In the new Prada campaign, I, I, I, I, am… Prada, Jordan Wolfson brings his unsettling visual language into the realm of luxury fashion. Conceived with Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons, this bold art and fashion collaboration transforms the traditional campaign format into something far more psychological — an exploration of identity, perception and the fractured self.
Jordan Wolfson and the construction of identity
At the core of the campaign lies a simple yet provocative device: a repeated phrase—“I, I, I, I, am…”—left deliberately unfinished. When delivered by a cast including Nicholas Hoult, Carey Mulligan, Hunter Schafer and Liu Wen, the line becomes both a declaration and a question. The omission of the final word destabilises meaning, suggesting that identity is fluid, performative and perpetually unresolved.
Wolfson amplifies this idea by introducing uncanny, hyperreal figures — his signature creatures — positioned alongside the cast. These include armadillo-like bodysuits and bird-human hybrids, rendered in glossy, colour-shifting materials that echo the tones of the garments. Their presence is both intimate and intrusive, acting as alter egos that mirror, mimic and quietly disrupt.
Art and fashion collaboration as a new visual language
This collaboration between art and fashion transcends aesthetics to encompass narrative and atmosphere. Rather than merely showcasing clothing, the campaign is presented as an 80-second cinematic experience in which reality and simulation merge. Wolfson’s creatures interact with the cast in subtle and often unsettling ways, hovering, touching or shadowing their movements unnoticed.
Renowned for his provocative work in video, sculpture and animatronics, Jordan Wolfson brings a distinctly contemporary tension to the Prada campaign. References to digital avatars, pop culture and an image-saturated society emerge throughout, yet the outcome defies literal interpretation. Instead, it operates as a meditation on the multiplicity of the self in a hyper-mediated world.
The outcome is a campaign that challenges the conventions of fashion imagery. By merging Prada’s refined minimalism with Wolfson’s unsettling imagination, the project redefines the boundaries of advertising, positioning it as a space where fashion becomes a vehicle for artistic enquiry.
Courtesy of PRADA
