In a first since the departure of the Italian fashion house’s Creative Director Alessandro Michele, Dakota Johnson now stars in Gucci’s newest campaign featuring the Jackie 1961 handbag.
A reimagining of their classic handbag named after no other than former First Lady Jackie Kennedy-Onassis, it was originally named the ‘Fifties Constance’ when it was conceived in 1961. Having carried around the Hobo-style tote from the ’70s to the ’80s to shield away from the paparazzi; countless times, she was captured with multiple versions of it that the house decided to refer to it as “The Jackie”.
In this iteration, the bag itself is presented in three different sizes – mini, small, and medium – with a focus on clean lines, distinctive piston closure, and the material’s quality, along with a set of modern ranges and styles that fit the bag’s versatility.
Glen Luchford’s candid campaign, with the art direction of Christopher Simmonds, pays homage to the silhouette’s illustrious history while highlighting its inherent adaptability and perpetual grace; the photographer echoes the past and present, bringing together a Y2K feature that surprisingly works within the bounds of timelessness. And, just like Kennedy Onassis during the day, it’s all captured paparazzi-style.
Through photos, Johnson – who has been the house’s brand ambassador for some time since Michele took over the reins in 2015 – is seen through voyeuristic nature in everyday places only the magic of LA can provide: through different varieties of the front-and-center it-bag, she picks out flowers in matte black, has a casual lunch in maroon, goes to yoga in crocodile cobalt, and visits The Viper Room in a dual-tone snakeskin design. The video itself, captured via camcorder fashion, plays with the same setting in grainy motion picture complete with an indie rock soundtrack to boot, totally playing the reminiscent time of the early 2000s; through the bag’s colorways, Johnson additionally trapezes around Hollywood in forest green, goes through a Starbucks drive-thru in white, and shops around Rodeo Drive in brown.
As told through the campaign, Johnson is the ultimate “west coast influencer” and is comfortable with it. In fact, it seems she wouldn’t have it any other way.
Created in 1961, made famous by a First Lady between the ’70s and ’80s, with a revival by Tom Ford in 1999, Frida Giannini in 2009, and Michele in 2019, the it-bag carries itself sans definition and eras simply because it is an undeniably classic staple.
The Jackie 1961 bag is available in select Gucci stores in the Philippines. Visit the Gucci website or visit their boutiques located in Greenbelt 3, or Shangri-la Plaza for more information.
