Yoshitomo Nara x Stella McCartney

FORMAT.LDN collaborated on the motion rollout for A Rock’n’Roll Forest, the third collaboration between Stella McCartney and celebrated Japanese artist Yoshitomo Nara. Bringing together fashion, contemporary art and music, the collection combines Nara’s distinctive, rebellious illustrations with Stella McCartney’s contemporary aesthetic across a bold, expressive campaign.

A particularly exciting aspect of the project was the opportunity to work directly with Nara’s iconic artwork, bringing his instantly recognisable characters to life through subtle, carefully considered animation. The challenge was to introduce movement without compromising the personality, simplicity and expressive quality of the original illustrations, enhancing their character while remaining faithful to the artist’s visual language.

Early creative explorations saw Nara’s illustrations integrated throughout the fashion sequences, creating playful interactions between the models and artwork. As the campaign developed, this approach evolved into a series of standalone animated teasers centred on the key illustrated characters, allowing the artwork to take on a more prominent role within the wider rollout.

Alongside this, we developed a substantial suite of motion-led campaign content, including 15- and 30-second edits across womenswear, menswear and combined treatments, as well as 15 individual look vignettes. Working with the established creative direction, each piece was carefully shaped through editing, animation and compositing, bringing movement, rhythm and energy to the campaign while keeping the collection and its visual identity at the forefront.

The work was adapted across an extensive range of digital and social formats, including square, portrait, vertical and widescreen executions. The result was a wide-ranging body of motion content that balanced the expressive nature of Nara’s artwork with the contemporary fashion imagery, creating a cohesive and distinctive campaign across multiple platforms.