In 2007, Louis Vuitton launched its celebrated “Core Values” advertising campaign, created by agency Ogilvy & Mather and shot by renowned portrait photographer Annie Leibovitz. One of the most arresting images in fashion and political advertising history featured Mikhail Gorbachev, the final leader of the Soviet Union.
Gorbachev is pictured wearing a pinstripe suit and overcoat inside the back of a vintage, Khrushchev-era Soviet limousine. As the car drives along a remnant of the Berlin Wall, he looks somberly out the window. Beside him on the leather seat rests a monogrammed Louis Vuitton Keepall bag. The photo starkly captures the irony of a former communist statesman participating in a high-end capitalist advertisement next to the very wall whose fall he helped orchestrate.
A fascinating detail often noted by historians is the Russian magazine peeking out of the unzipped Louis Vuitton bag. If zoomed in, the Cyrillic text reveals a headline about the unsolved murder of investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya, a fierce critic of Vladimir Putin. While Louis Vuitton claimed the magazine was merely a realistic prop brought by Gorbachev, it added a heavy layer of contemporary political tension to the image.
The luxury group LVMH specifically utilized Gorbachev to expand market credibility among men and elite consumer classes in burgeoning luxury regions like Russia and China. Gorbachev agreed to the commercial shoot under the condition that Louis Vuitton make a sizeable financial donation to Green Cross International, an environmental sustainability organization he founded.
This “Core Values” travel campaign ran in major fashion publications alongside portraits of other iconic figures, including Catherine Deneuve, Steffi Graf, and Andre Agassi.
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