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Music Crowns: Brands are becoming the new record labels: The Spikes and L.G.R. unveil ‘The Session’

  • 3 days ago
  • 4 min read


“From the very start of their musical journey, The Spikes chose to wear L.G.R in every video, not as styling, but as part of their identity. Creating this campaign meant stepping inside the recording studio to capture how songs truly come to life, with our eyewear present in the same organic way, not as an accessory, but as something that belongs to that world.” 

—  L.G.R founder Luca Gnecchi Ruscone


Music is no longer shaped by record labels alone, and talent is no longer decided solely by the ear and eyes or an A&R executive. Retail brands now have far more power over the music scene and can break an artist’s music and visibility in half the time a label can. Casting agents now take centre stage—and the beauty about it all? Brands care more about brand alignment than numbers. L.G.R., worn by cultural icons including Anne Hathaway, Timothée Chalamet, Anya Taylor-Joy, Ryan Reynolds, Lily Collins, and Tom Cruise, joins The Spikes to fuse fashion and music in a Rome-shot Spring/Summer 2026 campaign directed by filmmaker Michael Haussman (Madonna, Justin Timberlake, Lady Gaga), inspired by Jean-Luc Godard’s Sympathy for the Devil.


For Rome-born singer, songwriter, and visual artist Iago Haussman, known musically as The Spikes and recognized for his dark, poetic sensibility, this evolving relationship between artist and brand has become central to how creative work can travel beyond traditional industry channels. In today’s music landscape, record labels often prioritize artists who already command millions of followers before offering a deal. Brands, however, frequently recognize creative talent beyond the numbers. Major retail brands spend enormous resources studying how people connect with ideas—what captures attention, what sparks emotion, and what becomes culturally memorable. Their entire business depends on understanding how audiences engage, respond, and ultimately buy into a story. 


The collaboration between The Spikes and Italian eyewear house L.G.R. reflects this evolution. Their latest project, the Spring Summer 2026 campaign The Session, was conceived and directed by internationally acclaimed American filmmaker Michael Haussman, who is also Iago Haussman’s father. Inspired by Jean-Luc Godard’s 1968 film Sympathy for the Devil, the campaign unfolds inside a recording studio in Rome, capturing the unpredictable moments where music comes to life.


For him, the collaboration with L.G.R did not begin as a traditional partnership, but as something far more organic. Iago shares, “LGR are the sunglasses I have chosen to wear for the last four years because I love this model called Raffaello. So, to be asked to do their latest campaign was very natural and cool. I think all their sunglasses are amazing. It was an honor.”


Long before the campaign existed, L.G.R eyewear had already become part of The Spikes’ visual identity, appearing throughout his music videos and creative work—not as styling, but as a personal signature. The campaign itself draws directly from the visual universe surrounding The Spikes’ recent music from his LP First Light. “L.G.R. were inspired by my last two music videos: “Dancing” and “Garden Song.” They wanted to capture the combined essence of both, the recording studio concept of “Dancing” with the characters who I cast in “Garden Song.” So this is what we did.”

Rather than presenting a conventional studio performance, The Session embraces a more cinematic and observational perspective, echoing the wandering eye of Godard’s documentary style. “We took a different angle to shooting a recording studio and went for the vibe of Jean-Luc Godard’s movie Sympathy for the Devil, which was about the recording of that song by The Rolling Stones. But it was unique because the camera would not stay on Jagger and Richards, but instead would wander off and capture the behind-the-scenes life of a studio. This is what the L.G.R. campaign captured, in its own interpretation.”


Across the campaign, scenes shift between fragments of rehearsals, characters drifting through the studio, and the quiet chaos that surrounds the act of recording. Throughout the campaign, The Spikes wear several frames from L.G.R’s Spring Summer 2026 collection, including Egypt, Khartoum, and the Raffaello model he has long favored. Each pair is handcrafted in Italy by the brand’s family of artisans, combining sculpted Italian acetate, precision metalwork, and mineral glass lenses that reflect L.G.R’s commitment to enduring design and craftsmanship. “It was great because we used nearly every song from my last album and set each to a completely different scene and scenario. I am very happy with the end result. It was super fun and great to be back in Rome again.”


The result reflects a larger cultural shift. More than ever, artists are working alongside brands to shape identity, expand their creative universe, and reach audiences globally. The Spikes x L.G.R World is more than a fashion campaign. It is a creative intersection of music, film, and design—capturing the moment when the studio becomes the stage and the act of creation becomes the story.


For more information and to connect with The Spikes, please visit: 

For more information and to connect with L.G.R., please visit:


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