PARCO Taps Shanghai-Based Emerging Director Aj Duan for Autumn 2025 Campaign

For over 50 years, PARCO has been a leading force in Japanese style and culture, not only as a major commercial institution, but the brand is also renowned for its richly imaginative and insightful campaigns. Continuing to welcome audiences into its world, PARCO now unveils the latest campaign for the Autumn 2025 season.

To bring this season’s vision to life, PARCO has appointed Aj Duan, an up-and-coming creator from Shanghai, China, as Creative Director. After earning her bachelor’s degree in filmmaking from Kingston University in London, UK, she went on to specialize in documentary production while taking on her master’s degree at the University of Birmingham. Now a director of short films and documentaries, Duan excels at visualizing the delicate interplay between an individual’s inner self and their environment.

She has an extensive portfolio that includes campaign visuals for distinguished fashion houses, including Hermès and Gucci. However, this collaboration with PARCO marks her first creative project for a Japanese company. The theme of the striking new campaign is “echoes of self.” Expanding upon that theme, Duan explains her thoughts on the concept, “The word ‘echoes’ has always resonated with me. It’s a sound in a very uncertain state; you can never tell when the original sound began, because it’s constantly reflecting, distorting and transforming. The phrase ‘echoes of self’ emerged as I was creating this campaign.”

She continues, “I believe that each of our ‘selves’ is composed of a multitude of voices, a variety of ‘echoes.’ Voices from the outside, the perspectives of others, and our own experiences all continuously influence and shape our self-perception, much like echoes. In an age that moves at a breathtaking pace and that is overflowing with information, I wanted to use the imagery of ‘echoes’ to express our search and contemplation for that ambiguous, yet certain, existence we call the ‘self.’”

The theme signifies not only a physical reverberation of sound, but a deep, internal resonance. This worldview was brought to life through the majestic backdrop of Izu Oshima island. The campaign depicts two individuals living in a modern society dominated by information overload and speed, as they confront the selves they’re beginning to lose. Through their connection with nature, they rediscover their bond with the natural world and with themselves. The campaign also features sounds that we might not ordinarily notice, inviting the audience to experience a sharpening of the senses through the visuals and their auditory elements.

The PARCO Autumn 2025 campaign, directed by Aj Duan, will launch Tuesday, July 22nd. Looking ahead, the Winter 2025 campaign is scheduled for release in mid-October. Check out the PARCO website for what’s next.