Evening guys. Tonight I'm talking about the latest film I created for luxury boot & denim brand - Alessandro Vasini which also happens to be my favourite designer in the ENTIRE game. I loved creating this campaign as its all I'm passionate about. Everything from the era, to the clothing as well as that classic British rock n' roll vibe I decided to give this seventies style campaign! It was also special getting to shoot the holiday campaign alongside my girlfriend Louisa in matching British classic cars, what an absolute blast!
Alessandro and myself chatted over the phone at the end of November where he asked me if I wanted to create a 70's inspired campaign for the holiday season. You guessed it, I couldn't say yes fast enough! There's a funny story behind the phone calls timing actually but it's way too long to tell on here, I guess that's a story just for YouTube. You guys can watch that one below, it's worth it! Anyway, let's get back to my thought process or even where to start when it comes to trying to film as well as star in the same campaign.
Alessandro's new line is called 'Alessandro Vasini 1978' as well as manufacturing the boots to end all boots, the main man has also come up with a new range of luxury denim and handcrafted accessories to accompany his killer range of footwear, creating the full outfit look - oh hello! The year 1978 is actually a year close to me as that's when my car was made. I knew straight away that whatever the idea I had for the campaign the car HAD to feature, I mean how could it not include him, so there and then I had a starting point!
I had two ideas I wanted to pitch Alessandro, one centred around an old, retro dry cleaners, where I was imagining posing in front of all the older bigger industrial washing machines, wearing the new denim collection. I thought both the dry cleaners and the new denim went hand in hand. The other idea's were a lot more Gucci inspired including a seventies style Fish & Chip shop that I knew of back in my hometown. It pretty much hasn't changed since it opened! This was along with the third possibility of shooting part of the campaign in an old vintage arcade, which again, ticked all the 70's boxes and was just along the road from the fish & chip shop. As you can see and have probably guessed by now, Alessandro chose the latter and the planning of the shoot began.
I decided on a plan of action and headed to the possible locations I wanted to feature on the shoot, to scout them out and gain a little more inspiration. Secondly, using that good ol' charm & charisma of mine I secured filming in said locations - yes I managed it and everything was set! Getting back to the car or should I say cars. I felt like just the one wasn't enough, I wanted two - step up my pal Olly who has recently bought his very own classic MG and kindly lent his car for the shoot. Now we're talking, things were really starting to come together!
One of the best idea's I had was to mock up & photoshop my very own headline on a newspaper. I purchased a paper online from the actual year of 1978 and printed my own front page, including Alessandro's previous fall images as well as writing up my very own column for the new holiday campaign. I can tell you now, this looked epic on the shoot and is now framed and on my wall, the perfect memento of the day.
Alessandro's clothing looked amazing and I expected nothing less! The denim really is truly amazing, along with his accessories including the belts and not forgetting the sexy hat. It all came together to make the coolest outfits around, just as the lyric in The Sonic Bones's track used on both the videos, you really do "STAND OUT FROM THE CROWD". Not only do Alessandro's clothes look killer on, they are made of the best materials around, including the likes of Italian calf leather, rich luxurious denim as well as rabbit felt & satin. All oozing that 70's style and feel!
I feel like the fish & chip shop especially worked in the campaign, it was my favourite place to shoot. The setting looked as though myself & Louisa had both travelled back in time! The two locations had such a vintage feel to them. I mean the owner of the Amusement Arcade mentioned to me he had Gucci themselves shooting a few months previous for their children's campaign with the backdrop of the old slot machines and games - how bloody cool is that!
I love the campaign I came up with as well as seeing my hometown and my images getting shared from Miami to thousands of people all over the world. It was a total pleasure working with Alessandro and getting to wear and style such amazing garments. I feel truly lucky for the experience! I'd also like to shout out my Dad for being an all round legend! I'd love to hear your comments on both the films I directed, shot, modelled and edited myself (yeah, I'm an all rounder) as well as your favourite styles from Alessandro's new range. Make sure you check out his website here - Alessandro Vasini.
As always cheers for reading, check out my latest YouTube where I chat about the campaign and show you all a closer look at the denim and accessories and of course the Alessandro's famous boots!
