Re/Done’s new campaign with Meadow Walker and Grace Burns, and Stella McCartney’s office satire with Eva Mendes, capture fashion’s dual impulses — authentic heritage and immersive escapism.
At John Lautner’s Harpel House in the Hollywood Hills, Meadow Walker and Grace Burns wander through a dreamy campaign shot by photographer Morgan Maher. Maher captures the pair swimming, playing records, and slipping into evening as light fades against the iconic midcentury architecture. Denim is cut into slim silhouettes — the Blondie, MaryLou, and the reversible Rewind style — paired with cable knits, lace camisoles, and vintage leather. The house itself becomes part of the story, grounding the collection in a modern, cultural ease.
For Walker, daughter of actor Paul Walker, and Burns, daughter of Christy Turlington and Ed Burns, the images echo a friendship already documented in Burns’s own series, “By Grace Vol 3.” That sense of lived-in connection was deliberate. As Re/Done chief executive Phillip Prado told WWD, “This campaign with Meadow and Grace was about capturing something authentic yet aspirational. They brought a balance of individuality and legacy, with a natural ease that made the collection feel lived in and personal rather than styled.”
Prado described the Harpel House as central to the narrative: “It wasn’t just a backdrop, it became part of the narrative, a bold architectural icon that anchored the story in culture and creativity. Together, the imagery reflects what Re/Done stands for, timeless pieces with a strong point of view that truly come alive through the people who wear them.”
The emphasis on heritage and credibility connects with broader consumer shifts. ThredUp’s 2024 Resale Report projects the global secondhand market to hit $350 billion by 2028, with U.S. resale growing three times faster than the overall apparel sector. This appetite for garments with stories — whether vintage provenance or architectural backdrops — reflects a desire for continuity in a crowded marketplace.
Escapism as strategy
While Re/Done builds intimacy, Stella McCartney’s fall campaign stages Eva Mendes in Stella Corp, a fictional office set where binders, mugs, and risqué pens appear alongside a sleek sex toy. Mendes wears a red silk dress with exaggerated shoulders, channeling power and humor at once. “[W]hat I believe in very much as a female designer is you leave work and you party. The day-to-night thing is really important for my brand,” McCartney said following the first show since buying out her minority LVMH stake earlier this year.
The playfulness comes with substance. Ninety-six percent of the collection is made with conscious materials, and all are cruelty-free, continuing McCartney’s long-standing sustainability ethos. Mendes also stars in “Shop with Stella: Winter 2025,” an interactive digital shopping experience launching September 15, further extending the campaign’s reach into consumers’ daily lives.
Theatricality aligns with broader market dynamics. The BoF-McKinsey State of Fashion 2024 report shows 72 percent of executives plan to increase investment in brand marketing, compared to 46 percent prioritizing performance. Vogue Business has noted that consumer fatigue with overplayed authenticity claims has created demand for escapist narratives. McCartney taps that directly, transforming the office into a stage for fantasy.
These storytelling strategies emerge amid heightened scrutiny over how brands cast their campaigns. The recent American Eagle–Sydney Sweeney “great jeans” collaboration sparked controversy over a pun that many interpreted as promoting an exclusionary beauty ideal. The campaign also drew comparisons to Brooke Shields’ controversial Calvin Klein ads from the 1980s, with their undertones of sexualization. Jane Cunningham of PLH Research noted, “These recent campaigns epitomise a slide backwards to the place where ‘Good Girls’ are thin, passive, vacant and more often than not yes, white and blue eyed.”
The fallout underscored how precarious brand credibility has become in the current climate. While some, including president Donald Trump, defended the spot — “If Sydney Sweeney is a registered Republican, I think her ad is fantastic” — the wider conversation focused on representation and responsibility. “Representation means that everyone can and should be allowed to shine and have their moment,” said Leila Siddiqi, director of D&I at IPA, who argued that the campaign missed the opportunity for inclusivity. With American Eagle’s stock prices rising in the wake of the uproar, the episode highlighted a paradox: controversy may drive short-term attention, but the cultural costs of leaning into regressive ideals can linger far longer.
Against that backdrop, Re/Done’s casting of women with generational ties to their community and McCartney’s playful yet intentional satire with Mendes feel judicious by contrast. The faces chosen reinforce rather than contradict the stories being told — and in an era where every image is interrogated, that harmony matters.
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