In the 3rd episode of the controversial HBO sequence “The Idol,” Jocelyn, a pop star played by Lily-Rose Depp, and Tedros, a slimy wannabe Svengali played by Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye, head off for a browsing spree at the Valentino boutique on Rodeo Generate in Beverly Hills. After bypassing a gaggle of adoring Jocelyn fans out entrance, the duo undertake some retail remedy. “You see that younger girl about there?” Tedros asks a retailer staff. “Got something in this retail outlet as beautiful as she is?” Jocelyn attempts on a collection of Valentino outfits as Tedros eggs her on, threatens to “suppress stomp” an personnel he thinks his ogling his female, and dismisses 1 prime as “trash.”

Ultimately, the pair close up getting sex in a dressing space. When Jocelyn exits before Tedros can finish, he finishes himself off by itself in the dressing space when holding on to a rack of Valentino clothing. Afterwards, he seems to be at his dirty fingers. Then his gaze turns to the very pricey Valentino pink attire hanging nearby. The digicam cuts away, but the implication is apparent: he wipes his hands off on the dresses.

Did Valentino indicator off on this? I questioned as I watched the scene. Immediately after all, Valentino is a commemorated luxurious style manufacturer. Founded in 1959 by Valentino Garavani, its layouts have been worn by Jackie Kennedy, Princess Diana, and Oprah Winfrey. Had Valentino cosigned on what appeared to be the bespoiling of its brand—or was this was what product placement appeared like in 2023? In lookup of an remedy, I attained out to Valentino for comment. I didn’t get a response back again.

For an expert’s get, I sent an e mail to Stacy Jones, the CEO of Hollywood Branded, a pop culture marketing and advertising agency. She didn’t know if there was any brand name partnership involving Valentino and “The Idol,” but she did supply her just take on the provocative Valentino scene, which experienced produced some debate on Twitter.

“While the scene in the Valentino retail outlet was certainly express, there is not destruction to the brand,” Jones opined. “Even the derogatory mentions created by Tedros about some of the designs and the store’s stylist had no long lasting negative effect. Tedros is demonstrated to be the not-so-good character he is, and it was in fact Tedros who arrived off on the lookout inadequately, not Valentino. The expanding highlight on Valentino dressing Lily-Rose’s character and having her design their clothing on display screen feels like a acquire regardless. The declaring that you cannot pay out for media worth that is accurate. This individual product placement is in excess of delivering on manufacturer awareness major time. There is not a great deal of threat in offending more mature Valentino customers as they simply just will not be seeing the series. They are not the focus on viewers.” These times, Valentino may perhaps be additional intrigued in targeting millennials and Gen Z as prospective consumers. According to Bain & Co.: “These generations are anticipated to account for as significantly as 70% of the world-wide luxury sector by 2025.”

Not only that, it appeared I had skipped the place entirely. As Jones pointed out in her email to me, the Valentino scene from “The Idol” was a redux of a scene from the 1990 movie “Pretty Girl,” starring Julia Roberts as Vivian Ward, a Hollywood escort, and Richard Gere as Edward Lewis, a rich businessman, proper down to the “Do you have just about anything in this store as gorgeous as she is?” line. “I googled to see where [the boutique shopping scene] in ‘Pretty Woman’ was filmed as I believed it experienced a large probability of getting Valentino,” Jones added. “This short article states ‘Pretty Woman’ filmed the Rodeo Travel scene specifically at Valentino. There are a large amount of similarities in the scenes, just taken up quite a few grownup notches with an edgier, modern contact.”

Is “The Idol” “‘torture porn’”? Has it “set back the feminist motion by at the very least a 10 years”? Is it “anti-feminist spectacle”? Or is some thing extra intricate at operate? At least in the scenario of the Valentino scene, the subtext is resolutely feminist. In “Pretty Lady,” Vivian states: “I want the fairy tale.” she desires a guy to rescue her. In Sam Levinson’s “The Idol,” the fairy tale is about. Following all, it’s Jocelyn who denies Tedros his own satisfaction, who is the star, and who, we presume, foots the bill for their purchasing vacation. In this retelling, the female retains the energy, not the gentleman.

On a latest Friday afternoon, I manufactured my way to the Valentino boutique. Since it was late June, the effectively-heeled buyers producing their way up and down the sidewalks experienced to share room with groups of travellers. In the Valentino retail outlet, I was satisfied by a security guard. A salesperson followed me all over as I admired a pair of $1,800 see-by means of system pumps that reminded me of the strippers’ shoe brand name of alternative, Pleaser Shoes, and a pink costume that looked like one Jocelyn experienced worn. On the 2nd ground, the salesperson indicated the dressing room wherever the racy scene for “The Idol” experienced been shot, supposedly. I opened the doorway. No a person, a great deal considerably less Tedros, was there.

This post was at first posted on Forbes.com.

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