According to a brief statement from the brand, the shoot was inspired by “eclecticism and an individualized approach to personal style.”
Leon’s own style is similarly loud and fanciful, though the 24-year-old singer and model maintains a reasonably low profile, having only just created a public Instagram account this January.
Elaborating on the decision to tap Leon for the campaign, the statement also nodded to a “long-storied history” between Madonna and Marc Jacobs.
Madonna has been a longtime muse and friend of Marc Jacobs’. In an interview with Vogue in 2008, Jacobs, then-creative director of Louis Vuitton, called the Queen of Pop the “ultimate performer”. She starred in two Louis Vuitton campaigns under his lead and wore Jacobs’ eponymous label on the cover of Harper’s Bazaar US in 2016.
Marc Jacobs’ new Spring 2021 collection isn’t Leon’s first foray into fashion. In 2019, she made her debut in a collection video for Miu Miu’s spring range. Since then, she’s appeared in a number of high-end streetwear collaborations, including Jean-Paul Gaultier x Supreme and Parade x Juicy Couture. This January, Leon co-directed and starred in a campaign video for a Stella McCartney x Adidas capsule collection.
The decision to cast Leon marks another step in the brand’s attempts to reach a younger market. In September 2020, to promote the launch of the new Marc Jacobs teen range, Heaven, the label went live on Instagram from a poster peppered adolescent bedroom filled with young influencers like Eileen Kelly, Lilah Summer and rising Japanese YouTuber Kemio.
