GoSee ‘CREATIVES TO WATCH’ : Ingo Brack, Global Director of Marketing, Creative Services & Communication at ESCADA, the creative driving force behind the brand, in an interview on campaigns, design and photography
Ingo Brack is an influential figure in the world of marketing and design, whose career spans an impressive 28 years. With unrivaled versatility, he has relentlessly demonstrated his talent in the areas of marketing, communication, fashion design, art buying, product development and material concepts, PR, art direction, and exhibition design. Ingo Brack has put his expertise and strong leadership skills to work with great success for renowned luxury brands such as ESCADA, TSE, Hussein Chalayan, Helmut Lang, Marc Jacobs, Bulgari, and Swarovski.
His career has taken him to all corners of the globe – from vibrant capitals of the world such as Tokyo and Bangkok, to New York City and Zurich, or even Munich. Ingo Brack’s work has been published in well-known magazines such as VOGUE, ELLE, I-D, MADAME, HARPER’S BAZAAR, and MARIE CLAIRE.
Today, Ingo Brack is the Director of Global Marketing, Content, Creative Services and Media at ESCADA. He is in charge of art buying and is instrumental in the design of marketing materials and creative concepts for the brand and its licensing partners. With his expertise and signature style, he continues to rewrite the rules – while serving as an endless source of inspiration for co-workers and clients alike. We are delighted to introduce Ingo and present his work in an interview on GoSee.
The last few ESCADA campaigns have taken him to Iceland, Jordan, Marrakech, and just recently, to Bangkok. All of which are destinations that inspire to dream and whet the appetite to explore new places and adopt them as fresh stomping grounds. What would you say characterizes the ESCADA style and how do you pick travel destinations?
IB : That sums it up quite well. Together with my team, particularly with Anna and Alexander, we work continuously on the further development of our massive productions. For us, it is important to appeal to the global ESCADA customer and her lifestyle. A woman who likes to travel and enjoys the beautiful and luxurious things in life. Something, of course, we would like to bring out in our campaigns. Which is why it is so important to produce on location, to create the images in authentic places or sites without sparing cost or effort. That is a huge challenge for everyone involved.
Planning, production, the cast, and of course, the numerous locations spread out all over the world do pose a big challenge for us at times. We have extreme weather conditions to cope with now and then, like, for instance, in Iceland at -25 degrees Celsius or right now in the Namibian desert at a scorching 49 degrees Celsius (120 Fahrenheit). Because we supervise everything from planning to the end product as a team. I try to keep the team as small as possible, which means we have been working with a lot of the talent for years. This makes it all feel like a tight-knit ESCADA family, which in turn makes our productions so unique and unforgettable. It’s like traveling and working with and among friends.
The destinations are often chosen to match the present trends. Jordan as well as Namibia, for instance, were particularly popular destinations among influencers and content producers. Sometimes strategic considerations come into play. Take Greece, where we have a very strong partner, but it is important to us to put our global efforts front and center. After all, ESCADA is a global brand. Of course, we have already produced at BMW Welt in Munich, since Escada has its roots in Munich.
Tell us more about shooting, both stills and motion, in Bangkok. You staged the collection against the backdrop of magnificent architecture. Making it all look so easy and elegant. Wasn’t attempting to get permits to use drone cameras etc. in such a big city complicated?
IB : Everything always looks easy and cool when you see the pictures. But these are precisely the kind of smaller or greater challenges we experience again and again on set. We deliberately chose locations in Bangkok because I have lived there myself, which turned out to be quite helpful. Our production unit took care of all the permits and legal formalities. Drone shots are only permitted in certain parts of the city, which we, naturally, complied with. Which is why we chose at least one spot where drone shots are allowed if you have a permit. Chinatown in Bangkok was very busy, with thousands of passers-by. We even had two police officers who kept an eye on us and cordoned off the area so that we were able to photograph at all. And I must once again emphasize here that my team always does a great job on location. We all work hand in hand, and each of us knows exactly what needs to be done. If we do run into problems, we discuss them right then and there to figure out a solution.
You have been responsible for the look of the brand now for many years as Head of Creative Services, you’ve put together the teams and been in charge of how ESCADA is seen by the public. For the last campaigns, you’ve now wielded the camera yourself as photographer. How did that happen? Instead of only art direction, you can take matters into your own hands, so to speak, with the camera too now. And what’s exciting or perhaps new for you about this development?
IB : A lot of it was more coincidence than planned. During the pandemic, we were facing the same problem as everyone else; we didn’t know when and where we could produce content, particularly due to contact restrictions. So we decided to do it ourselves. I may not be a photography ‘pro’ per se, but I have a good eye and enough experience with content to know what we need and what we don’t. Both worlds have their perks.
During my career, I have worked with many well-known and quite renowned photographers, which for me has been an amazing experience time after time. But like I’ve said, the big advantage is to work with a smaller, familiar team and to choose locations that would be more difficult to handle with a larger one. In Namibia, we laid back 2600 kilometers and had to cross the desert on foot for 45 minutes at 49 degrees with the whole team and the model – because you simply couldn’t get to that particular spot by car.
I focus on the key assets and the ones we need for editorials, while Anna takes care of stills for our licenses, such as eyewear and jewelry, and Alex is in charge of photographing the architecture, landscape and surroundings. So we basically have three sets, which enables us to produce fast and efficiently. Since my team knows exactly what we need, and we’re on the same page when it comes to aesthetic, it works out just fine.
My real job, though, is still global marketing and communication. Photography does take the entire team to some really beautiful places with gorgeous landscapes to see – but there is a downside. There’s always a lot of work that goes along with it. Our day often begins, like on most productions, as early as three o’clock in the morning.
How do you coordinate the design of the new collection and the production of visuals? When do you start working on visuals for the collection?
Our Design Director Ioana De Vilmorin is part of our little ESCADA teams on set. This enables us to make sure everyone is satisfied already on set and quickly find solutions if issues should arise. Our preparation time and post production are meanwhile longer than they used to be because we do everything ourselves. Which means that we practically work around the clock on the two global campaigns and the licensing campaigns. As soon as a campaign has been photographed, the next is already in the planning phase. Plus, as a team, we have to do all the marketing and communication work, besides all the sales, editorial and ecom shoots, which does seem to fill up our days and make them a bit longer – to put it mildly.
You are meanwhile the Global Director of Marketing, Creative Services & Communication. What other responsibilities do you and your team have at ESCADA?
We oversee all steps of the process that are normally performed by a marketing team. A major part of it is content creation, including the corresponding guidelines on cropping images and social media posting schedules across all channels of ESCADA and our wholesale partners. Plus MMM and all POS materials, such as posters for use in stores, fall into this category. This also includes global event concepts and their realization throughout our ESCADA world alongside PR and communication work for the brand. Moreover, we have a major influence on the creative part of our ecommerce presence. Working together with licensing partners in the area of marketing and communication also keeps us pretty busy.
Provided, of course, your tight schedule permits it, what do you do in your spare time? What are you excited about at the moment and are there any pet projects you’re working on?
A large part of my life revolves around my work and the traveling it brings with it. I still love it and consider it a blessing to be able to be in such an extraordinary line of work. If I am not working on ESCADA or have other projects on my desk, I enjoy everything that has to do with Asia – especially with Bangkok. I was lucky enough to live in Bangkok; I speak the language, and we spend almost every spare minute we have in Thailand.
Fortunately, I am also blessed with a wonderful private life and don’t even know what it’s like to be bored. I am interested in a lot of things, like culture, traveling, the media and discovering new things. I have to admit, though, that I am a big fan of TikTok, and my team is probably totally annoyed with all the exciting locations, articles, news, tips and sometimes even just funny posts that I’m constantly sending them.
We would like to thank Ingo dearly for granting such wonderful insights into his work and a glimpse behind the scenes of the luxury brand ESCADA. He presents us the latest Spring/Summer campaign here on GoSee.
Ronja Furrer is the face the ESCADA Spring/Summer 2024 campaign. The Swiss supermodel and entrepreneur, who lives in New York City today, is the epitome of timeless elegance and sophistication. “She’s more than just a cover girl, she’s a symbol of empowerment and timeless style. In recent campaigns, our ESCADA woman has traveled the world and witnessed the splendor of several natural settings. We believe it was crucial to present ESCADA in a bustling city once more for Summer 2024. Bangkok, one of the most captivating Asian cities, served as the perfect backdrop for the ESCADA Spring Summer collection. Like ESCADA, the city offers a blend of ancient tradition and modern innovation, with so many exciting things to discover time and again. Ronja posed above the Bangkok skyline for ESCADA ML. The many sky terraces with a stunning view of the city skyline are a luxurious oasis to escape the hustle and bustle of Bangkok.
For ESCADA Sport, Ronja explores the endless busy streets of Chinatown in Bangkok – festooned with neon signs amid the vivacious buzz and so much to discover. With so many new things to see awaiting her around every corner, so many fascinating impressions – it’s just so much fun to experience this variety in the new ESCADA SPORT collection.”
Spring/Summer 2024 ESCADA Main Line
Spring/Summer 2024 ESCADA Sport Line
GoSee : gosee.de/fashion
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