THREE FOR THE ROAD: For the second consecutive season, J. Mendel will be running with the same creative trio for its spring ad campaign. Lensman Daniel Jackson was once again calling the shots when Dutch model Bette Franke struck all sorts of poses. Stylist Alistair McKimm helped show off Gilles Mendel’s design repertoire by including the citron crocodile Kylie bag in one image and a petal pink astraham coat in another.
Jackson also zeroed in on J. Mendel’s ready-to-wear in the new ads — handpleated dresses and a sleek trouser suit sculpted in a tiger lily printed mikado to be more precise. Mendel, creative director of the fifth-generation luxury brand, said Jackson “brings a wonderful clarity to even my most decorative clothes.”
And the campaign’s focal point was not solely for artistic purposes. Whiel handbags are a new category for J. Mendel, ready-to-wear has been an increasingly popular one for several seasons
President and chief operating officer Susan Sokol noted the brand is back on the advertising scene with back-to-back seasons after a five-year hiatus. More importantly, ready-to-wear now accounts for 60 percent of J. Mendel’s total wholesale business, said Sokol who has been spearheading that growth.
Franke, who appears in the new Miu Miu campaign, has also been keeping busy, as has Jackson, who pictured Joan Smalls for Prabal Gurung’s new digital spring campaign.
