Kris Van Assche is not a designer prone to flashy statements, so fittingly his first advertising campaign for the French house Berluti is starkly undone.
Having left Dior Homme earlier this year after 11 years, Van Assche is now the new artistic director at leather house Berluti, taking over from Haider Ackermann. No doubt keen to distance himself from that previous era, Van Assche has launched a new logo and a new vision as part of his re-imagining of the brand.
The logo has been designed by Parisian graphics team M/M Paris, who drew inspiration from a shoe tree used by the company's founder, Alessandro Berluti, in 1895, and is now plastered across the black-and-white photographs, shot by Jamie Hawkesworth, of bare-chested models each with a pair of Alessandro Oxford shoes hanging around their neck. Considered the classic of the house, each shoe is constructed from a single piece of Venezia leather, or alligator skin.
Interestingly, Van Assche is now in charge of shoes, leather goods, ready-to-wear and accessories, yet chose not to feature a single piece of clothing, bag or accessory – in fact nothing except a single pair of shoes – in each image.
In a statement, Van Assche explained: “For this first campaign, I wanted to create an image rooted in the maison’s origins and emboss it with my vision.”
Antoine Arnault, chief executive officer of Berluti, added: "This campaign was thought of and art-directed by Kris. I relate to it because it speaks of who we are while holding a promise of more to come."
Van Assche's first menswear for Berluti will be shown at Men's Fashion Week, Paris, in January.
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