Picture this: A restaurant in Rome, a chance encounter as table mates sharing space over dinner and an inspired conversation about fashion, art, film, marketing and more. It’s precisely that scene, which unfolded in Italy last April as Amazon MGM Studios head of global marketing Sue Kroll found herself seated across from Loewe creative director Jonathan Anderson at a last-minute dinner ahead of a glitzy Rome red carpet premiere for Luca Guadagnino’s Challengers, released by the studio and featuring costumes by the acclaimed CFDA international designer of the year.
The meeting, meal and chat produced the pictures that have Hollywood buzzing — in a good way — thanks to a surprise collaboration. The veteran top Hollywood executive stars in the Spanish luxury brand’s new spring-summer 2025 pre-collection campaign alongside of the moment stars like The Bear’s Ayo Edebiri, Baby Reindeer breakout Richard Gadd, Queer’s Drew Starkey and The White Lotus actor Leo Woodall. Shot by acclaimed photographer Juergen Teller, the campaign finds the creatives matched with “a cast of performers representing a series of human stereotypes,” per Loewe, like a sea captain, ballroom dancers, leather daddies, scuba diver, medieval knights, a jockey, rugby players, a ballet dancer and a gardener.
In Kroll’s case, she was cast opposite a surfer, short board and all. The pairings are meant to be “both intentional and spontaneous” as unexpected combinations that “defy expectations.” Unexpected also applies to Kroll’s involvement, which was a well-kept secret (NDA and all) until the first set of images dropped Oct. 22. When it broke on social media, both Loewe and Kroll’s Instagram accounts fast filled with high-profile commenters responding to the shoot.
“The coolest!!!! Stunning,” wrote Kroll’s Amazon boss Jennifer Salke. “So chic!! As always,” added Reese Witherspoon. “ICON,” praised Carrie Byalick, president of Stephen Colbert’s Spartina Prods. “I am SOOOO impressed,” chimed in Jennifer Lopez’s producing partner Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas. Lastly, filmmaker Nancy Meyers wrote, “This is the greatest!!!”
Nobody knew, until now, the full details of how it all came together. “I met Sue Kroll in Rome during the promotion of Challengers. We had dinner and I just found her so inspiring — she’s incredibly creative, has great style, and is someone that people really look up to as an industry leader,” Loewe’s Anderson says in a statement.
Kroll — long admired in Hollywood for a sharp sense of style and an enviable resumé (as the former longtime president of worldwide marketing and distribution for Warner Bros. prior to her current stint at Amazon MGM) and sense of style — takes The Hollywood Reporter behind the curtain in an exclusive interview to share how it came together, what it was like to model for Teller and the heartfelt reason she ultimately said yes.
How did this opportunity come your way?
It’s a very simple story. I decided to go to Rome for one of the premieres of [our movie] Challengers. A bunch of the team got in a little bit late and we threw together an informal dinner, as one does. We went to this little restaurant and Luca mentioned that Jonathan would join us. He got there a little bit late and ended up sitting right across from me. As a fan of fashion and the brand, I knew who he was and had some of his clothes. One of the really admirable things about [Loewe] is how they market. Their campaigns and social are obviously very witty, very inventive. I was asking him about that, and we talked art, inspiration, marketing and fashion.
We found that we have a lot of very, very similar interests, and the night flew by. He was amazing, inspiring and wonderful. At the end of the night, we all went off to our hotels. The next day, I ran into Jonathan and he asked me to be involved in the next Loewe campaign that was being shot by Juergen Teller. Initially, I thought he was asking me as a marketing person, to maybe look at [the creative]. He said, “No, no, no. I’d like you to be in it.” I literally was at a loss for words. I wasn’t quite sure I understood him correctly, I was so taken aback. He basically said that he found me inspiring and that he wanted me to be in it. “Please think about it, and don’t answer me now,” he said. That’s how we left it.
We put campaigns together all the time but I’m not public-facing. I’m someone who is very comfortable behind the scenes. I spoke to a couple of people I trust, and I will say that the immediate reaction from everybody was, “Are you nuts? This is incredible. Why are you thinking about it — of course you’re doing it!” But I really wanted to take time to reflect on it. It was such a unique opportunity for me, and I was honored to be asked, but it was outside my comfort zone. However, it was such an interesting and unlikely convergence of events that led to a great connection. I thought, why wouldn’t I do it? I’ve met so many wonderful and interesting people throughout the course of my career but I’ve always kept things very separate and not taken advantage. But this is a brand I love and a designer, Jonathan, whom I admire so much so I should do this. I got back to him a couple of days later and said that I would do it, but only after discussing it with everybody at Amazon to make sure we were comfortable with it as well.
Great story. You’re someone who is known for building and nurturing great relationships with talent over the course of your career, so it makes sense that this was born out of a natural tendency to have an interesting conversation that leads to a creative opportunity.
It was really important to me to keep my job separate, and that this was not something born out of publicity for my job. Obviously I met him through a downstream event for the movie, but I hadn’t been working with him. That was part of the hesitation, and the other thing is that I’m not a model. Being photographed by Juergen Teller? I mean, how do you do that? If you’ve ever seen me on a red carpet, I don’t know where to put my hands or the right expression to have. But when this opportunity came my way, I was also thinking about my mother. I’ve said this to a few people over the last couple of years because all of the special things that have happened to me in recent years are always a little bit less special because my mother is not here to enjoy them with me. I really feel her loss profoundly.
My mother is the one who got me into fashion. She was a single mother who didn’t make any money and lived a very frugal lifestyle. But she shopped at all the best stores in New York and would literally wait until the final markdown before purchasing any garment. She always looked impeccable but never spent money to do so. She imbued that early on in me. I had good taste like her and I used to go to all the outlets. I thought, oh my God, she would be so excited by this, so thrilled and delirious. She would’ve flown in for it. I wanted to do it for her.
That’s so special. As someone who has participated in countless shoots, what was it like to step on set and be the model photographed by Juergen Teller in a Loewe campaign?
I was uncharacteristically nervous because I wasn’t sure what to expect. I have been on dozens of dozens of sets so I knew what the steps would be but everything else was a bit of a mystery. I didn’t know what I’d be wearing or how I would feel. Jonathan and his team were all very, very, very gracious. They always said to me, “We’re going to do you as you.” I felt very comfortable with that, and with the fact that they understood that I’m not a model. I’m someone who appreciates fashion and art, but I am an executive. It’s a little bit different for me. I went in with complete trust, and once I arrived, it was an incredible experience. The Loewe team is fantastic, just a great group of amazing people who are all very high-energy, smart and interesting people.
They had picked out a wardrobe [for me], so we did a fitting, some camera tests. We had hair and makeup and nails, thank goodness, and that was great. You can see from the photos that they made me look like a much-improved version of myself so I was very grateful. It was very exciting. They did the shoot all in one day with all these different characters and vignettes for the other stories they were telling as part of the campaign. But we each had our own space and didn’t interact with one another. As far as the actual shoot, it was fun.
Was this in Los Angeles?
No, I was in London. The good news was that it coincided with a business trip and it took place over a weekend, so it was perfect and very, very easy.
What was most surprising about working with such an iconic photographer like Juergen?
I have tons of photography books of Juergen’s work, and I knew his style was realistic, naturalistic, grounded. I read an article years ago that described Juergen’s style as “grubby glamour” so I didn’t know what to expect because this was a fashion shoot. I had looked at all of the previous campaigns, which were beautiful but not overdone. They’re not the typical “fashion campaign.” Juergen is formidable, he’s an iconic and legendary photographer, so it was intimidating and I’m not easily intimidated. I’ve worked with the biggest personalities in Hollywood. But he was somebody I was definitely excited to meet though I didn’t have a sense of what he would be like.
He was absolutely lovely and immediately made me feel comfortable. He gave me direction, and I remember at one point I was holding one of the handbags incorrectly, and he showed me what to do. I had jewelry on and he showed me how to clutch the bag in a certain way for the camera to showcase the bag. I’ve been on enough red carpets that it wasn’t completely alien and I understood what he was trying to do. He was absolutely wonderful and very gracious and generous with me. After the shoot, we spent time chatting about movies. That was nice and I got to spend time with his wife and creative partner, [Dovile], who’s wonderful.
You’re in great company in the campaign with of-the-moment stars like Ayo Edebiri, Richard Gadd, Drew Starkey, Leo Woodall. Were you aware of the full roster before signing on?
I was because I asked but I didn’t dig that much deeper. I did not want to ask a lot of questions because I didn’t go into the situation as …
Like an executive takeover?
Yes, exactly. I didn’t want to be Sue in this situation. Of course, I was very curious and I asked the things that I thought I should know about the process or what would be expected of me. But beyond that, I didn’t ask a ton of questions. I did learn who would be in the campaign and I was very excited about that. But we didn’t interact on the day of the shoot. I saw Richard floating out of a door as I was coming down a hallway. They designed it in such a way that we didn’t see each other. I believe the majority of the campaign was shot the day I was there. The mix was very eclectic and diverse. Having looked at past campaigns, I had a better sense of how I would fit.
As a marketing guru, what can you say about Jonathan’s marketing skills. In addition to his designs and craftsmanship, his creative vision has been singled out as it pertains to marketing. What do you make of it now that you’ve participated?
He absolutely is a genius marketer. Jonathan is so inspiring. I thought that before I met him, and even more so now. It’s not just the clothes he designs, which are beautiful and imaginative, but his approach to business and the marketing of the business is amazing. Loewe has undergone such an incredible transformation in such a short amount of time. It’s unusual to be such a creative innovator as a designer and also have such a keen understanding of the business, and growing the business. He has commercial sensibility but he’s also creating art — wearable art. Looking back to think about all the brands and designers I’ve admired over the years, I think Jonathan is completely singular and unto himself. I don’t think I’m being hyperbolic. He is such a fan of all kinds of art, from portraiture and sculpture to design and architecture. It’s all clearly imbued in his work. His shows are beautiful, provocative, fun.
He has such an incredible sense of humor about fashion, but then he also creates clothes you can buy and actually wear. When I transitioned out of my career at Warner Bros. into production, I started gravitating towards more casual, wearable looks. That’s how I connected with Loewe. In the early days, I purchased a puzzle bag, which was my initiation to the brand.
When the campaign landed online, there was such a positive response to it from so many big Hollywood names including Amazon’s Jennifer Salke, Reese Witherspoon, Lisa Joy Nolan, Kelly Bush Novak, Carrie Byalick, Nancy Meyers (who commented, “This is the greatest!!!) and more. How did that feel?
We kept it very tight and I obviously didn’t talk about it. There were a handful of people who knew at work because they needed to know. I also was under an NDA, which I never break, by the way. Never break it. I’m actually really happy that it was handled that way because I think people were genuinely surprised, like, wait a minute, what’s going on here? The outpouring of support was so positive and I fielded lots of great questions. It’s interesting because our industry is filled with so many incredible people and incredible women who love fashion. Our industries intersect in a lot of ways. Throughout the course of my career, I’ve run into so many women who have the same passion for fashion — not fashion as a hobby or shopping, which is different — but for the art of fashion.
I want to find a text I received because it illustrates the majority of the sentiment. It reads, “Sue, I love this so much. In my opinion, they couldn’t get a better sponsor for their brand than you. You’ve always been someone in the community that people look up to for having great style and taste and integrity in your career.” People admired it for different reasons, and it was almost like a breaking of the barrier. The majority of people don’t know how it came about and they may have wrong assumptions. It is an unusual situation.
Yeah, you’re not a 23-year-old executive who is trying to publicize yourself to get ahead. You already have the big job and you’re not looking to be a star. I did see the comment from CAA’s Maha Dakhil that said, “Finally a campaign,” which speaks to your reputation as someone with impeccable style and taste and, like you said, someone who appreciates the art of fashion. I’ve always known you as a Gucci woman. Does this also mean your allegiance has changed? Is your closet filled with Loewe now?
The wonderful thing about this brand and they’ve demonstrated it is that you don’t need to be a model to wear this. You don’t need to be in your 20s. It definitely is for everybody. It’s an inclusive brand, truly. Everybody is responding to it. Look, I love so many different brands. I truly do. People ask me about Gucci all the time, and I’ve never done any work with them but people know I loved it because I wore it so much. It was much more about Alessandro Michele that led to my immersion in the brand. One of the things about fashion and how I absorb and use it is because of the designers. I keyed into Alessandro as a designer because of his aesthetic, which I fell in love with. But also the way that the label rolled it out and represented it whether it be through the clothes, the accessories, the dishes, in the stores. They breathed it in every aspect in every way.
I got very swept up in the art of it all. He’s not there now, and my creative and fashion needs have changed in the last few years. He’s an amazing designer who is obviously doing great work with Valentino but I’m wearing different kinds of clothes now. There’s no doubt about it. I wear jeans every day to work. My uniform now is jeans, a great pair of shoes, and I love splurging on a handbag and a great jacket. We do have events but Amazon is more laid back.
There are a lot of other brands that I love. But the timing of this has just been very interesting for me, because it’s been a natural kind of evolution. Part of what I loved about Gucci was the ideology and the philosophy of the brand seen through the designer’s eyes. And it’s not dissimilar for my admiration for my Loewe. Yes, I love the clothes, but because of my admiration for Jonathan, the work, and his vision and sensibility, I love the brand. It’s not just about clothes. It’s all interconnected for me. And love for all these things influences my love of marketing.
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