Valentino gives keys to the animal kingdom through enlivened motif

Valentino Fantastic Animals collection

Italian fashion label Valentino is taking consumers into the wild world of a fantastical animal kingdom through a whimsical film.

For its spring/summer 2016 collection, the brand reinterpreted its “Fantastic Animals” print, which features both real and imaginary creatures, letting unicorns and dragons frolic with lions and monkeys. To introduce the collection on its ecommerce site, the brand created a short video that brings the textiles to life, giving consumers a more immersive and entertaining shopping experience.

Fantastic beasts
First designed for spring/summer 2015, the Fantastic Animals print has been reimagined for this year’s collection.

Valentino introduced its Fantastic Animals apparel and accessories via an email to subscribers. Inside the body, an animation plays constantly, capturing a some of the creatures perched around a gigantic tree.

Email from Valentino

Text tells the reader to “find [her] fantastic animal spirit.”

When the consumer clicks through to “explore the collection,” she is taken to a dedicated page of the brand’s ecommerce site where she can pre-order merchandise ranging from jackets embroidered with animals of the earth, air and sea to more entry-level items such as cosmetic cases.

This also serves as an introduction of some of the pieces not yet available via pre-order, which have been shared on social media or on the brand’s Web site.

Look from Valentino’s Fantastic Animals

At the top of the ecommerce page is the option to view a video. The illustrated one-minute film is set in an indeterminate outdoor location, with a tree in the foreground and a mountain range in the distance.

The camera pans up the tree as various beasts encircle it, showing the coexistence of the animals. At the beginning, a lion is seated on the ground, his roar turned to a man’s musical call.

From there, fish-like dragons snake around the tree as a bird wearing a head-to-toe Valentino look peeks out of a hole in the wood. Other animals interact with the collection, as a monkey parachutes using a scarf and an octopus grasps a clutch with one of its tentacles.

Passing the clouds, an elephant-human hybrid models a dress while a unicorn kicks up its hooves covered in Valentino sneakers.

Valentino Fantastic Animals

Personified products
Valentino frequently leverages film’s capacity to engage and entertain to introduce new collections.

The label took consumers to outer space to immerse them in its new collection featuring star, constellation and planetary prints.

Valentino’s short film delved into the cosmic inspiration of Valentino creative directors Pierpaolo Piccioli and Maria Grazia Chiuri for fall 2015. For Valentino, this video both informs and inspires, placing the product in a surreal setting elevated it beyond just handbag or scarf (see story).

Also, Valentino wove a mystical backstory for items from its pre-fall 2015 collection with an enchanted storybook-inspired video.

The brand’s film highlighted the “magical combination” behind its Camugarden array of apparel and accessories developed alongside textile artist Celia Birtwell, who created floral prints that garnished the items from the line. Creating a fantastical video around this collection enabled Valentino to mirror the charmed origins of the pieces (see story).

As luxury purchasing moves online, it is important for brands to incorporate elements of theatricality in their ecommerce sites to give consumers the experience they are used to.

Final Take
Sarah Jones, staff reporter on Luxury Daily, New York

from Luxury Daily » Apparel and accessories http://www.luxurydaily.com/valentino-gives-keys-to-the-animal-kingdom-through-enlivened-motif/
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