Bottega Veneta uses photos of A$AP Rocky on the street for its new campaign: the end of real street style?

If you spend too much time on the Internet, you’ve probably already come across photos of Rihanna and her partner A$AP Rocky, with or without children. These photos tend to go viral, not only because they are a couple of music stars, but also fashion stars. Well aware that this type of street style can inspire more than one person, celebrities increasingly orchestrate paparazzi with complicit photographers, all sponsored by the big houses. And as this scheme proves less and less secret, Bottega Veneta dressed A$AP Rocky from head to toe on multiple occasions for her daily life, before revealing that his viral looks actually serve as an official campaign.

A$AP Rocky for Bottega Veneta or when street style becomes an alleged marketing campaign

It is therefore a true demonstration of marketing power on the part of the Italian luxury house to have orchestrated these A$AP Rocky paparazzi. The general public took it upon themselves to make them go viral organically and wondered where their clothes came from, before Bottega Veneta made those images their latest campaign. In an age where everything is monetized and celebrities are content creators like everyone else, it’s almost confusingly cynical that such product placements disguised as candid photos taken on the spot on the street become an official campaign.

Considering Kendall Jenner’s recent looks, all decked out in Bottega Veneta to walk her dog on the street corner, it’s a safe bet that this was also a set-up to serve as a campaign for the Italian house. Little by little, influencer marketing kills spontaneous and authentic street style, and everything becomes a communication operation.

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