Martin Scorsese was already a fashion icon. Now, he’s reveling in that spotlight.
The auteur leads the latest campaign for streetwear brand Kith, which famously selects iconic stars such as Willem Dafoe and Steve Buscemi to lead their ads. Think SKIMS level marketing genius, but even Kim Kardashian can’t top anything with Scorsese starring.
The “Killers of the Flower Moon” director appears in the debut ad for Kith for Giorgio Armani, marking the first-ever collaboration in Giorgio Armani’s history.
“Through his revolutionary and era-defining work in cinema, Mr. Scorsese is an artistic icon,” the official release reads. “He is also a longtime friend of Mr. Armani, which led him to direct ‘Made in Milan’ — a documentary about the designer’s life and the growth of the brand. His steadfast representation of his hometown, New York, is a value shared and respected by fellow native, Ronnie Fieg. For these reasons and more, Giorgio Armani and Kith were honored to work with him to debut this collection.”
Additional campaign installments will star LaKeith Stanfield as “the entertainer” and Pierce Brosnan as “the traveler.” Scorsese simply appears as “the artist” in the below video.
Kith founder Ronnie Fieg told GQ that Scorsese was the perfect casting choice for the campaign given his decades-spanning relationship with Armani.
“When you see the legendary photo of Mr. Armani on the set of ‘Casino’ fixing Robert de Niro’s suit, it’s like: Who can represent this story better than Scorsese?” Fieg said.
Scorsese recently directed the Bleu de Chanel men’s fragrance campaign for Chanel, which he described as his “most difficult” project yet. Timothée Chalamet and Havana Liu Rose starred in the short film that centered on the actor’s conflict with the cult of celebrity.
Scorsese called helming a commercial an “intense” process, and explained why making a one-minute ad is even more challenging as a director.
“To think in terms of telling a story in 60 seconds, it doesn’t matter how long you’ve been making pictures and how long you’ve been trying to tell stories, this is a real workout,” Scorsese said in a behind-the-scenes look at the advertisement. “It is probably the most difficult thing to do.”
Check out the Kith for Giorgio Armani ad below.
