For Holiday 2026, Drawing Prada combines live-action photography with illustrated worlds created by artists led by animator John Pomeroy. Glen Luchford is the photographer and director, with Ferdinando Verderi responsible for campaign creative direction. The cast includes Sadie Sink, Maya Hawke, Chen Haoyu, Luther Ford and Kelvin Harrison Jr. Prada makes the process explicit in the campaign's title, Animated by Hand.

The detail that holds our attention is the relationship between the two kinds of image. The photography sits inside the drawing. It gives a bag weight and a shoe texture while allowing the surrounding world to behave impossibly. You can recognise the product and enjoy the fiction at the same time.

The product has something to do

A familiar problem with elaborate Christmas advertising is that the object being sold can feel like an interruption. A film builds a whole emotional world, then a product arrives in the final frame to collect the credit. Here, the accessories participate in the scene. The mice want the loafer. The viewer is invited into their fascination.

That is a useful distinction for anyone briefing a seasonal campaign. A product can become a prop, a cause of mischief, a gift someone is hiding or the object around which a ritual happens. Giving it a role creates more possibilities than placing it beside festive decoration. It also makes the idea easier to carry into a still image, where there is less time to establish a story.

Prada's approach leaves room for humour without making the accessories feel disposable. There is enough precision in the styling and enough affection in the drawing for the silliness to feel considered. The campaign can be playful because it is clear about what deserves our attention.

Showing who made the image

The visible drawing also gives the house a way to talk about skill. A finished luxury object rarely reveals all the decisions behind it. A pencil line makes the existence of a maker easier to imagine. Animation becomes a companion to the idea of workmanship already attached to the clothes and accessories.

We would be careful about turning this into a declaration that every luxury brand is abandoning AI. One commission cannot establish an industry-wide change. The more useful observation is that a named artist and an identifiable method give this particular campaign something specific to discuss. There is a person, a practice and a set of choices behind the image. Our earlier look at what designers contribute when AI can make the image explores why those decisions still matter.

For a smaller business, the equivalent might be an illustrator creating a gift card, a ceramicist demonstrating a glaze or a photographer making a small set from materials already used by the brand. The scale can be modest. The connection needs to be convincing. A handmade-looking border pasted onto otherwise anonymous imagery would miss what makes this work interesting.

A brief worth borrowing

Before choosing a festive visual treatment, write down what the product should do in the picture and which aspect of its making deserves attention. Then find a creative collaborator whose work can express both. Credit that person clearly and give the process enough space to be understood. For more on building that brief, see why great photography starts with great art direction.

Prada's mice are charming, but their usefulness goes beyond charm. They give the accessories a little life of their own. The best detail in the campaign is the one that makes you look at the product again.