Aaron Taylor-Johnson Flexes His Bare Chest in Saint Laurent’s Latest Men’s Campaign

Saint Laurent is no stranger to steamy campaigns and sultry storytelling. For its Winter 2025 menswear ad, the house leaned fully into its legacy of sensual tension and cerebral edge, casting Aaron Taylor-Johnson alongside Christopher Walken in a powerful visual narrative. Shot by Glen Luchford under the creative direction of Anthony Vaccarello, the campaign explores masculinity not as a fixed archetype, but as a spectrum of experience—from the restless ache of youth to the gravitas of age.

A series of portraits and cinematic vignettes draw clear inspiration from Robert Mapplethorpe’s 1983 campaign for the house. Saint Laurent’s Winter 2025 imagery unfolds with charged duality, as explained by the house in a press release.

In one short film, Taylor-Johnson appears in a feral emotional state with his performance moving through obsession, longing, and despair with a visceral intensity. His scenes, drenched in emotion and charged with heat, channel the angst and eroticism of youth. 

In contrast, Walken’s film remains entirely in black and white—his movements slow, eyes searching, every frame pulsing with lived experience and internal weight. Both embody provocation, but from opposing sides of the human condition: Taylor-Johnson is immediate and instinctual; Walken, restrained and reflective.

The campaign is a masterclass in contrast, and yet both actors feel distinctly Saint Laurent. Taylor-Johnson (known for roles in Bullet Train, Nosferatu, and the upcoming 28 Years Later) embodies physicality and passion. Walken, whose decades-spanning career includes Dune: Part Two, Sleepy Hollow, and Pulp Fiction, brings a timeless, enigmatic charisma. Together, they represent the ever-evolving codes of the house.