 20th century posters, inviting a sense of nostalgia that feels fitting right now, with many wistfully reflecting on our ‘old’ life of only a few months ago. Yet perhaps most interesting is the role of illustration in the campaign. The approach reinforces what appears to be a revival of the discipline within the fashion world and beyond, and comes off the back of Vogue Italia’s much admired sustainability illustrated issue at the beginning of the year.
