In 2001, Spike Jonze created a video for Fatboy Slim, Weapon of Choice, in which a sluggish Christopher Walken is overtaken by the sudden urge to dance. Someone in the Kenzo camp, perhaps its creative directors, Carol Lim or Humberto Leon, had a similar idea for Kenzo’s new perfume ad.
The ad, Dazed, that mirrors an earlier music video is, in fact, a standout in the perfume category. These (as well as fashion ads) are usually arcane inner world fantasies – many of which are unintentionally laughable.
But Jonze, Ryan Heffington (the choreographer behind Sia’s Chandelier video) and actress/dancer, Margaret Qualley, who stars in the ad, have done an exceptional job of recreating what goes on inside a woman’s mind in a way that everyone (man or woman) can understand.
The song, which was created especially for the campaign by DJs, Sam Spiegel & Ape Drums, is aptly named Mutant Brain. Its vocals are by Assassin. Spiegel (Jonze’s brother) is the founder of music production company, Squeak E. Clean, on whose music sits ads for Adidas, Under Armour, Honda and Toyota.
“For us, the Kenzo woman is relatable,” Lim noted in the launch statement.
“She’s inspirational yet understandable. She’s doing things, right? She’s got things happening in her life. She’s going to school or she’s dating. She’s an activist. She’s a doer. What we wanted to convey was that yes, she possesses this extra layer. We also want her to be someone you attain to be, like the best version of yourself.”
Short films are the way, of late, in which Lim and Leon have chosen to present Kenzo’s launches.
Last month, Kenzo released the trailer for upcoming film, The Realest Real, directed by Carrie Brownstein, to launch the Fall/Winter 16/17 collection.
American new Queer Film Cinema filmmaker, Gregg Adaki, wrote and directed Kenzo’s 6 minute Fall/Winter 2015 film, Here Now.
Snowbird, written and directed by Sean Baker, launched in March this year:
And way back in 2014, Kenzo launched its Spring/Summer collection with this:
Credits for Dazed:
Director & writer: Spike Jonze
Executive producers: Humberto Leon & Carol Lim
Producers: Natalie Farrey & Vincent Landay
Co-producer: Amanda Adelson
Production Company: MJZ
President: David Zander
Executive producer: Eriks Krumins
DoP: Hoyte van Hoytema
Production designer: KK Barrett
Editor: Eric Zumbrunnen
Choreographer: Ryan Heffington
Costume designer: Heidi Bivens
Song: Mutant Brain
Music artist: Assassin
Music: Sam Spiegel & Ape Drums
VFX: Digital Domain
