The partnership between Cerutti and the AS Monaco soccer team necessitated a sleek-yet-invigorating series of images, to celebrate it within a press kit.

For this project, Tzenkoff championed the work of Mariano Vivanco, who has gone on to shoot for ground-breaking titles including Dazed & Confused, Another and Vogue Homme Japan.

With super-stylist Nicola Formichetti also brought on board to work his customary menswear magic across the shoot, what ensued was a triumphant meeting of robust masculinity with cerebral style.

Tzenkoff acted as an essential link between Nicolas Andreas Taralis at Cerruti, and the producer of his Spring/Summer 08 men’s runway presentation in Paris.

This involved the practical organisation of this high profile show – at various significant levels – with the ultimate aim of enabling Taralis to successfully realise his distinctive vision for Cerruti’s future. Photos Amy Sioux

Tzenkoff believed the art director’s intended vision for Cerruti’s menswear advertising campaign could be most successfully realised with collaboration from one particular photographer: Judy Linn.

Her seminal images of New York’s 1970s most creative downtown denizens, such as Robert Mapplethorpe, Sam Sheppard and, of course, Patti Smith (Linn shot covers for Smith’s 1972 book, Seventh Heaven, as well as her Radio Ethiopia album in 1976), have been widely admired and emulated throughout the subsequent decades.

Linn was the ideal candidate for this project, as her archive of starkly-shot subjects resonated perfectly with the brooding themes underpinning designer Nicholas Andreas Taralis’ work at Cerruti. Having been invited to participate, Linn’s inimitable interpretations of the contemporary Cerruti man proved pivotal to the power and credibility of the resulting campaign.

For this particular advertising campaign, photographer Mark Segal was brought on board to create a series of images shot in and around the iconic Bauhaus in Berlin.

Segal further-instilled a subtle, disquieting sense of alienation amid the clean, graphic lines of this foreboding architectural legend, in keeping with the sharp – and decidedly non-frivolous – mood of the collection.

The resulting photographs conveyed the intensity of this bold, new era at Cerruti to awe-inspiring.

This collection marks the debut menswear presentation by Cerruti’s new Creative Director, Nicolas Andreas Taralis.

Cerruti was founded in 1881, in Biella, Italy, and has subsequently evolved into a major international lifestyle brand.

The company’s proud history of innovation, craftsmanship and quality, combined with the discerning and distinctive aesthetic of Taralis – who simultaneously designs an eponymous line, and previously worked alongside both Helmut Lang and Hedi Slimane – now instigates an exciting new era for the Cerruti brand.

The statement for this site-specific installation reads as follows:

Sleek surfaces combine together, within three connected spaces.

Synthetic materials are used consistently, from floor to ceiling, throughout two opposing rooms; black mat lacquer in one, white lacquer in the other.

A hallway which links these contrasting rooms and atmospheres is completely surfaced with mirrors. Relentless light glares down from neon tubes above.

The silence feels loud.

The lighter of the two rooms evokes an airiness and brightness, while a more sober mood emanates from the ominous depths of the black space.

Within these clean, stark surfaces and spaces it is not only possible to discern a breaking point from preconceived notions of the past, but also to garner hints about present frames of mind.

An indication of a new universe becomes increasingly apparent – amid infinite reflections.

In order to retain the coherence between Cerruti, and the substantial repositioning of the brand and perfume licensing which we had instigated and developed, Tzenkoff advised Coty, the licensee, to work on the advertising campaign for Cerruti Pour l’Homme with a photographer of our choice.

The series of images duly shot by Mark Segal subtly addressed the wide commercial needs of the perfume – appealing to a necessarily-large target audience – without compromising any of the spirit of this new direction at Cerruti, and successfully retaining the desired cohesion across the brand.

To bring a fresh approach to the Cerruti advertising campaign for Spring/Summer 07’s collection, we collaborated with photographer Mark Segal. At this stage in his career, Segal had begun honing a reputation via his exciting editorial work within French Vogue, but had not yet undertaken any advertising work – although he was interested in doing so.

The synchronicity between Cerruti’s new direction, and Segal’s advertising debut, enabled all concerned to forge ahead with this campaign, subsequently producing a body of work which further enhanced the brand’s image to amazing effect.