Since the unveiling of the retro-inspired Toile Iconographe campaign in 2022, Steven Meisel has captured the vast majority of Valentino’s advertising campaigns, including that of Spring 2023, the Rockstud handbag campaign (starring Florence Pugh), Pre-Fall 2023 and more recently Fall 2023 with Kaia Gerber. Theo Wenner is on hand, however, to shoot the famed Italian fashion house’s Holiday 2023 campaign, which stars Rosie Huntington-Whitley, Gao Jie, Ilana Hansen and Naomi Apajok. Dressed in looks from Spring 2024 (and toting different variations of the VLogo Moon Hobo handbag), Pierpaolo Piccioli’s cast of beauties take us inside Valentino’s haute couture HQ located on Paris’ historic Place Vendôme throughout the chic and sophisticated campaign imagery which is perfect for the festive season ahead.
The end result, however, kept members of our forums a divided bunch. “It works well for a holiday campaign. Rosie is definitely an unexpected choice,” commented WAVES the moment the campaign struck.
“She is more a Bottega Veneta or Burberry by Daniel Lee kind of girl. I know she is a model but her aesthetic is so far from this that it does not look authentic. That being said, at least there’s an attempt to capture the lifestyle aspect of the brand,” Lola701 chimed in.
Aracic said: “I like the direction, but I don’t really like the execution which appears rather pedestrian to me. Could’ve been better. Should’ve been better.”
“You’ll never hear me complaining about the sight of Rosie Huntington-Whitley, and despite not feeling like a true Valentino girl, I am ALL for the surprise element of Rosie scoring the campaign with this! Rosie’s campaign image feels fresh and there’s a sense of polished glamour which I am 100% behind too,” vogue28 added to the conversation.
Are you a fan of Valentino’s Holiday 2023 campaign? Share your thoughts over on theFashionSpot forums, here.
