Marc Jacobs Turns Advertising Into Cinema
The new microdrama The Swap, starring Rowan Blanchard and Jemima Kirke, shows how fashion advertising is gradually turning into full-fledged cinema. Instead of a traditional campaign, Marc Jacobs offers a story in which the product becomes part of the plot.
In The Swap, two women accidentally leave a Marc Jacobs show with each other’s identical Scene bags. The mix-up sets off a small New York story, while the contents of the bags gradually help the characters form impressions of one another.
This is not the brand’s first experiment with the format. The Swap continues the Question Marc series, in which Marc Jacobs brings together fashion, cinema, humor and pop culture. In the previous microdrama, The Scene, Rachel Sennott’s character tried to make her way to the Met Gala, with the Scene Bag once again playing an important role in the story.
What matters most here is the changing logic of the fashion campaign. Instead of simply showcasing a new bag, the brand creates a story people actually want to keep watching.
Fashion is gradually moving from advertising to storytelling: brands are becoming part film studios, while new collections are turning not only into products, but into elements of their own cultural worlds.
