David Lane and Agnes Lloyd-Platt go back to school for Ally Capellino’s AW18 campaign

Photographer Agnes Lloyd-Platt and creative director David Lane, of Lane and Associates, have teamed up once again to bring us the latest campaign for accessories brand Ally Capellino. Each one is set in a distinct and authentic world (you might remember last season’s which was shot in a garden, or the previous one set in a restaurant kitchen) and this is usually determined by the founder herself. “We tend to take whatever Ally is obsessing about and run with it” explains Agnes (who is also Ally’s daughter); the concept for the SS15 campaign, for instance — which paired models with different pastel-coloured shades of hair, with accessories in corresponding colours — was inspired by the fact Ally herself had pink hair that week.

“When the idea comes from an honest place it makes it so much easier to work with, and it’s automatically aligned with the brand”, echoes David. There are, however, some guidelines to coming up with a theme, as David explains “each concept is based on extra-curricular activities — real pastimes that real people do and that you would use a bag for”. For Agnes, it’s the power of the palette: “it’s really key to keeping the consistency with a brand, each season we pick a palette from the collection and draw it out into the environment.”

This, David and Agnes’ fourth collaborative campaign (although the two have been working on smaller projects for many more years), is no different; the setting for AW18 is an art school — or, more specifically, a life drawing class — built by set designer Thomas Bird. Styled by Charlotte Roberts and cast by the team themselves, Ally came up with detailed and inventive descriptions for each of the characters, bringing them to life, as well as explaining their bag of choice from the collection. Henry, the nude life model, is described as “cocky” for instance, choosing the “man-size” marsupial bag as it’s perfect for packing his swim kit; Simone, wearing bold makeup and platform boots, is “one rebellious madam” whose drawings are “all a bit on the dark side” and Frank is “doing fine art but thinking of changing to fashion”, and his rucksack is filled with “records, laptop and a pair of old curtains”, which he plans to turn into a new dress for his best friend.