MILAN — Sombr is making his fashion campaign debut, courtesy of Valentino.
To be released on Tuesday, on the tails of the artist’s performance at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, the images are part of the brand’s pre-fall 2026 campaign conceived by creative director Alessandro Michele and photographed by Johnny Dufort. The campaign strengthens the collaboration between the singer and the Roman house, which named him brand ambassador earlier this year.
The images are set in American artist Cy Twombly’s palazzo, tucked away in Bassano in Teverina, an hour drive from Rome. This is also the first time a fashion campaign has been shot in the venue, whose choice was not fortuitous, as Michele stressed in a letter doubling as press notes. The designer highlighted the relationship between the brand and Twombly by recalling archival editorials in the ’60s captured in the artist’s Roman apartment, for one.
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In the images, the quiet, intimate environment collides with the vibrantly colored garments, richly embroidered accessories and untamed hair donned by model Apolline, who fronts the campaign opposite Sombr. Apolline additionally stars solo in the short film flanking the images, where she wanders around different rooms while engaging in a dialogue with a mysterious voiceover and artwork showcased at the venue.
Sombr was seen wearing the brand on stage multiple times since the release of his “Homewrecker” single — the same day he was announced as brand ambassador — including his most recent appearances at Coachella. The custom-made looks included a studded leather jacket and pants styled with a laced shirt for the first weekend, and a military-inspired embroidered jacket with metal fringes worn over a laced shirt and paired with embroidered pants for the second one.
Previously, Sombr wore the brand at the 2026 iHeartRadio Music Awards in Los Angeles, where he scooped up the “Best New Artist” and “Best New Alternative Album” awards last month, and at the 46th Brit Awards in Manchester in February.
He picked the Rome-based fashion brand for several occasions even before becoming brand ambassador, including at the Grammy Awards, where he was nominated for Best New Artist and performed in two custom looks; at the MTV Video Music Awards in New York in September; on “Saturday Night Live” in November, and at the Spilt Milk Festival in Perth, Australia, a month later.
As Valentino brand ambassadors, the New York City native joined the likes of Colman Domingo; Dakota Johnson; Freen Sarocha; Jeff Satur; Liz and Rei of K-pop group Ive; Clairo; Jolin Cai; Yang Zi; Sun Li; Lareina Song; Alessandro Borghi, and Lorenzo Zurzolo.