K-pop: ​A darkly comic advertising campaign from Kenzo

Paris – Following its previous irreverent, 1950s-style work with ToiletPaper magazine, Kenzo is continuing its savvy advertising with a campaign that perfectly exemplifies an Iconoclash aesthetic. 

Marrying the surreal with the darkly comic, the latest instalment of the campaign for the fashion label’s autumn/winter 2014 collection of menswear, womenswear, children's wear and accessories is a fashion film full of brash pop-culture references, slippery subjectivities and fulsome pastels. Promoting a collection inspired by David Lynch films, Kenzo’s tongue-in-cheek approach to high-fashion marketing is winning plaudits for its originality and fashion-forward ingenuity. 

'Where once in the image it was the protagonists dictating the mood, herein lies a world where the subjects are trying to find their way through unknown territory,' says a Kenzo statement. Not knowing who is who, where they are going or how they are going to get there is key to the episodes’ appeal. As Humberto Leon, a creative director at Kenzo, explains: 'It’s part of the process of trying to discern what’s really going on.' 

When it comes to selling a brand, the surreal has never looked so tantalising. For more on the brash appropriation of pop culture, read our Iconoclash design direction.