A Collision of Medias to Represent New in a New Age

Prada somewhat forwardly describes 'First Spring,' their video collaboration with Yang Fudong, as a symbol of "an exciting new direction for Prada's visual communications at the start of this decade." Firstly, we have to admire Prada's endorsement of a young, contemporary Chinese artist whose name means nothing to the vast majority of their audience. The video is a risk for many reason, if not simply Jin Wang's eerie music and the ambiguous plot.

What is perhaps most impressive and interesting about the video is the seamless union of Prada's clean, sleek and classic design with the film medium in a thought-provoking way. (Interesting Prada should release the video less than twelve hours after the Martin Scorcese film tribute and Scorcese himself both convinced us we're completely inadequate.) The nine-minute video completely defies everything we know and experience about advertising. With few exceptions, we're constantly looking and buying what can be processed quickly, what can be provocative without requiring anything of us and what can "make a statement" without really saying anything at all. Further, the video defies fashion advertising to date. No sex, no bare backs or breasts, not even a kiss.

What we love most about the wardrobes is the international convergence of styles. This video can serve as a concrete example of the global tunes that will play through every great outfit of 2010.

Watch the video here.