She’s just a girl who dreams. Only she has a magic cupboard, and the power to summon a Winx Club transformation for herself—all to slip into the outfit of her dreams. That was the magic of the recently viral campaign for Sandy Liang’s collaboration with Gap. Inviting us to step into a playful world that brims with girlhood and nostalgia, the animated short film featuring ‘Sandy’s dream closet’ was an instant hit with the chronically online crowd. Not only was it perfectly in step with the NYC-based designer’s entire aesthetic, it was also a sight for sore eyes in a digital world proliferated with thoughtlessly AI-generated art forms. Instead, the animation was the result of an impeccable collaboration between animation production studio Mind’s Eye Creative, sound designer John Kallen, and specifically, one artist’s light touch: Annie Choi, who might be better known by her Instagram moniker, @anchoponcho.
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Yet this isn’t Choi’s first rodeo working with a fashion brand for a campaign like this. The animation artist is behind numerous digital works done for luxury houses, like a Japanese puzzle box-inspired film for Hermès to funny little frogs for Loewe. A particular favourite would be one done for Helmut Lang, titled ‘Rush Hour’. Choi’s works are testament to a growing demand from luxury houses—to work with animators and creators who offer an alternative eye to another world. One that opens dreamscapes, fantasies, aspirations; inspiring the exact sort of desire any luxury brand would aspire towards.
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In the world of animation, frogs could be slurping up ramen at a ramen bar, Burberry pillows could be transformed into padded boots for winter, and Louis Vuitton fragrances could be spritzed to colour the sky a sunset hue. Some luxury brands have taken it a step further, like Cartier working with Japanese manga artists to produce an entire animation short for its Ginza store opening in Tokyo, or Jaeger-LeCoultre’s webtoon series to narrativise the history of its storied Reverso.
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Whilst this alternative approach is certainly a means for brands to attract new audiences, it’s also heartening to see the work of animation artists being increasingly regarded and appreciated. Here, a closer look at some of the artists and animators who have been working with luxury brands to produce visually captivating campaigns with their unique vision.
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Alice Choi
Alice Choi’s digital world is a dreamscape of its own. With her zany, ebullient art style, it’s no wonder that a fleet of luxury brands have chosen to put out playful campaigns with her. Beyond her latest work for the Sandy Liang x Gap collaboration capsule, some of the artist’s most viral works include ones done for Hèrmes, Loewe, Dior Beauty and Burberry.
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Naoki Urasawa
When it comes to animation, Japan’s manga and anime artists have long established themselves as masters in their own league. Leave it to Cartier to tap onto some of its greats—like the artist behind cult manga series Monster Naoki Urasawa—to produce an entire seven-minute short film together with animation director Yasuhiro Aoki. All for the store opening of the maison’s newest store in Ginza, Tokyo.
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Alex Israel
Hardly the first time LA-based multimedia artist has collaborated with Louis Vuitton, their latest venture together sees a reimagining of an LA boulevard for an olfactory experience of its Louis Vuitton Cologne collection. Following the architectural spectacle inspired by Israel’s own work, each scent has also been imagined in a dreamy animated scape that reflects its essence.
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Helen Bullock
Forget just campaigns, she’s worked on entire collab collections with Burberry. Her art brimming with a tasteful eye for nature, we’re not surprised that the British heritage house decided to work with the London-based fashion illustrator and print designer Helen Bullock for a joyous series of prints that resulted in not only beautiful clothes for the Burberry x Highgrove collection, but also a series of beautiful animations, brought to life by animation experts Eastend Western.
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Lily Catan (Olivecoat)
The Cebu-based artist behind the famous webtoon Honbarian was an unexpected collaborator for Jaeger-LeCoultre, as part of its continued ‘Made of Makers’ programme. Unveiling an archive-inspired webcomic spanning six chapters, Lily Catan—better known by her online moniker Olivecoat—has designed an entire world for how the maison’s iconic Reverso came to be, infused with her signature warm art style.
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Alix Bortoli
Loewe has always been a fashion force that finds direct parallels with the art and film landscape. For the maison’s spring/summer 2026 precollection, the the Spanish house tapped onto film director Alix Bortoli to direct a psychedelic short film The Man Who Drew Cats, centred around the wondrous world of British artist Louis Wain, who turned the beloved felines into anthropomorphised characters.
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