Violet Chachki Is Marilyn Monroe and a Vegas Showgirl in the New Prada Video Ad Campaign
Before winning Season 7 of RuPaul’s Drag Race, Violet Chachki had crafted the persona of a high-fashion-inspired ingenue, complete with the highest heels and a waist cinched within an inch of her life. Now it’s clear the drag character’s association with glamorous couture has paid off, as the latest Prada ad campaign — for the luxe label’s fall/winter 2018 campaign — features none other than the drag superstar. The Violet Chachki Prada ad campaign video is stunning to watch, and we think you’ll agree.
Set in Las Vegas and dubbed “Neon Dream,” the Violet Chachki Prada ad campaign features both Chachki and American Horror Story veteran Sarah Paulson playing multiple characters. (Model Amanda Murphy, sporting the latest fashions by Miuccia Prada, also appears.) The video is complete with showgirl feathers, lots of neon and both Chachki and Paulson in full Marilyn Monroe impersonator drag.
The press release for the Prada ad campaign reads, “This Las Vegas is nevertheless a fiction, composed of archetypes — red velvet drapes, glittering lights, glowing Technicolor, billboards and convertibles. Reality, reimagined. A neon dream.”
The video, which was directed by Willy Vanderperre, is rather reminiscent of the works of David Lynch, with certain scenes specifically recalling Lost Highway (1997) and Mulholland Drive (2001), two of the famed director’s greatest and most well-received feature films.
We haven’t seen a fashion ad campaign that had us this excited for a designer’s collection since Gucci released its stunning ’60s sci-fi-themed print and video campaign last year. In August 2017 Hornet chatted with Charlie Altuna, the costume designer responsible for creating much of the “out of this world” ad campaign.