“The Wanderer”
“The Wanderer”, Shot by photographer Willy Vanderperre, is the latest multimedia editorial campaign by Dior Homme. The project was specifically conceived by Dior Creative Director, Kris Van Assche, and is oriented to the “new connected generation that gets its fashion and trend information from online magazines and blogs.” The “alternative communication endeavor” consists of a series of nine photographs of the Fall Winter 2011-2012 collection shot with an editorial point of view, as well as a fashion film called the “The Wanderer”. The images present a rather mysterious and isolated suburban landscape juxtaposed with the streamline cut of the dramatically lit silhouettes from the fall collection. Slim tailoring and monochromatic tones are juxtaposed with flashes of red. The radically modern aesthetic of Dior Homme is unmistakable, with the photo and video series encapsulating the nonchalant elegance Kris Van Assche is known for.
Aside from giving a new insight into the collection, the project promotes Dior Homme in an alternative way to the plugged-in generation. Dior has blasted the images featuring model Victor Nylander to select online magazines and blogs, creating a buzz about the striking collection and edgy imagery as well as their ultra modern viral marketing approach. The project itself brings to light the fact that luxury brands such as Dior are opening up more and more these days to a new concept of marketing outside the traditional advertising approach of paying for pages in print publications. The buzz created from online marketing and viral campaigns can easily surpass that of print publications by way of the shear numbers that have the opportunity to view the imagery with the immediacy of the internet. It will be interesting to see how many other brands follow suit by blasting their own editorial productions geared primarily for online magazine and blog readers. It certainly could become the trend of the future, with exponential numbers tuning in to online publishing. We are looking forward to seeing the Dior Homme Spring/Summer 2012 viral campaign.
