What makes a genius? And why is the term often associated with insanity? According to Moncler, genius is defined as “an act of becoming, not a state, a victory nor a proclamation. Genius is born crazy, but it needs passion and perseverance to accomplish its own idea, as crazy as it may appear.” To Moncler, geniuses need to be celebrated, so the luxury brand did just that with the launch of its ‘Genius Is Born Crazy’ campaign starring Will Smith and marking the actor’s first-ever fashion campaign.
“The ‘Genius is Born Crazy’ campaign highlights the tensions and complexities within the mind of a genius, pushing beyond the scope and imagery of communication,” the brand explained in a press release. “As a brand, Moncler’s strength lies in a sense of constant evolution, in the tension to surpass the limits of the ordinary.”
Shot by Tim Walker, Will Smith is photographed levitating in a seated pretzel-style position wearing a fire-engine red Moncler puffer, a white t-shirt and shiny silver pants. In classic Will Smith style, the multi-hyphenate shared his own behind-the-scenes video from his shoot and gave viewers a peek at his Moncler lewks, including the silver pants that were originally wide-leg before morphing into a drawstring ankle and black puffer two-piece set.
“When I got the call from @Moncler that they wanted me to be THE FACE of a FASHION campaign I was like… “These jokaz must be CRAZY.” I’ve always dug their gear. So I listened to their ideas. Then I was like… “That might be GENIUS,” he captioned the video. “I started pondering the Relationship between Crazy & Genius and I got more & more intrigued. Real Dreamers ALWAYS get called Crazy! I started to wonder… ‘Are Geniuses born Crazy?! Or can we all get some? :-)'”