Duane Michals Photographs Jacob Elordi for Bottega Veneta
A new campaign by Italian luxury brand Bottega Veneta features actor Jacob Elordi in dreamy black-and-white photographs by Duane Michals. This marks the first collaboration since creative director Louise Trotter presented her debut Bottega collection during the Milan Spring 2026 shows.
Artistic Approach of Duane Michals
Michals is renowned for his “Sequences” series, composed of images that narrate mysterious stories without clear conclusions, engaging the viewer in a unique experience. His work often includes brief handwritten captions that enhance the storytelling. Many of his pieces convey a charged queer sensuality, such as in the iconic 1968 photograph The Spirit Leaves the Body, where a spirit appears to rise from a nude man lying on a bed toward the camera.
“My photographs are about questions. They are not about answers,” Michals stated in an interview.
The “What Are Dreams” Campaign
The campaign, titled What Are Dreams, takes its name from Michals’s 1994 photograph paired with a handwritten poem. It was shot inside Michals’s New York home and includes a series of photos and a video.
The key image shows a handsome young man seemingly asleep on a table beside a snow globe featuring iconic New York City landmarks. This photograph was later published in Michals’s acclaimed book Questions Without Answers (2002).
Summary
This collaboration captures Michals’s poetic vision through Elordi’s portrayal, blending enigmatic imagery and narrative to explore the nature of dreams and questions without definitive answers.
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