Transforming Iconic Fashion Campaigns Through Color

Colour is one of the most powerful elements of a fashion campaign. The right hue can set the mood, evoke emotion, and tell a story, but it's not easy.

This craft unfolds behind the scenes, where colourists like Zhiying Huang play a crucial role. They enhance each campaign with the proper emotional depth through meticulous colour grading.

'Coloring gives a story vitality and personality. Every mood has a unique colour palette,' says Huang.

As an editor, director, and colourist, Huang shapes the visual language of global fashion campaigns through precise colour manipulation and post-production editing, ensuring each frame aligns with the brand's creative vision. Her work has helped many significant promotions gain artistic appeal and commercial success.

Whether it's the moody elegance of the FENDI Peekaboo 2024 campaign, the vibrant energy of Calvin Klein's Spring/Summer 2024 collection, or the warmth and confidence of the Michael Kors brand, Huang's work demonstrates the transformative power of colour and editing.

Here's an inside look at Huang's creative process and how she helped shape some of the industry's most talked-about fashion campaigns.

From Film to Fashion

Huang's journey began with a fascination for storytelling in film. Initially working as a director on her projects, she discovered a passion for post-production. The meticulous nature of editing and the transformative power of colour drew her into the field, where she quickly established herself as a visionary artist.

One of her early projects, Home Conservation Practice, was recognised as "Short Film Market Picks" at the 2024 Clermont-Ferrand Film Festival, one of the world's largest short film festivals. She built an emotional premise to convey the theme by polishing the visual with a green and brown palette to signify rustiness and decay.

This success opened doors to new opportunities in post-production for Huang, leading her to Gloss Studio in New York, where she honed her expertise in luxury fashion productions to balance artistic expression with commercial demands.

How Zhiying Huang is Shaping Visual Identities: Key Fashion Campaigns

At Gloss Studio, Huang began working with global brands, and her career took off. Each campaign she worked on presented its own set of challenges, requiring her to meet technical demands and formulate tailored approaches to match each brand's distinct visual identity and message.

The FENDI Peekaboo campaign aimed to balance mystery and elegance. Creating this combination with 'phantom-style' lighting involved deep shadows, where the model's wardrobe, hair, and makeup were deeply obscured, but details couldn't be lost. The visual incorporated blur dissolves and other special effects, making it challenging to preserve clarity while ensuring the final product remained cohesive.

To address this, Huang utilised 'Magic Mask,' which identifies areas for colouring based on shadows instead of colour pigments. This enables precise isolation and refinement of specific elements to accentuate textures even in deep shadows.

Careful refinement achieved a calm, mysterious atmosphere that upheld Fendi's high-fashion aesthetic while maintaining technical precision.

Calvin Klein Pride 2024

Unlike the subtle tones used in Fendi's campaign, the Calvin Klein Pride campaign required a combination of monotone and high contrast with a vibrant colour palette to reflect its youthful energy and the celebratory spirit of Pride. Working with such high-saturation hues in greys proved difficult to ensure that the colours remained rich without appearing oversaturated or unbalanced.

To achieve this, Huang used advanced colouring masks and tracking tools to make highly targeted adjustments to specific areas, ensuring clarity while balancing the intensity of colours. She organised the project in a node structure so the different elements could be edited independently.

After completing the colouring, she adjusted every detail to ensure it was well presented on various platforms, including social media, Times Square billboards, and in-store displays.

The campaign's striking visuals resonated strongly with audiences, amassing over 248K views on YouTube during Pride month and reflecting Calvin Klein's commitment to LGBTQIA+ representation.

Michael Kors Mother's Day 2024

For Michael Kors' Mother's Day campaign, the creative direction leaned towards warmth and confidence, reflecting the emotional connection between mothers and their children and their maternal fearlessness. It had to evoke contrasting facets without losing the refined, sophisticated essence of the Michael Kors brand.

Huang carefully selected a neutral yet strong colour palette. She exercised restraint in her colour choices, using earthy hues and cool greys, so the visuals complemented the campaign's sentimentality without straying from Michael Kors' luxury tones.

This delicate balance between softness and strength helped the campaign successfully convey the essence of Mother's Day and Michael Kors' brand identity.

Redefining Fashion's Visual Language

For Zhiying Huang, colouring isn't merely about making something look good; it's about making it feel right. Her work is a testament to how colour can transform a brand's campaign into an immersive experience.

Beyond individual campaigns, Huang's work has contributed to reshaping how the fashion industry approaches digital colour in the streaming era. Her ability to maintain brand integrity while adapting content for various platforms has become increasingly valuable as fashion houses navigate the demands of omnichannel marketing. The success of campaigns like Calvin Klein Pride demonstrates how strategic colour decisions can amplify a brand's message and engage modern audiences.

As the fashion industry continues to evolve in the digital age, Huang's expertise in balancing artistic vision with technical precision serves as a blueprint for future colourists and content creators. Her work shows how thoughtful colour manipulation can enhance a single campaign and help shape the visual identity of global fashion brands in an increasingly digital world.

To explore the campaigns she has contributed to, connect with Zhiying and witness the power of colour in shaping the fashion world.