Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Lana Del Rey for H & M: Blue Velvet


Although her now infamous (a.k.a. vacant) appearance on Saturday Night Live didn’t quite win me over as a fan, I am intrigued by an ad for the clothing retail giant, H & M that features the singer Lana Del Rey. The long form of the ad has Del Rey singing the Bobby Vinton classic, Blue Velvet. The title of the song, and the imagery featured in the ad, can’t help but trigger memories of the David Lynch film of the same name. 

Sixties and a little scary, moody and a lot melancholy, the ad has Del Rey in a pink sweater and pants, lip-syncing into a microphone in the middle of a stark living room, in front of a collection of onlookers. (She's channeling Dean Stockwell's character in Blue Velvet.) One in particular in a red tuxedo suit also lip-syncs to the record (an homage to Dennis Hopper's Frank Booth in Blue Velvet). 

The trio of Del Rey doppelgangers sitting on a couch is one of the stronger images, as well as the little person that appears at the end, which is very reminiscent of Lynch’s use of the little man (also in a red suit) who spoke backwards in his iconic TV series and film project, Twin Peaks. Also note the use of couches in front of walls of curtains, another creepy set direction in the Lynch series. BSo



The inspirations:



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