Prada has unveiled its 2026 holiday campaign, featuring hand-drawn animation by veteran animator John Pomeroy, who created every frame for a series of films and images blending illustrated winter scenes with live-action footage.
According to Elle, the campaign features actors Sadie Sink, Maya Hawke, Chen Haoyu, Luther Ford and Kelvin Harrison Jr. in a winter fantasy populated by illustrated creatures, including snow lynxes and mice, alongside the brand’s handbags, shoes and clothing.
Pomeroy, whose credits include Thumbelina, The Land Before Time and Klaus, developed the characters by imagining their personalities, desires and motivations. The scenes include a snow lynx eyeing a miniature Avoir handbag, mice admiring black-and-white dotted shoes, and a snowball being thrown into Harrison Jr.’s nylon backpack.
The hand-drawn characters were integrated into live-action settings, with photographer Glen Luchford using lighting and perspective to connect the illustrations with the filmed scenes. The campaign also showcases Prada’s winter collection, including technical outerwear, candy-coloured stripes and knitwear.
Lighting was central to the process, particularly in a scene featuring Sink, where the glow of a fireplace illuminates the setting.
The campaign highlights traditional illustration and handcrafted animation at a time when computer-generated imagery is widely used in film and advertising.
“Animation speaks into stories like live action can’t,” Pomeroy told Elle. “It’s a whole different universe. There’s a very distinct and purposeful reason to do hand-drawn animation, and that’s to see that there’s value in the human touch. And that hand-drawn and handcrafted work is still alive in the world today.”
