a day ago
- Entertainment
- South China Morning Post
Style Edit: The Gucci Portrait Series celebrates individual identity
It's not often that luxury brand advertising makes you stop and think about subjects beyond the beautiful clothes and accessories, which is why Gucci's newly released autumn/winter 2025 campaign is a breath of fresh air.
This season, the Italian luxury house has given us more food – and fashion – for thought with The Gucci Portrait Series, a campaign that celebrates individual expression and identity through a stylish Gucci lens.
Photographer Catherine Opie shot The Gucci Portrait Series. Photo: Handout
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To bring this concept to life, the house turned to prominent American photographer Catherine Opie, whose work frequently explores identity – particularly LGBTQ identity – and various subcultures. Her photographs often blend documentary and conceptual approaches to create images that are not just visually striking, but also invite the viewer to delve more deeply into the subject.
Each shot is intended to go beyond the beauty of the clothes to say something about the models themselves. Photo: Handout
The Gucci Portrait Series features 42 individuals from diverse generations and backgrounds, with Opie looking to have each person's identity take the lead, revealing an authentic relationship between person and garment. The campaign unfolds against the backdrop of Gucci's enduring spirit of sprezzatura, the perfectly imperfect Italian style that has defined the house's aesthetic across generations.
The idea is to probe the relationship between the wearer and the worn. Photo: Handout
Each image captures details in how a garment is worn that reveal the subtle language of identity – from the way a jacket folds, a bag is held or a scarf hangs against the body. Clothing becomes a frame within which individuality emerges, the sitter's identity revealed through posture, ease and attitude.
Gucci's autumn/winter 2025 show at Milan Fashion Week. Photo: Handout
Accompanying the campaign is a series of candid videos directed by London-based filmmaker Lisa Rovner, in which cast members are invited to respond to open-ended questions. These moments of humour, reflection and memory are unguarded glimpses at their inner selves.
The Gucci Portrait Series is a collective study of identity that invites us to look not just at the garments, but at the expressions they frame and the people who wear them.
