Xavier Garcia is a unique, authentic Barcelona-based brand with personality. Ready to enter new fields, last year we developed a new identity for the eyewear designer, using photography and developing a clear art direction to add another layer to the brand language. This year, our ambition is to amplify the scope of their communications and bring Xavier Garcia even closer to the world of fashion. To do so we took their latest collection and created a sophisticated fashion editorial, complete with a newspaper-style campaign lookbook.
Being strategic, is sometimes just bringing a brand from one mood to another. It doesn’t mean over-thinking or getting too complicated, but making simple, aesthetic decisions that create interest for people beyond the limits of a brand.
Rafa Martínez, COO & Head of Brand Strategy
The new collection is an exercise in synthesis and simplicity, beyond contemporary trends, Xavier Garcia offers a new take on a set of archetypal models. With a focus on timeless elegance, precision, and refined craftsmanship, the new products are fresh yet reminiscent of the classic. The key to this change is subtraction. With the brand’s identity in a state of transformation, the art direction had to follow the same model.
Xavier Garcia is characterised by a classic style born from a powerful design heritage. We wanted the editorial to reflect the sophistication of the brand, by creating a powerful mood with limited elements.
Josep Puy, Art Director & Senior Designer
The idea behind this fashion editorial was to give sense to the images, to build a story and a context around them and, in turn, to bring the products to life. The office theme provided us with a recognisable space, characterised by minimalist features, clean lines and uniformity. From this space we created an abstraction, selecting key elements, such as a single chair or stool designed by VITRA, as props for the set. This kept the environment clean and simple, while we generated a story around the models.
The models were asked to act, connecting with each other and playing with the idea of movement within an otherwise still and sterile space. The models interact with the inanimate objects, creating a performative spark, a sense of dynamism within the workplace.
In keeping with the idea of subtraction, the colour palette for this collection is dramatically different from the bold, block colours of the previous photoshoot. We opted for plenty of white, mixed with warm, muted tones in blue, tan, beige and cream. The result is that the viewer focuses on the products themselves, which, being more clean and stark, needed to stand out within each frame.
Among other things, the copy offers a homage to designer Bruno Munari who, famous for his sense of irony, launched in 1944 on the pages of Domus a clear provocation directed at the design world. The title ‘one comes home tired from having worked all day and finds an uncomfortable chair’ is abnormally long-winded and, as such, allowed Munari to create a story from his otherwise minimal content – a series of images of a man and an armchair.
The narrative and content we have created is focused on the daily life of an office. We relate design objects -furniture in this case- with another design element: Glasses. And Xavier Garcia is above all about design.
Nuria Antolí, Head of Communication, Marketing and PR int at Xavier Garcia
Previously, there was a disconnect between the product shots and the models. Our ambition with this new editorial was to build a connection between the two. The same atrezzos -or props- appear in both the still life and fashion shoots, insinuating a link between the two series while the black and white images next to the use of colour continues to differentiate.
The result is a unique lookbook in a daring newspaper format, communicating the brand’s transformation through subtraction in a clean, bold, authentic manner. The layout consists of full page images, pairing still life with editorial shots and emphasising a balance between telling the new story and showcasing the latest line of products in the best possible way, aligning everything with the governing principles of clarity and simplicity. The result is a perfect harmony between the new collection and the campaign.