Thirsty people rejoice. Father’s Day is here again, with the Instagram feed quickly filling up with people posting throwback pics of their hot dads – and this year is even hotter than most, thanks to Bottega Veneta.
The Italian house is back with a brand new campaign starring A$AP Rocky in celebration of the annual holiday and his new status as official ambassador of the brand. The rapper and bonafide daddy is captured in the series Portraits of Fatherhood by Carrie Mae Weems getting stuck into play time with his and Rihanna’s babies, two-year-old RZA and ten-month-old Riot Rose, and obviously it’s pretty much the cutest thing you’ve ever seen.
Decked out in Matthieu Blazy’s latest collection for the Italian house, Rocky is seen sitting on the floor showing his kids a toy piano and playing a keyboard alongside them, and channelling classic 90s posters by lifting the babies above his head. In another photo, Riot is pictured by Weems wearing a ‘Best dad’ baby-gro and sitting on his dad’s shoulders.
The campaign marks an evolution for Rocky, and makes a strong statement advocating for fatherhood and parenthood ‘within a wider community’. “This player persona is very pushed. When you think about a rapper, you think about adolescence, about the single bachelor lifestyle,” he explained. “When you think about A$AP Rocky, you think about a playboy, pretty boy, bras being thrown on stage. This is about me as a one-woman man, as a family man. It’s about what completes my life now: being present as a partner and a parent.” Essentially, he’s giving golden retriever boyfriend, and we love it for Rihanna.
Meanwhile, Weems – whose intimate series Kitchen Table Series picked apart negative stereotypes surrounding the African-American family in the early 80s – explained how Rocky’s commitment to his young family profoundly moved her. “This was a unique opportunity to say something not just positive, but truthful – not just about Rocky’s own experience, but about how that reflects out to the broader population,” she said ahead of the series’ release. “In the wake of all the atrocities committed against Black men – particularly because of their masculinity – Rocky can be seen with his children, in love. To be able to speak that authenticity through him was galvanising.”
Click through the gallery above for a closer look at the mega cute campaign – I’m not crying, you are.