Jacob Elordi Stars in Bottega Veneta’s New Dreamy Campaign
Bottega Veneta has launched “What Are Dreams,” a new campaign featuring Jacob Elordi, created by renowned photographer and filmmaker Duane Michals. The black-and-white shoot took place at Michals’s home in New York and merges reality with imagination, inspired by the artist’s lifelong interest in surrealism.
Campaign Visuals and Themes
Through twelve images and a short film, Elordi appears in mysterious, dreamlike settings—like behind a flowing curtain, next to a convex mirror, or near a single hanging feather. These elements reflect Michals’s distinctive visual style.
“I’m very much interested in the realm of the invisible. My problem is, ‘how do I make the invisible visible?’ Of course movie making is also a dream, and Frankenstein is a scary dream. Jacob understood exactly what I was trying to do with the project. He was right there for the magic and the mystery of it.” — Duane Michals
Poetic Inspiration
The campaign’s title and tone stem from Michals’s 2001 poem “What Are Dreams,” which Elordi recites. The poem reflects on the “midnight movies of the mind… where things look familiar, but not at all the same.” Handwritten lines from the poem enhance the intimate, reflective mood across the imagery.
Artistic Collaboration
Known for blending text and photography to reveal unseen and imagined worlds, Michals described this work as a mutual exploration of wonder and mystery.
“Magic and mystery.” — Duane Michals
The campaign offers a captivating view into the surreal and poetic through the partnership of Elordi and Michals, inviting viewers into a realm where the invisible is made visible.
Author's summary: This Bottega Veneta campaign blends surreal photography and poetry to explore invisible realms, highlighting Jacob Elordi's collaboration with artist Duane Michals.