Rafael Nadal is embracing legend-making journeys…
Louis Vuitton has revived its Core Values campaign with the 37-year-old Spanish professional tennis player and his longtime tennis rival and friend Roger Federer.
The campaign, shot by iconic photographer Annie Leibovitz, features the former ATP World No. 1 players, a rare off-the-court pairing, ascending to the summit of Italy’s Dolomites mountain range. The imagery fits the campaign’s tagline: “There are Journeys that turn into Legends.”
The newly released campaign features Federer and Nadal 3,000 meters high, standing tall on the mountain peak. In the imagery, Federer sports a Monogram Christopher backpack while Nadal is pictured with the Monogram Eclipse version.
For the campaign, Nadal and Federer are not competitors but instead companions for one another on the journey up the mountain — a visual metaphor for their careers which have been “marked by deep mutual respect and friendship,” according to the luxury brand.
“I know how many important icons have been part of this campaign, so for me personally, being part of it is something that I am very proud of, especially sharing it with Roger,” Nadal said in a release.
“He has been my biggest rival and now a close friend today,” Nadal continued. Federer shared similar sentiments.
“It’s a unique opportunity to be working on this campaign with Rafa,” Federer said in a release. “How we could be such rivals and then at the end of our careers be beside each other doing this campaign has been very cool. And where we are here today, I think it also embodies everything: at the peak of the mountains. For us it is something meaningful and special.”
Federer officially retired from tennis in 2022. Meanwhile, Nadal recently said that his own retirement is likely close.
Louis Vuitton originally launched the Core Values campaign in 2007 and has featured a slew of stars including Angelina Jolie, Bono, Sean Connery, Steffi Graf, Keith Richards, Muhammad Ali, Francis Ford Coppola, Sofia Coppola, Sally Ride, Buzz Aldrid and more.
The luxury fashion house aims for every Core Values campaign, and every Louis Vuitton design, to echo a trio of values: a journey beyond the physical, a commitment to excellence and a transmission of dreams.
The Core Values campaign will be released on Louis Vuitton’s social media channels and in print insertions on May 18.