Willow Smith, Jaden Smith and Naomi Osaka are just a few of the trailblazers starring in Levi’s new progressive awareness campaign, “Beauty of Becoming.” In the commercial clip, the innovators are asked what they would tell their 14-year-old selves and deliver inspiring dream-chasing replies.
Acclaimed film director Oge Egbuonu shot the campaign, which features figures in sports, entertainment, fashion, art and activism. The ad also stars designer and artist Tremaine Emory, actress Leyna Bloom, disability rights advocate Haben Girma, professor and civic leader Melina Abdullah, labor leader and civil rights activist Dolores Huerta, designer Melody Ehsani, climate activist Xiye Bastida, Chicano activist Carlos Montes, composer Angela Beyince, stylist Karla Welch and actor Brandon Flynn.
Speaking with Yahoo, Egbuonu explained her vision for the campaign. “Whether it’s a PSA, commercial, campaign or a film, I try to mix up the voices in whatever particular medium that I’m using. I think when you mix it up and blur the line between celebrity and who we may deem as everyday people, it gives people permission to know that they can become that, too,” she said.
Partnering with Levi’s has actually become a full-circle moment for the director, who worked at one of its stores as a sales associate for three years while she was in college.
“We tend to look at people who we may see as icons or celebrities or mentors, we see them as special or extraordinary, and we think: ‘There’s just something special about them, there’s nothing special about me,’ ” Egbuonu said. “I wanted to create a campaign that basically took the veils off and showed that no one starts off great. People become that … And so, at any point in life, you can become who you’re meant to be.”
Egbuonu also has a documentary coming out. OWN will premiere her film, (In) Visible Portraits, on Tuesday, March 2, 2021, which celebrates the Black woman’s struggle and resilience since being abducted and brought to America.
For now, check out her Levi’s “Beauty of Becoming” campaign on the next page.
