- Throughout its over 40-year history, Diesel’s boundary-pushing advertising has always sought to challenge the status quo by normalising taboos, highlighting social or environmental injustices, or commenting on the absurdities of society and/or politics.
- Their latest campaign "When Together" continues to do exactly that with its intimate film (and accompanying visuals) directed by documentary-maker Cheryl Dunn, that features ordinary couples.
- Much like the Diesel brand, Jacquemus founder and self-confessed "lover of love", Simon Porte Jacquemus, has also just dropped a new gently provocative photo series in celebration of love.
From 2020 into 2021 - and against all odds - Diesel continues to believe that the power of inclusion has outlasted the proclivities of exclusion.
Since their inception, brands such as Levi's and Diesel have given a voice to people of all genders, backgrounds, races and experiences, and this position spans across the globe.
READ MORE: Levi’s partners with Self Evident Truths to celebrate LGBTQIA+ voices with its 2020 Pride collection
So as we prepare to wrap up the 'month of love', we take a gander - like nosy, intrigued neighbours - at ordinary couples who bared their extraordinary love in the new Diesel and Jacquemus visual offerings.
As we navigate distance and the virtual humdrum of our pandemic lives, it seems new film and media projects are placing no limit on the amount of couples' personal moments we're being let in on as third spectators.
Earlier this month, we were an uncomfortable, yet necessary (I guess) part of Malcolm and Marie's long, meandering relationship journey told through toxic verbal exchanges.
And still in this month, fashion labels have zoomed in on the locked lips and limbs of real-life couples.
The new “When Together” Diesel campaign - launched just in time for Valentine's Day - emphasises the importance of human connection after being deprived of it.
READ MORE: Out of touch - How the pandemic has us missing ordinary activities that made us feel good
The concept, its talent, and accompanying visual assets encapsulate one overarching thought: Being together is what makes life worth living. “When Together” is the first campaign formulated under Diesel Creative Director Glenn Martens.
The still imagery and the corresponding film directed and photographed by documentary-maker Cheryl Dunn were shot on location in New York City, placing their selection of eight real-life couples in familiar settings and pointing the camera at their interactions and reflections on absence, desire and physical connection.
In the short film, we see these atypically attractive couples physically and emotionally reconnecting in bliss following periods of absence from each other’s lives.
Whether isolated from one another by walls, streets, borders, or seas, it is time apart that fueled longing, desire, and the subsequent ecstasy of being back together.
Captured through Diesel’s daring lens, we get depictions of intimacy that are real and raw; rather than invading their audience with overtly sexual gestures merely for salaciousness' sake.
Image supplied on behalf of Diesel
In this way, we are reminded that authentic intimacy is in careful touches, soft body language, visible, palpable desire, copping a playful feel, and even in long, mindless kisses that lead to nothing.
Essentially, the simplicity and ease of playful romance.
READ MORE: A global pandemic wasn’t enough to keep these 4 relationships down. Here’s how they did it
Diesel explains that at its core, the "When Together" campaign is about looking forward to a world in which true connection may occur once again, without fear and without angst.
The film aspect unifies these narratives, highlighting the common threads that became apparent during our collective time of isolation and the importance of human connections needed to repair the damage. Cheryl Dunn took great care and patience in her casting and visual approach, as she strived to capture humanity at its most authentic interchanges, including when it gets messy, or wet, or entropic.
Images supplied on behalf of Diesel
Diesel's Creative Director Glenn Martens, expresses; “Diesel, for me has always stood as a radical player with its blunt honesty and its sense of fun. Its unique voice has made it an undeniable icon in culture.
"I want to celebrate Diesel’s founding values and restart by building bridges through a message of hope, optimism and inclusiveness. We really are working for a better future.”
Images supplied on behalf of Diesel
Additional upcoming short films will highlight zoomed-in “first again” experiences - the first touch, the first conversation, and the first moment of closeness after what we’ve been through.
To continue the story in a digital context, archival capsules featuring memories from each couple will be shared on Diesel's social media channels.
L'Amour
If you follow the Jacquemus Instagram account - run by the French label's founder Simon Porte Jacquemus - you're no stranger to the nudity of love often posted on it.
This new L'Amour photo series shot by Tom Kneller is therefore simply an extension of the self-confessed lover of love's appreciation of romance.
Styled by Zoey Radford Scott, the images feature a diverse selection of "couples from around the world in intimate clinches".
For this spring/Summer 2021 L'Amour campaign, each couple is dressed (some partially so) in Jacquemus’ signature oversized, slouchy tailoring, crisp indigo denim, and branded cotton undies.
Admittedly, when I landed on the Jacquemus page earlier this week, I gazed at some of these images a little longer than one should.
Screenshot from slide posted on Instagram.
And for those of us who are singletons watching from our digital bleachers, we agree with Dazed's sentiment that this series - despite our solitude - "serves as a reminder of the power and beauty of L O V E."
However, I personally will not be downloading Tinder, Hinge and the likes anytime soon.
Additional source: Dazed Digital
Additional information and images supplied on behalf of Diesel
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