David LaChapelle takes on Trump's wall with flamboyant Diesel campaign, Make Love Not Walls

David LaChapelle has directed and photographed the Diesel SS17 campaign, Make Love Not Walls, taking aim at Trump’s proposed wall between the US and Mexico and the societal divides it represents. David famously worked with Diesel on its iconic 1995 campaign showing two sailors kissing, which at the time was one of the first big-budget ad campaigns to depict a gay couple in this way. 

Working with ad agency Anomaly Amsterdam on the politically themed campaign, the photographer has created a celebratory and flamboyant series of images that “focus on inspiring positivity by breaking down the walls that divide us”. In David’s idiosyncratic style, the shots are exuberant and colourful. One key image features a technicolour tank being lifted by a group of denim-clad models against the backdrop of a concrete wall.

“[Diesel has] a strong position against hate and, more than ever, we want the world to know that,” says the brand’s artistic director Nicola Formichetti. 

Diesel founder Renzo Rosso added: “We need to have the balls to break down barriers in a moment where fear is making the world divided with more walls."