Rina Sawayama

Rina Sawayama

Creative direction — Zalando — Directed by Carlijn Jacobs

Sleek enough to stop you. Strange enough to stay with you. The launch of the Designer Experience.

The woman who wears designer isn't one person. She holds the dark and the light, the mysterious and the open, the sensual and the sacred. That was the premise, and Rina Sawayama was built to carry it: Japanese-British, a life moved between Asia and Europe, between music and fashion, she could hold that plurality. We built two worlds with Carlijn Jacobs, co-conceptor and director, whose instinct for the surreal and the otherworldly runs as a red thread through everything she makes. One dark set: black and red, anchored by a red circle because the sphere is the first form in the universe and we wanted origin in the concept, mysterious, sensual, a little dangerous. One white set that expands into something feminine, softer, inviting, lit like something sacred.

Georgia Pendlebury styled beyond trends and delivered looks that complemented the concept: silhouettes that echoed the circle, dresses in arcs, hats and fans as reference pieces. Ibby Njoya's sets were minimal by principle, just enough to frame each world without competing with Rina or the outfits. Carlijn shot both film and stills, and the images land exactly where the campaign needed: the dark set genuinely mysterious, the white set softer and expansive. Our commitment ran through every layer of Zalando's New Designer Experience and it launched a new way of weaving storytelling within e-commerce.

Creative Direction

Julie Maillard, Agnes Grüb

Director

Carlijn Jacobs

Photographer

Carlijn Jacobs

Styling

Georgia Pendlebury, Simon Tazman

Talent

Rina Sawayama

Copywriting

Verity Charmer

Client

Zalando

Internal Team

Andreas Menelaou