“Empty Naples”: on Instagram LOW and ISAIA bring the sounds of the city back to the people

LOW, a division of the creative agency The Big Now/mcgarrybowen and ISAIA, the iconic Neapolitan luxury menswear brand, have launched an Instagram initiative linked to the memory of a thriving city waiting to return to daily life. The hum of urban life is music to the ears of many, however, as everyone social distances, silence has filled the normally rowdy and lively city streets, amplifying the loneliness already felt during quarantine. Even in Naples, the home town of ISAIA, the proudly Neapolitan menswear brand known for its high-end tailoring and heartwarming irony.

To break the quiet LOW, a division of the creative agency The Big Now/mcgarrybowen led by Massimiliano Chiesa has created “Napoli Vuota” (Empty Naples), a simple but heart-felt idea to animate ISAIA’s Instagram

In collaboration with NapoliSoundscape, a project founded in 2013 to collect the background noises of Naples in danger of extinction, LOW found a way to keep these sounds alive during quarantine.

“Napoli Vuota” comprises three images of a deserted Naples shot by Santangelo Studios and overlaid with a Napolisoundscape audio recording of a bustling piazza. Each post is an invitation to recollect a happy past and imagine a bright future while acknowledging the difficult present.

For Isaia this means sharing its vibrant home, Naples. With soul-stirring imagery and sounds, LOW for ISAIA’s “Napoli Vuota” transports viewers to better days. While just a brief moment on an Instagram, it’s a powerful boost of optimism necessary to face the dilemma at hand.

“Faced with the changes that the world is going through, I believe that only by adapting to the new needs of consumers luxury brands can come to be perceived as worlds in which valuable connections are created. – says Massimiliano Chiesa, Co-Founder of The Big Now/mcgarrybowen and Managing Director at LOW – Thanks to the entrepreneurial spirit of Gianluca Isaia and the creative vision of Paola Manfrin, ISAIA Creative Director, I believe Isaia can be among the quintessential protagonists of it all”.

“This quarantine has reshaped our lives”. – says Gianluca Isaia, CEO & President ISAIA – “We are often so caught up in the daily hustle and bustle that we don’t notice what’s around us. Now those “noises” that sometimes annoyed us, are missed terribly. Naples has always been the center of our inspiration, passion and success. Even in this difficult historical moment, we will not stop talking about Naples and its roots, making ourselves spokespersons of Neapolitaness in the world. We will come back stronger than before and, above all, even noisier (“ammuina”)”.

Credits:

Agency: LOW (a division of The Big Now/mcgarrybowen)

Creative Supervisor & Copywriter: Odeya D. Bendaud

Art Director: Martina Facco

Copywriter: Caroline De Santis

Account Director: Federica De Paoli