Over the weekend, Louis Vuitton debuted its new Core Values campaign, shot by Annie Leibovitz and featuring Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. As described by Pietro Beccari, Chairman and CEO of the fashion house, “It has been 17 years since I launched the first Core Values campaign with Antoine Arnault, and I am delighted to revive this iconic series.”
Louis Vuitton’s Core Values campaign over the years has featured various faces in a range of celebrated disciplines, including Angelina Jolie, Muhammad Ali, Francis Ford, Sofia Coppola, Sally Ride, Buzz Aldrin, Catherine Deneuve, and more. “Each Core Values chapter celebrates Louis Vuitton’s legacy of travel, of working with exceptional people, and of transmission –both physical and emotional. It has been brilliant to work with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal on this new story – both inspirational athletes, fierce friends, and testaments to the discipline and excellence of their own personal sporting journeys,” said Beccari.
Courtesy of Louis Vuitton.
Louis Vuitton Revitalizes its Core Values Campaign with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal
With the tagline “There are Journeys that turn into Legends,” this edition of the Core Values series aims to embody Nadal and Federer’s highly decorated careers and the two athletes’ legacies that are embedded with “ambition, determination, and discovery.” These fortifying characteristics are particularly poignant with the campaign’s majestic backdrop. The iconic photographer Leibovitz captured Federer and Nadal scaling snowy peaks and rocky cliffs with Louis Vuitton’s Christopher backpacks strapped to their backs.
Alongside their professional success, the campaign further highlights the two tennis players as “companions on a shared ascent.” With this imagery of two friends facing gusting winds and falling snow while standing firmly at each other’s sides, it illustrates their long-standing friendship off the tennis court. The duo first played against one another in 2003, and 19 years later they paired together for Federer’s emotional final match before his 2022 retirement.
“I know how many important icons have been part of this campaign, so for me personally, being part of it is something that I am very proud of, especially sharing it with Roger – he has been my biggest rival and now a close friend today. In my career, I achieved more than I ever dreamt of, so at the end of the day, the legacy in terms of human beings is the most important value,” said Rafael Nadal.
An accompanying campaign video depicts the shoot’s two figureheads reflecting on their careers, as they reminisce on their first meeting and established bond. “It’s a unique opportunity to be working on this campaign with Rafa. How we could be such rivals and then at the end of our careers be beside each other doing this campaign has been very cool. And where we are here today, I think it also embodies everything: at the peak of the mountains. For us it is something meaningful and special,” said Roger Federer.
Courtesy of Louis Vuitton.
Legacies On and Off the Court
This is not the first time that Louis Vuitton’s Core Values campaign has paid homage to sports rivalries and friendships. In 2022, Annie Leibovitz similarly photographed soccer stars Christiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi engaging in a game of chess over a Louis Vuitton classic travel trunk in anticipation of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. This campaign featured the tagline “Victory is a State of Mind,” and followed similar lines combining morals of friendship, competition between some of the world’s most revered athletes, and the elevated fashion of the Maison.
With this campaign, Federer and Nadal highlighted their pride in their careers and legacies both on and off the court. “I hope I’m remembered not only as a tennis player but also as the person behind, what I gave to the game and what I represented to the game, and it was less about my Wimbledon victories or whatever it was, that would mean a lot to me,” said Federer.
Courtesy of Louis Vuitton.
Courtesy of Louis Vuitton.
