When Madonna appeared in a head-to-toe runway look from Louis Vuitton at an event meant to celebrate Gucci’s Tattoo Heart Collection it was clear that something was brewing. That something was Louis Vuitton’s next ad campaign staring Madonna. The icon is reportedly being paid $10 million (though Louis Vuitton’s director of communications Antoine Arnault denies this). As the story goes in WWD Louis Vuitton creative director Marc Jacobs was in a meeting about the luxury house’s upcoming ad campaign when he, after seeing her in concert, says “I think we should do Madonna.” Jacobs then sent a message to Madonna via his BlackBerry and within about five minutes came Madonna’s answer which read “I’d love to.”
Jacobs tells WWD “as cliché as they are, I love all these French references. I still feel it looks like beautiful, gorgeous Madonna. Excepting the references and accepting the clichés, this still feels very today. And it didn’t feel so much like a fashion shoot, it feels like portraits.”
Adding that “she’s so sure of herself as an icon and as a woman. It was her idea to do the fishnets. What fascinates me the most about her is her never-ending energy, and the idea of becoming and changing. She’s an artist who’s unafraid to use her voice.”
