LEILA AND DAMIEN DE BLINKK

This is the first of 9 separate Autumn Winter advertising campaigns that OneSix7 have produced for French Connection with Creative Director Richard Flintham @ 101 Agency. Directed and Photographed by Leila and Damien de Blinkk, the films and prints will be staggered, with a constantly evolving message, throughout the season digitally, in cinema, on TV, in print, outdoor and in store windows. Celebrating the power of clothes, each film is stylishly told from the point of view of a hero garment. This is the first in the shape of a teaser 60” trailer and will be followed by a succession of films throughout August and September.

The Creative Circle Gold Honours 2011 go to Leila and Damien de Blinkk

Leila and Damien de Blinkk have been awarded Creative Circle Gold Honours 2011 for Best Campaign or Series (TV and Cinema) for the French Connection Spring/Summer and Autumn/Winter 2010 campaigns. The award marks further industry recognition of the already highly-acclaimed campaigns.

French Connection AW10 - The Man


Blinkk: French Connection Autumn/Winter 2010 - The Man from onesix7 on Vimeo.


French Connection SS10 - The Woman


Blinkk: French Connection Spring/Summer 2010 - The Woman from onesix7 on Vimeo.

Credits

Entrant: Fallon
Client: French Connection
Product: Spring/Summer & Autumn/Winter 2010
Title: The Man and the Woman
Creatives: Selena MacKenzie & Toby Moore
Executive Creative Directors: Richard Flintham & Dirk van Dooren
Agency Producer: Gemma Knight
Production Company: onesix7
Director: Leila & Damien de Blinkk
Production Company Producer: Abi Hodson
Cinematography: Tariel Meliava (SS10) & Edu Grau (AW10)
Editor: Ben Campbell - Cut & Run
Post-Production: The Mill

Leila & Damien de Blinkk | French Connection presents ‘You are…?’ Spring Summer 2011

Are you ready for the challenge?

For Spring 2011, French Connection worked again with Leila and Damien de Blinkk continuing to question what it means to be a man or a woman. The ‘You Are Man?’ and ‘You Are Woman?’ campaign follows on from the two award-winning 2010 campaigns featuring The Man and The Woman. This season the scenarios confront the viewer with the questions ‘You are man?’ and ‘You are woman?’.


Blinkk: French Connection SS11 - You Are Man? Pole from OneSix7 on Vimeo.

For two weeks, the team set up ‘THE MAN CAMP’ on the Isle of Malta and ‘THE WOMAN CAMP’ on the Isle of Gozo and dared our ambassadors to discover what it meant to be a man or a woman in the twenty-first century. Exploring ideas of how gender and society dictate how we are meant to act, we asked them to perform a series of tasks (ride a horse in the sea, look spectacular atop an inflatable animal, dance on piano keys, wrestle a biker…the list goes on) – all of these were captured on film to help define whether ‘You are man?’ or ‘You are woman?’. 

Blinkk: French Connection SS11 - You Are Woman? Piano from OneSix7 on Vimeo.

Our Ambassadors of Manhood

Bertrand Le Pluard We found Bert on the streets of Paris. In his own words: “I’m an image-maker, illiterate diarist, suburban freak, 99 cents oracle, hippie whore, style remedy, digital crash, socialised hermit and ego sharman.”

Daniel Hills Dan was discovered lurking on the streets of London. He is a surfer, famed polymath and a musician in a band called Friendship.

Paul Hamy A French-American artist based in Paris. Paul was one of the founders of the French arts collective Pain-O-Chokolat and, when he finds time, models for Marc Jacobs and Yves Saint Laurent.

Leila & Damien de Blinkk: French Connection SS11 - You Are Man? Bucket Head from OneSix7 on Vimeo.

Our Ambassadors of Womanhood

Ludmilla Dom Perignon We found Ludmilla in Paris. She loves horse (which are sadly in short supply in the City of Light) and can also play the piano with her feet. Clever girl.

Simone Van Werkhoven Has an amazing name. Simone is achingly hip and hails from Holland but lives round the corner from Ludmilla in Paris.

Eden Clark Eden grew up on the glamorous Isle of Wight and occasionally appears on the cover of Vogue.

Polina Sova Loves to speak Norwegian mingled with Russian as she graffitis in East London. She learnt to roller-skate powered by fire extinguishers for our short films.

Blinkk: French Connection SS11 - You Are Woman? Fire Extinguishers from OneSix7 on Vimeo.