Style

Here’s What Kit Harington Loved Most About Doing That Dolce & Gabbana Ad You See Everywhere

Courtesy of Dolce & Gabbana

It's not often that you watch a commercial and wish that you could transport yourself into the scene, but Kit Harington for Dolce & Gabbana The One Grey campaign inspires those kind of feelings. Set in Napoli, Harington walks onto a crowded street and gets enveloped with the everyday hustle and bustle of the Italian square. Perfume ads often try to sell you a feeling or a version of reality to aspire to. With this particular campaign, travel, connection, and authentic experiences in a new country will definitely give you aa sense of wanderlust.

In a Game of Thrones-esque New York City hotel worlds away from that small Italian square, Harington sat down with Bustle to talk about the experience of filming a fragrance ad that looks more like an authentic block party.

In the beginning of the ad, Harington walks onto a busy town square, waving hello to some locals. He takes a moment to stop and kiss hello a grandmother shopping at the market, before going on to haggle over apples and watch a real life octopus be transferred from its bucket and be put up for sale. The ad cuts to him taking a break from his grocery shopping to fall into a spontaneous dance session in the middle of the public market, where he takes a woman with rollers in her hair into his arms and does a quick dance as a congo line of locals walk past carrying pizza. As one does.

The entire time Harington has an amused, is-this-really-happening kind of expression, capturing perfectly what it feels like to travel and be swept away by a new culture. And that wasn't exactly hard to portray — according to Harington, the authenticity of working with Dolce & Gabbana is what attracted him to the brand in the first place.

Courtesy Dolce & Gabbana

"There's been other times I've been approached with other [campaign opportunities], and it hasn't seemed like the right fit. But it did with Dolce and Gabbana," Harington shares with Bustle. "It seemed fun and vibrant and lively. I've spent a lot of time in Italy as well. It's lovely."

Since he resonated with the country, creating a campaign that celebrated Italian culture seemed natural.

"I've done a lot of photoshoots and things, you know, it's always quite busy, high-stressed day. And this was just wonderful. It was one of the funnest, most enjoyable shooting experiences outside of working in film and TV that I've done," he explains. "You weren't shooting with a lot of models, and with people who worked in the industry. We were shooting with real Napoletano. That brought the whole energy up."

Courtesy Dolce & Gabbana

From the woman done up in rollers to the nonna that he kissed hello, Harington says he was surrounded by locals and enjoyed being welcomed by them. It makes you want to pack your bags and go visit Italy, where you can go dance with strangers and get lost in small town markets. All while wearing designer perfume and eating pizza.