Jacob Elordi Stars in Bottega Veneta’s New Dreamy Campaign
Bottega Veneta has released its new campaign titled “What Are Dreams,” featuring actor Jacob Elordi and captured by renowned photographer and filmmaker Duane Michals. The project explores the intersection between imagination and reality through a surreal and poetic lens.
A Vision of Surrealism
The campaign was shot in black and white at Michals’s New York home, reflecting his long-standing fascination with surrealism. Across twelve photographs and a short film, Elordi appears in ethereal settings—behind flowing curtains, before a convex mirror, or near a floating feather. Each visual element reinforces Michals’s signature artistic style.
A Poetic Connection
Elordi recites Michals’s 2001 poem “What Are Dreams,” which inspired the campaign’s title. Handwritten excerpts from the poem appear throughout, enhancing the melancholic and introspective atmosphere. The verses ponder the fragile line between memory and dream, suggesting that dreams are the “midnight movies of the mind.”
“I’m very much interested in the realm of the invisible. My problem is, ‘how do I make the invisible visible?’” said Duane Michals. “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.”
Magic and Mystery in Collaboration
Michals, celebrated for merging text with photography to express unseen emotions, called the project a joint exploration of magic and mystery between artist and actor. The collaboration reveals Elordi not only as a performer but as a participant in a symbolic dialogue about art, illusion, and perception.
Author’s Summary
The campaign “What Are Dreams” unites Jacob Elordi and Duane Michals in a poetic exploration of surreal imagery, turning invisible emotions into cinematic visions of imagination and reflection.