The work of British Arts and Craft ceramicist William De Morgan has been brought to life in a stunning combination of stop-motion animation and live-action to launch LOEWE's new range of ready-to-wear and accessories for men and women. The 60-second film, titled 'An Otter's Tale,' directed by Nina Gantz through Blinkink, opens with live-action - a model holding a Puzzle Floral small bag from the new LOEWE collection, crossing an ornately-decorated Moroccan room.
Suddenly, from a pool in the center of the tiled floor, an animated otter emerges and leaps through a hole in a nearby brightly colored tapestry - leading the viewer into an alternative, world. Behind the tapestry, a wading bird stands in a wooded grove beside a pond from which a second live-action model, wearing a frog suit, emerges to flick out his tongue to catch a passing animated dragonfly. The following scenes feature a collection of half-human, half-fantasy creatures and also an animated dodo at the point of its extinction.
Finally, the otter leads the action back to live-action reality by emerging from a De Morgan-style ceramic pot - on which it features, along with the dodo, as an illustration on the side - to be caught then worn as an Otter bag by a woman dressed by LOEWE.
Both the products in LOEWE's new capsule collection and the film created to promote them are inspired by De Morgan, who was renowned for his fantastic creatures and floral arabesques and is a particular favorite of Jonathan Anderson, Creative Director at the Spanish luxury fashion house. The unique production techniques allowed the models in the new LOEWE collection to interact with a fantastical setting where anything is possible.
"The Brief from LOEWE was to create a film that brings the world of William De Morgan to life," commented Nina Gantz, director at Blinkink. "It was an amazing world to dive into! We were also very happy to have a real puppet genius, Josie Corben, who worked on films such as Isle of Dogs and Frankenweenie, join us in this beautiful endeavour."
Throughout, the action is accompanied by a striking piece of choral music specially composed for the campaign by Terence Dunn and recorded with The Brighton festival chorus, consisting of 120 singers. The attention paid to the finest details of the production underlines the world-class craftsmanship that characterizes the LOEWE William de Morgan Capsule Collection, which includes a striking black leather jacket with a crimson dodo painted on its back and a peacock-print trench coat in indigo, cerulean and green among its array of luxury ready-to-wear items. A large team of around 60 people worked on the ad, not including the choir, while the variety of sets - including a forest, a valley, a flower bush and a skeleton cave - were made with fabric, cut and sewn painstakingly by hand.
