Prada goes hand-drawn, enlisting Maya Hawke, Sadie Sink and a Disney animation veteran
Prada tapped Maya Hawke and Sadie Sink to lead a new fashion project—complete with hand-drawn animation from a veteran Disney creative.
Three cartoon mice wobble under the weight of a spotted loafer while Sadie Sink looks on; in another snowy vignette, Maya Hawke meets a fox as a snow lynx eyes a handbag. Those storybook beats come from Drawing Prada: Animated by Hand, a wintry campaign that pairs pencil-and-paper animation with live-action footage.
The hand-drawn sequences are led by veteran Disney animator John Pomeroy (whose credits include Pocahontas and Fantasia 2000), with photographer-director Glen Luchford shooting the live-action plates so the actors share the frame seamlessly with the illustrated animals.
Who’s in it
Prada’s holiday cast mixes familiar faces from film and TV with the house’s global ambassadors:
- Sadie Sink
- Maya Hawke
- Chen Haoyu
- Kelvin Harrison Jr.
- Luther Ford
Old-school craft, on purpose
Pomeroy said the project was about fusing two disciplines — fashion film and traditional 2D animation — and doing it with the tactile look of drawings on paper. In a statement shared with WWD, he called the collaboration an honor.
“It was an absolute honor to have Prada ask me to direct this series of 2D animated films for their 2026 holiday campaign. The merging of our two art forms took our combined creativity to the next level.”
He expanded on that idea in a behind-the-scenes video, stressing why the team steered clear of purely digital tricks.
“There’s a very distinct and purposeful reason to do hand-drawn animation, and that's to see that there's value in it.”
Beyond the animation, the campaign folds a little fashion history into the fairytale: the return of Prada’s dalmatian-print loafers, tied to Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy and her 1995 appearance at New York’s Bowery Bar. In one shot, three tiny mice struggle to hoist the reissued shoe, turning a heritage piece into a slapstick prop.
Between Sink’s snowbound curiosity, Hawke’s woodland encounter, and the illustrated creatures guiding your eye to the accessories, the ad leans on character moments rather than straight product shots — all rolling out as Prada’s holiday campaign for 2026.