Dior and Prada Revive the Magic of Animation

In this truly remarkable film, with its meticulously crafted screenplay and execution, Marlene Dietrich wakes Monsieur Dior in the middle of the night because she absolutely needs a colorful dress to shoot her first color film. This winter’s night’s dream features the designer in his pajamas: awakened by a chair that answers the phone and surrounded by a swarm of bees symbolizing the seamstresses in his atelier, he finds inspiration while admiring a Christmas tree decked with garlands. Notably, the tone and style—very free-spirited and joyful—are, for once, quite a departure from traditional corporate communications.

In addition to its humor, this film also features an exceptional cast. A friend of the house on Avenue Montaigne, Robert Pattinson lends his voice to narrate this winter tale, produced under the artistic direction of Jonathan Anderson, Dior’s creative director—but he’s far from the only one: Rihanna, as well as Camille Cottin and Louis Garrel, agreed to take part. “Camille and Louis came to Paris to the studio to record their voices,” says director Sylvain Chomet. “As for Rihanna, who says just a few words, she did it remotely.” It’s a line that hits the mark, as the star parodies the title of her world-famous song “Shine Bright Like a Diamond” in her line, “Christian dear, you need to chill, just shine bright like… a Christmas tree,” a reference to the star—one of Monsieur Dior’s signature symbols.

Chomet agreed to take on the project largely because of this star-studded cast, but that wasn’t the only reason. “Christian Dior is part of my cultural heritage. I was born in the ’60s, and even then it was already a major French and international brand, the very embodiment of luxury. And in a way, our careers have crossed paths. Because what’s funny is that he started out as a cartoonist for newspapers before becoming a fashion designer, whereas I, who wanted to work in fashion, ended up becoming an animator.” In fact, Sylvain Chomet created this short film entirely by hand, one drawing at a time, as if he were the last of the Mohicans. “At first, the teams at Dior even thought the drawings were too visible, that it looked very artisanal,” Aton Soumache says with a smile. “But Sylvain draws everything—that’s what’s extraordinary. No one works like that in animation anymore.” His inspirations? Walt Disney, particularly *101 Dalmatians*, which serves as one of Chomet’s models. We also thought we spotted a few nods to Snow White and Fantasia. It seems that despite the global rise of manga culture, old-school cartoons are still in vogue.À l’humour, ce film ajoute également un casting exceptionnel. Ami de la maison de l’avenue Montaigne, Robert Pattinson prête sa voix à la lecture de ce conte d’hiver, réalisé sous la direction artistique de Jonathan Anderson, le styliste de Dior, mais il est loin d’être le seul: Rihanna, ou encore Camille Cottin et Louis Garrel, ont accepté de jouer le jeu. «Camille et Louis sont venus à Paris en studio enregistrer leurs voix, confie Sylvain Chomet, le réalisateur. Pour Rihanna, qui dit juste quelques mots, elle l’a fait à distance.» Une phrase qui fait mouche, puisque la star parodie le titre de sa chanson mondialement célèbre «Shine Bright Like a Diamond» dans sa réplique «Christian dear, you need to chill, just shine bright like… a Christmas tree», en référence à l’étoile, l’un des symboles fétiches de Monsieur Dior.

Prada has also chosen this medium for its new campaign, released a few days ago. At a time when artificial intelligence and computer-generated imagery are revolutionizing the creative industries, the Italian fashion house has chosen to return to pencil, paper, and patiently drawn movement. For its 2026 holiday season, it presents “Drawing Prada,” an escape into a fairy-tale world where photography blends with traditional animation. It’s a way of reminding us that luxury, before being about products and desire, is also a story of the hand, the eye, and the imagination. The project was directed artistically by Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons. Behind the drawings is John Pomeroy, a leading figure in American animation, whose career is closely tied to the golden age of Disney Studios. His name evokes a generation of artists for whom every movement, every expression, and every detail of a character was the result of meticulous manual labor. It’s an almost artisanal approach that Prada places at the heart of this project.

The cast plays a major role in creating this atmosphere of a modern fairy tale. Prada has brought together five young international talents: Chen Haoyu, a Chinese singer and actress; Luther Ford, who rose to prominence in The Crown, where he played the young Prince Harry; Kelvin Harrison Jr., who notably starred in Elvis and will soon appear in The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping; as well as Maya Hawke and Sadie Sink, the two actresses from Stranger Things. This cross-generational, cosmopolitan cast lends the campaign a cinematic quality without reducing it to a mere parade of celebrities.

Each finds themselves immersed in a wintry setting populated by mischievous creatures. Mice steal a Prada shoe, a fox accompanies Maya Hawke through a snow-covered forest, while a snow lynx seems to have its eye on Chen Haoyu’s bag. Rabbits, bats, and other characters pop up throughout the images, as if they’ve escaped from an old picture book. The humor is subtle, at times absurd, and the brand’s accessories become accomplices in these little skits. Fashion is no longer simply presented: it becomes part of a story, allowing itself to be manipulated by its characters and participating in their whimsy.

To successfully blend reality with illustration, Prada entrusted the imagery to Glen Luchford. The British photographer, known for his unique visual worlds, worked with light and perspective to extend the illustrations. The goal isn’t to superimpose animated characters onto photographs, but to bring two visual languages together. The actors seem to truly belong in these imaginary landscapes, as if the setting had been drawn around them. But as with “Christian Dior’s Night in Color,” the true subject of “Drawing Prada” may be less about fashion than about the act itself. John Pomeroy champions a method that runs counter to digital production: “I learned my craft with a pencil and paper. Analog drawing, the old-fashioned way, with pencil and paper,” he explains in the behind-the-scenes film about the project. He continues: “We’ve remained faithful to this approach and want to pass it on to future generations.” A statement that takes on particular significance at a time when generative tools promise to produce images in a matter of seconds. Here, every movement takes time, every expression requires intention, and every character has a personality.

Pomeroy doesn’t just draw amusing silhouettes, by the way. He explains that he designs his characters “from the inside out”: What are they thinking? What do they want? What are they afraid of? What prevents them from achieving their goals? The fox, for example, is decidedly cynical and not very convinced by magic; the mice, for their part, have clearly developed a strong taste for Prada accessories. This attention to psychology—even for just a few seconds of animation—is what gives these creatures their presence and humor.

Pomeroy’s career path explains this commitment to detail. He joined Walt Disney in 1973 as a background artist, quickly became an animator, and worked notably on Winnie the Pooh and The Mad Tiger. He then joined Don Bluth, another giant of American animation, with whom he helped create Brisby and the Secret of NIMH, followed by films that have since become cult classics, such as Fievel Goes West and The Land Before Time. Returning to Disney in the late 1990s, he supervised the animation for *Pocahontas* and contributed to Fantasia 2000. His career, spanning nearly half a century, has spanned several generations of animated films, yet he has never lost his passion for hand-drawn animation.

For this campaign, he also assembled a team of artists well-versed in traditional animation. Tom Bancroft, one of the project’s animators, recounts that Pomeroy “reunited the gang,” bringing together collaborators scattered across different studios. A small family of animators returned, for the duration of a campaign, to their first love. The “making-of” video thus reveals what the final images usually conceal: sheets covered with sketches, test drawings, characters taking shape, and the movement that emerges from a sequence of drawings.

“Animation tells stories in a way that live-action film simply cannot,” Pomeroy adds. “It’s a whole different world.” It is precisely this realm of freedom that Prada and Dior are tapping into. In an industry where holiday campaigns often compete to be the most spectacular, these fashion houses are opting for a form of sophisticated simplicity: a few actors, imaginary landscapes, mischievous animals, and the magic of a drawing coming to life. It’s a language that resonates particularly with younger generations and helps bring luxury into the realm of pop culture. The goal is simple: to tell the story of their world, convey their values, and create an emotional connection with young audiences—beyond the product itself.

It would be tempting, however, to view this approach as merely a nostalgic statement. That would be to overlook its intelligence. Dior and Prada aren’t trying to replicate Disney films or make it seem as though time has stood still. On the contrary, the fashion houses use a time-honored technique to produce highly contemporary images, where clothing, accessories, and narrative interplay. It also reminds us, with a certain elegance, that creation is not limited to its end result: it depends on the people who make it possible. In these Christmas fantasies, luxury thus rediscovers one of its most precious dimensions: the time devoted to crafting things, and the human touch that brings them to life.

This is, in fact, the very essence of the animated films created by students at the renowned Gobelins animation school in Paris for Paris Saint-Germain, serving as posters for Champions League matches. Ahead of its away game in Villarreal, the Parisian soccer club gave them free rein to design a new animated poster. Inspired by the theme “Step up! The giants are here!”, this creation immerses fans in an urban world where soccer culture and graphic imagination converge. This collaboration transforms every major European match night into a canvas for artistic expression and offers the young talents at the Parisian school an international showcase. Following in the footsteps of Penninghen and Camondo, PSG continues its partnership with leading creative schools, with a new twist this season: each poster now comes to life through animation.

As more and more brands turn to animation—as well as illustration and traditional animation—they aim to tell their stories in a different way, through a unique creative language that is more poetic, more narrative, and also more artisanal. Dior had previously commissioned the French studio Remembers to tell the story of the Miss Dior fragrance. Hermès, for its part, has always worked with illustrators and animators such as Antony Huchette, Stuart Patience, and Armand Béraud. In 2023, Loewe collaborated with Annie Choi on visuals inspired by Japanese anime. Recently, Chanel featured Cara Delevingne in an animated film for its Gabrielle bag and commissioned an animated teaser for its Fall/Winter 2026 couture show. In the past, Lacoste and Louis Vuitton have created animated films to accompany collections or reinvent their logos without distorting their essence. Givenchy, Miu Miu, and Cartier have also explored the world of animation, evoking childhood, fairy tales, the collective imagination, and a form of magic that other mediums do not always allow. Today, fashion houses are rediscovering the power of illustrated storytelling. This return to the pencil is a very timely response to the profusion and standardization of images.