Mert And Marcus

The Dubai desert is the back drop for Louis Vuitton’s Spring Summer 2004 advertising campaign. A sun drenched beauty outstretched in a provocative manner, sexually charged with arms extended. Eyes open, she stares intently upwards at the brilliant blue sky with a sense of wanting. The evocative front opening of the plunge-neck dress reveals more of her irresistible sun-kissed skin. In pastel lemon, the bottom-skimming dress is encapsulated in a luminous yellow sash accentuating the womanly shape of an hour glass figure. Here lies a powerful yet seductive beauty, one where the subtlety of a handbag hangs loosely over her wrist becoming an extension of the girl herself. The bag’s absence of vivid colours is nevertheless identifiable by the infamous repetitive pattern of the Louis Vuitton logo and the notorious use of a solid gold lock. Mert and Marcus’s use of colours ignite the imagination. The often overlooked shades of browns are accentuated in her flawless gloss skin and the perfectly sculpted sand dunes. Hot pink is used sparingly as a highlight on her polished fingernails alluding to hidden promiscuity and mischievousness. The rich azure blue is a backdrop and used as an accent in emphasising the effect of illusion. This disconnected sense of reality is created through photographic enhancement of stark contrasts and rich colours. The desert goddess is seemingly super imposed onto a dream like setting. The painterly quality of this image fashions an unapologetic perfection, one where their photographic subject becomes magnificent and idealistic through manipulation and airbrushing techniques. This image contains many of the attributes associated with the duo’s distinctive style. Their fascination with strong and powerful women is apparent. They create a look of absolute perfection through seductive colours and a digitized glaze. Understandably, Mert and Marcus’s provocative and individual style has restored glamour to photography.