Gucci’s Moonlit Film from Jonathan Glazer Fuses Slipknot and Couture

Italian fashion house Gucci has unveiled ‘Generation Gucci’, a new promotional short film directed by Academy Award-winning filmmaker Jonathan Glazer. Blurring the lines between the real and surreal, the 1 minute and 46-second film makes a bold statement not just visually, but sonically – anchoring its soundtrack with a blistering snippet of Slipknot’s 1999 nu-metal classic, ‘(sic)’.

Produced through a collaboration between Wanda Productions and Academy, the glossy spot is set in a motel under a full moon. According to the brand’s official description, the film "drifts between the real and the surreal, as people cross paths and gather into a new future adventure." A car flies through the sky and the speed of time ebbs and flows for one night of suspended reality.

The film's audio experience is notably jarring by design, dynamically flipping between three distinct tracks. It opens with the vintage Italian pop of Mina’s ‘Un bacio è troppo poco’, before violently shifting gears at the 39-second mark into the raging drums of Slipknot's ‘(sic)’. The chaotic energy then gives way to the classical melancholia of Charles Aznavour’s ‘Hier encore’ to close the spot.

While a nu-metal and luxury fashion crossover might seem like a random pairing, Slipknot’s percussionist and creative visionary M. Shawn ‘Clown’ Crahan has long documented his affinity for haute couture. In a 2020 interview with The Face, he credited Alexander McQueen as his "gateway into fashion," noting that the risks McQueen took on the catwalk mirrored the energy the percussionist brings to the band. "I understand those shows and the risks he took," he shared. "It really made me feel like I belong."

The campaign marks a high-profile commercial outing for Jonathan Glazer, fresh off his double Oscar win (Best International Feature and Best Sound) for harrowing Holocaust drama ‘The Zone of Interest’. Long before his acclaimed cinematic career – which includes ‘Under the Skin’, ‘Birth’, and ‘Sexy Beast’ – Jonathan dominated the British advertising landscape, cementing his legacy as a commercial visionary with era-defining spots like Guinness’ ‘Surfer’ and Levi’s ‘Odyssey’.

‘Generation Gucci’ continues the luxury brand's strategy of leaning heavily into auteur-driven, cinematic marketing under artistic director Demna Gvasalia. This approach made waves recently when Gucci skipped a traditional Milan Fashion Week runway to premiere ‘The Tiger’, a 30-minute short film written and directed by MJZ’s Spike Jonze and Halina Reijn. That film, shot by Jasper Wolf, showcased Demna’s debut 'La Famiglia' collection through a psychedelic, chaotic family gathering starring Demi Moore and Edward Norton, to name just two of its stars.

For his turn with the brand, Jonathan teamed up with legendary director of photography Darius Khondji and production designer Chris Oddy, with post-production handled by Dirty Looks and VFX by One Of Us.