Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer unite for Louis Vuitton

By Vanessa Grace Ng

For the new iteration of the Louis Vuitton Core Values campaign, on-court rivals Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer are playing for the same Louis Vuitton team.

High up in the peaks of the Italian Dolomites are long-time challengers Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, united on a rare occasion. For Louis Vuitton, the tennis superstars have gone from competitors to companions on a summit 3,000m up, way above any court they have ever graced in their careers. The French luxury house is tapping onto the duo for an Annie Leibovitz-shot campaign, for a revival of its Core Values campaign — one that highlights the notion of legacy, determination and discovery.

“It’s a unique opportunity to be working on this campaign with Rafa. How we could be such rivals and then at the end of our careers be beside each other doing this campaign has been very cool. And where we are here today, I think it also embodies everything: at the peak of the mountains. For us it is something meaningful and special,” says Federer.

The household names perhaps have their unrivalled reputations and esteem in sports to thank for this appointment: Nadal has 13 French Open wins under his belt, while Federer has 20 Grand Slam titles; and the duo each have unique beginnings as prodigies in the game. Which is what qualifies them as superior faces for a campaign situated around tenacity and transcendence beyond the physical. “I know how many important icons have been part of this campaign, so for me personally, being part of it is something that I am very proud of, especially sharing it with Roger — he has been my biggest rival and now a close friend today. In my career, I achieved more than I ever dreamt of, so at the end of the day, the legacy in terms of human beings is the most important value,” says Nadal in a statement.

And so the campaign adds to their legacy of being uniquely different, but still sharing much of the same vibrant qualities that have led them to this pinnacle. It shows in their costuming: Federer sports a classic Monogram Christopher backpack while Nadal wears the Monogram Eclipse, conveying the slight alternations in personality, but each representative of dynamism in power and endurance in the sport. Pietro Beccari, Chairman and CEO of Louis Vuitton adds, “It has been 17 years since I launched the first Core Values campaign with Antoine Arnault, and I am delighted to revive this iconic series. Each Core Values chapter celebrates Louis Vuitton’s legacy of travel, of working with exceptional people, and of transmission — both physical and emotional. It has been brilliant to work with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal on this new story — both inspirational athletes, fierce friends, and testaments to the discipline and excellence of their own personal sporting journeys.”