The Aphrodisiacs: A New Lens on Valentine's Day
February is the coldest time of the year, yet it somehow feels the warmest. The second the calendar flips, stores flood with flowers, chocolate, strawberries, and cards—Valentine’s Day is right around the corner. Traditionally, it paints one familiar picture: a man and a woman celebrating their love in a perfectly curated, candlelit scene. It’s polished. Predictable. Marketable.
But what if Valentine’s Day felt different?
Our approach leans into aphrodisiacs—the so-called foods of love—and reimagines them through a more unconventional lens. Strawberries and oysters become the center of the narrative. Strawberries are lush, red, messy, and indulgent. Oysters are smooth, opulent, and intentional. Hard to crack but, if you’re lucky, adorned with a beautiful pearl. Two textures. Two moods. Two energies.
Inspired by the tension and intensity popularized in Heated Rivalry, we channel that same push and pull through two male models instead of the traditional heterosexual pairing. This isn’t about shock value; it’s about breaking apart a narrative that has long defined Valentine’s Day.
Strawberry embodies the cool, moody, nonchalant energy—leather, deep reds, and undone hair. He feels impulsive and hot, like the first bite into ripe fruit.
Pearls, on the other hand, polished and deliberate. The strands of black and white pearls blur perceptions of masculinity and beauty, creating a sense of quiet luxury and control.
Together, they create a yin and yang—a duality of mess and intention, heat and glow. The goal is for the viewer to feel both hungry and fluttered. Hungry for the indulgence, the texture, and the richness. Fluttered by the intimacy and tension between two bodies that challenge the classic Valentine’s image.
This is a now corporate and exhaustingly heterosexual holiday through a new lens. Valentine’s Day made hungry. Made sexy. Made gay. Made fashion