I meant to write about this a while ago when I first clocked this publicity shot of Angelina Jolie in Cambodia for the Louis Vuitton Core Values campaign. I mean, REALLY?!
OK, so apparently Ange donned her own clothes in the shot, taken by Annie Leibovit. And the LV bag is one of her favourite Alto totes that she’s owned for years. And she also donated a percentage of her fees for the shoot to charity. Blah blah blaaaah.
But, I don’t know. Something for me just doesn’t sit right with this campaign. It looks a bit too perfect; a bit too posed and a LOT too airbrushed. It also screams of self promotion.
In 2000, Angelina Jolie made her first trip to Cambodia… it was a journey that would change her life forever.
The Louis Vuitton Core Values campaign is meant to be about people recounting the journeys and places that changed their lives, and granted, Jolie certainly has an affinity with Cambodia – it’s where she filmed Tomb Raider and the place that inspired her to become a UN Goodwill Ambassador, adopt her son Maddox, build a hospital etc.
But for me, the messages of this LV campaign seem mixed. What is the actual point? To sell bags? To encourage travel? To show that not only is Angelina Jolie extremely good looking but she’s also a borderline saint (could she be more perfect and could we be more jels)?
Ultimately it just makes me think of the Derek Zoolander Center For Children Who Can’t Read Good And Wanna Learn To Do Other Stuff Good Too – very good looking people doing very, very good things.
When, if anything shouldn’t it be more of a Princess Di moment a la her infamous South African trip in 1997? Lose the polish, lose the airbrushed background and lose the focus on the celebrity – make it about the mattter in hand and raise awareness by getting in amongst it:
I don’t know. Maybe I’m being too harsh? Perhaps any attention on such poverty stricken places is a good thing? Make up your mind by watching the video below and then let me know your thoughts. I’d be really interested to hear your point of view, as maybe I’ve just written this in a bad, PMT-esque mood? And for the record, my own story would go more along the lines of:
In 1997, Natalie Wall made her first trip to Kebab Land, Harrow… it was a journey that would change her life forever.
Comments
Louise
I thought the same, but when I saw Vivienne Westwood’s campaign in LOVE magazine. Something seemed a bit mean about standing in the middle of a poverty stricken country dripping in jewellery and embellished clothes.
(But I love Viv, so she can totally get away with it.)
Natalie
Yeah, it just strikes me as a bit odd – to be harping on about the poverty and that but simultaneously hauling around a designer bag and posing like a badass. It’s a bit like: hel-loooooo?!! x