La Redoute taps into its archives for a retro-modern campaign bridging eras

Distributed across France twice a year for decades in several million copies, La Redoute’s catalogue was far more than a commercial tool ; it laid the groundwork for an early-stage marketplace. For 52% of the French brand’s customers*, reading its 1,200 pages was a special mother-child bonding moment ; they enjoyed reading it and rereading it more than five times (55%) throughout the season.

Most often placed on the living room coffee table (35%), leafed through and annotated, the catalogue held a unique place in the daily lives of the French. For some, it was even preserved on bookshelves (14%) like a treasured volume, leaving a lasting imprint on the childhood of 98% of La Redoute customers.

For this new campaign, La Redoute returns to its DNA by reviving authentic images deeply embedded in collective memory. It is a way of highlighting its place within French cultural heritage while underscoring the continued relevance and modernity of its sense of service and style.

Conceived as a bridge between two eras, the campaign transforms catalogue pages into living artworks projected into reality through modern technologies (generative AI, motion transfer, and lip-syncing). A digitized past combined with contemporary language gives rise to films that resonate across generations. More than a tribute to its history, the campaign serves as a reminder that for La Redoute, modernity has never been tied to a specific era—it is an intrinsic value of a brand that has always stayed one step ahead.

The right moment to revisit archives and reactivate memory 

In recent years, economic, political, and social uncertainty has fueled a sense of “comforting nostalgia” among many European consumers. In 2025, across 30 countries, 55% of people said they would have preferred to be born 50 years earlier**. From flip phones to 1970s furniture and Le Creuset cookware, these heritage objects have transcended their original function to become lasting emotional anchors.

Building on this insight, La Redoute designed this campaign to move beyond a purely historical perception and reveal the timeless and avant-garde nature of a French platform that has existed for nearly two centuries. In a rapidly changing world, La Redoute positions itself as a stable reference point, a brand that moves with the times, embraces them, and elevates them.

“Drawing on archive visuals from our catalogue and brought to life through AI, this campaign resonates with personal, sometimes intimate memories shared by millions of consumers and reinterpreted for today. The idea was to build a bridge between retro and modernity, between the real and the virtual, to reconnect eras through a contemporary, deeply multigenerational language rooted in pop culture. As the originator of innovations that have since become market standards, it was also important to remind people that La Redoute has always been ahead of its time. Today, new technologies allow us to elevate this heritage, rediscover our collections, and reconnect generations”, said Virginie Boudet, Chief Brand & Communications Officer at La Redoute.

Catalogue pages as raw canvases, AI as the brush

The uniqueness of the execution lies in a deliberate contrast: a retro visual universe paired with a distinctly contemporary lexicon, creating a striking shift and a powerful link between eras. Technology enhances real archival material without ever replacing it. Audio and visual recordings of real actors, capturing voices, lip movements, and facial expressions, are then applied through AI to the retro characters featured in the catalogue.

“Our idea was to create a dialogue between La Redoute’s heritage and today’s creative languages. Period scenes carried by a contemporary voice make them instantly relatable and alive. AI is simply a tool within this system—serving the idea, never the other way around”, said Rémy Aboukrat, Creative Director at Marcel Worldwide.

The four films, highlighting the brand’s presence in households, the efficiency of its service, and the quality of its sourcing across product categories, will be supported by an OOH campaign and a wide range of social media content built on the same retro-modern concept.

*Quantitative survey conducted with La Redoute’s French customer base, March 2026

**Is Life Getting Better? 1975 vs 2025, IPSOS 2025