On January 18th at 5:45 pm, I was sitting in bed going through emails when I saw the most important email of the year. It was from the Lana del Rey Newsletter announcing a Valentine’s Day collaboration between Lana del Rey and Skims. At first, I got a feeling of deja vu as I had the same feeling I got when I found out Timothée Chalamet and Kylie Jenner were dating. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t imagine the two celebrities interacting, let alone existing on the same plane. I felt the same way when I tried to picture Lana del Rey and Kim Kardashian in the same room. I remembered that Lana performed at Kim K’s wedding, which just made me even more confused. While the two women are written in entirely different fonts, the pairing of them for this campaign is just iconic.
This collaboration is the ultimate formula for the perfect Valentine’s Day collection. It’s irrefutable that Lana del Rey is synonymous with Valentine’s Day. The Lana del Rey x Skims campaign was launched with absolutely dreamy Valentine’s Day-themed photos starring Lana. The campaign was shot with various sets, each with different styling. The most iconic photos of them all feature her wearing a pink lace bodysuit, satin elbow-length gloves with a matching hair bow, with a big fuzzy red blanket draped around her, matching the red backdrop, surrounded by fluffy white cats. Target audience acquired. Everything about the styling, set, and pose, is every Lana girl’s Valentine’s Day heaven. The composition, colors, and gloves had me wondering if they were inspired by Marylin Monroe’s “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend” scene from Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.
The collection itself is exactly what one would expect from a Lana collab: pink, lace, satin embellishments, and just unapologetic, feminine cuteness. With the coquette trend still going strong, as well as the movement of women finding comfort and confidence in their femininity, this is exactly what the girls needed this Valentine’s Day. In a world where it’s difficult to find size-inclusive clothing that’s also cutesy, feminine, and frilly, Skims is a great brand for this collab because of their “fits everybody” motto with sizes from XXS to 4X. This combats the outdated but surprisingly common ideology that the “coquette” style is intended for a certain body type.
Whether you’ve got a partner who loves Lana Del Rey, the color pink, or you just want to treat yourself, this collection is something a lot of us needed this Valentine’s season. Even if you’re not looking to buy, the photoshoot itself was the perfect way to set the mood and get in the spirit of love for February 14th.
Words by Mishi Ali.
Graphic by Punasa (Bee) Sihsobhon.