Alessandro Michele Imagines Life as a Woman for Kering Campaign

Joelle Diderich

Updated Mon, November 20, 2017 at 9:25 AM UTC

IN HER SHOES: How does it feel to walk in a woman’s shoes?

That is the question asked by the sixth edition of Kering’s White Ribbon for Women campaign, which prompted some of the French group’s leading creative directors to imagine their lives as “her,” the one in three girls and women who are victims of violence.

The ambassadors of the campaign are Alessandro Michele; Stella McCartney; Christopher Kane; Joseph Altuzarra; Dennis Chan of Chinese jeweler Qeelin, and Salma Hayek Pinault, wife of Kering chairman and chief executive officer Fran?ois-Henri Pinault and a member of the board of the Kering Foundation.

“Being born a girl should not equate to a higher risk of violence,” Fran?ois-Henri Pinault said in a statement. “Yet unfortunately, it is the case in our world today. We all could have been born a girl, we all must take on this combat.”

Kering, which owns brands including Gucci, Saint Laurent and Balenciaga, launched its White Ribbon initiative in 2012 as part of its commitment to tackle violence against women through the Kering Foundation, which funds projects and campaigns in Asia, Western Europe and the Americas.

This year’s campaign, aimed at Generations Z and Y, will be centered around the hashtag #ICouldHaveBeen and a web site, ICouldHaveBeen.org. It asks those not born a girl to imagine who they could have been by entering the name their parents would have given them if they had been born female.

“#ICouldHaveBeen Camilla,” says the poster featuring Michele. Altuzarra would have gone by the name Juliette, and Kane by Christine. Female participants are asked to show solidarity by taking on Her as their name and encouraging the men they know to join the campaign.

Participants receive information about the violence they could have experienced as a girl and are invited to share this across social media platforms. Young male influencers from across the world will feature in a series of short films that will call on youths to join the #ICouldHaveBeen movement.

Kering cited research from J. Walter Thompson Intelligence saying that 89 percent of Generation Z believe boys and girls should have the same rights. Yet recent data from UNICEF shows one in 10 girls worldwide aged 15 to 19 experienced forced sex in the past 12 months, it added.

“The central objective of this year’s campaign is thus to engage younger generations, specifically Generation Z and Y, in order to provoke a deep and sustainable change in mentalities, behaviors and cultures,” Kering said.

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Alessandro Michele Imagines Life as a Woman for Kering Campaign

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