Sun Nov 09 01:20:00 UTC 2025: Summary:
Dakota Johnson stars in her first Valentino campaign as global brand ambassador for the house’s Cruise 2026 collection. The “Nocturne” campaign, conceived by creative director Alessandro Michele, depicts a group of diverse personalities including Marisa Berenson, Tate McRae, and others in intimate, pre-sleep scenes set in a hotel, exploring themes of shared solitude and the liminal space between wakefulness and rest. The campaign, photographed by Marili Andre and with a video directed by Renell Medrano, amplifies concepts seen in the collection’s look book and features Chopin’s “Nocturne In E Flat.”
News Article:
Dakota Johnson Fronts Valentino’s “Nocturne” Campaign in Debut as Global Ambassador
MILAN – Dakota Johnson is making her mark as Valentino’s newest global brand ambassador in the house’s highly anticipated Cruise 2026 campaign, “Nocturne.” The campaign, launching Thursday, is the brainchild of creative director Alessandro Michele, who previously worked with Johnson during his tenure at Gucci.
Johnson, photographed by Marili Andre, is featured alongside a diverse cast that includes legendary model Marisa Berenson, singer Tate McRae, and artists like Dev Hynes and Anne Imhof. The campaign imagery depicts intimate, pre-sleep scenes within a hotel setting.
According to Michele, the “Nocturne” campaign explores the liminal space between wakefulness and sleep, where “intimacy and anonymity coexist.” The hotel setting, he explains, acts as a metaphor for the contemporary condition: “a place of proximity without contact, where parallel solitudes breathe within the same time.”
A moody campaign video, directed by Renell Medrano, further enhances the nighttime concept, showing the cast navigating hotel hallways and engaging in quiet activities, all set to the melancholic tones of Chopin’s “Nocturne In E Flat,” performed by Angus Pendergast.
Johnson, seen zipping up her Valentino dress and engaging in a phone call while lounging on the floor, joins a prestigious roster of Valentino ambassadors that includes Clairo, Sophie Thatcher, Freen Sarocha, Jeff Satur, Lim Yoona, and Colman Domingo.
“Nothing brings me more joy than collaborating with people I love, admire and respect,” Johnson told WWD. “I am so grateful and happy to join the Valentino family. Alessandro is one of the most inspiring people I know, and I’m honored to be with him again.”
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