It was quite a coup for Chopard when it announced America’s sweetheart Julia Roberts as a brand ambassador at the Cannes Film Festival in 2021.
Now, united by their mutual love of film, the two havecollaborated on a series of 12 short films, directed by James Gray of Little Odessa (1994) and Armageddon Time (2022) fame. The video clips will be released from 20 March – International Day of Happiness – and accompanied by a set of stills photographs taken by fashion’s favourite snapper, Alasdair McLellan.
Originally linked to Happy Sport and Happy Diamonds, the woman with the brightest smile in Hollywood is now the face of Chopard’s entire women’s watch and jewellery creations and the celebratory campaign takes on the theme of Joie de Vivre. Emphasising the feel-good theme of the new campaign, Ms Roberts says, “To me, every day is international happiness day, Global Happiness Day.”
Titled ‘Chopard Loves Cinema’, the films and photography take a behind-the-scenes look at filmmaking showing Ms Roberts chatting with crew, swapping heels for trainers and playing with her pet dog. Through her words she makes parallels between making movies and wearing beautiful jewellery, with both having the ultimate goal of making people feel good.
The inference is that, just as a great director and accomplished actress breathe life into celluloid (or more likely today, digital media storage formats), so Chopard’s master watchmakers and jewellers turn flat two-dimensional designs into creations that evoke true emotion.
Chopard chose the award-winning Mr Gray to bring its vision to the screen as his own films demonstrate an understanding of human relationships, the passing of time and the value of personal memories. Winner of several international awards, Mr Gray has had five films selected for the official competition at the Cannes Film Festival, which Chopard has supported since 1998.
Speaking of the Chopard experience, Mr Gray says: “Julia Roberts is that rare thing: a genuine movie star. She also happens to be a person with a tremendous sense of humour about it all… Both Julia and Chopard embody a true sense of happiness, so it was a wonderful opportunity to work with them on this campaign.”
While Alasdair McLellan may be unknown to many, his work will almost certainly be familiar. He began his career at i-D magazine and has gone on to work for some of the world’s biggest fashion magazines and shoot advertising campaigns for Miu Miu, Louis Vuitton and Burberry among others, while his portrait of Adele graces the cover of her album 25.
On his latest shots for Chopard he says: “It’s hard to describe working with Julia without sounding incredibly clichéd, but she really was everything I could’ve hoped she’d be…she looked great in every frame, and it was easy to imagine every image on a billboard.”
And, of course, this ‘backstage’ story had to be captured behind the scenes, a job that was handled by renowned photojournalist Greg Williams who describes the experience of working with Ms Roberts and Chopard in just one word: “Joyful”.
And with that, the goal of Chopard’s co-president and artistic director Caroline Scheufele to “reveal a new facet of our identity, the Feel-Good vibe… infusing the entire surrounding universe with positive energy,” has been achieved.
