Ann Taylor is extending its run with Kate Hudson for its fall campaign in new ads shot by Tom Munro. The campaign includes national print and in-store elements, as well as outdoor components in select markets. In addition, the ads will be the first Ann Taylor marketing to appear in Canada, via an outdoor campaign in Toronto that will support the opening of the first Ann Taylor international doors, two of which will open in that city in October and November.
“Fall is always my favorite season. I love layers and Ann Taylor is really going for more color and prints and fashion and stepping out of the box for their company,” said Hudson on a phone call from London, as one of her two children battled for attention. “Sometimes when you work with big brands, you feel they have a very specific formula and I think Ann Taylor goes further with it.…Ann Taylor isn’t afraid of a little sexiness. I think it’s about a working woman who can own her own sensuality.”
The campaign was shot at the Craven Estate, a French chateau-inspired mansion in Pasadena, Calif., and aims to capture a whiff of the Continental glamour of Sixties Paris. Hudson wears a mix of dresses and separates in statement prints, pops of color, as well as basic black, in the new images.
Brian Lynch, brand president of the Ann Taylor division of Ann Inc., called Hudson a woman “who leads a full life and captures the spirit of the Ann Taylor woman.” Hudson will also appear in a holiday campaign for the retailer later this winter. Ann Taylor spent $21.8 million on advertising in 2011, according to Kantar Media figures.
Of working with Ann Taylor and Almay, the beauty brand she represents, Hudson dubbed them collaborative efforts. “As a mom, I like it. You’re in and you’re out and everyone’s cool. You bring your kids and they run around and you take some pictures and you get to have fun with your makeup artist and hairdresser. It’s a fun day,” she noted.
This summer, Kate Hudson is filming a guest stint on the upcoming season of “Glee,” in which she’ll play a dance teacher at the fictional New York Academy of the Dramatic Arts where Lea Michele’s character, Rachel, is headed after high school graduation. “Since dance is a requirement and definitely not Rachel’s strong point, you can expect some conflict between our characters,” revealed Hudson of her six-episode story line.