Motion Design For Ralph Lauren Wimbledon 2026 Campaign
They didn’t redesign the Polo Bear—they made him act.
The Mill produced five films for Ralph Lauren’s Wimbledon 2026 campaign, spotlighting the brand’s iconic Polo Bear. The work combined high-end CG, color grading, and post-production to bring the playful mascot to life in a refined and cinematic way.
Insights
- The main challenge wasn’t to reinvent Ralph Lauren’s Polo Bear, but to make the unchanged icon feel naturally present in real live-action scenes with Tom Hiddleston.
- The Mill produced five films and 35 completed shots in seven weeks, handling the full post chain: on-set supervision, character animation, VFX and compositing, editing, and colour grade.
- The campaign’s storytelling stayed subtle and conversational, with the bear mostly seated in vignettes like teatime with strawberries, a panelled room with a newspaper, and Centre Court watching matches.
- Animation Supervisor Alban Lelièvre emphasized restraint: “The challenge was not to change the character, but to discover how he would naturally exist in this world,” and “The smallest gestures often carry the most weight.”
- Ralph Lauren’s Wimbledon presence has extra brand weight: the label has been Wimbledon’s Official Outfitter since 2006, and the AELTC has called it the first and only designer in the tournament’s history to hold that distinction.
