Prada Finds a New Stage in Sabrina Carpenter’s Pop Trilogy

Anaïs Lukaku
5 hours ago
3 min read

"Prada sidesteps traditional campaigns by building its latest beauty line directly into Carpenter's visual storytelling."

Sabrina Carpenter smiles through the window of a vintage car, wearing a white blouse, during a desert-set scene in “Please Please Please”. — *"Sabrina Carpenter in a desert motel scene from the "Please Please Please" video. Credit: YouTube/@sabrinacarpenter"*

When Sabrina Carpenter’s Please Please Please premiered in June, it came with a detail that caught the attention of beauty editors and fashion insiders alike: a new Prada mascara. It wasn’t the only product to appear across the singer’s recent run of visuals. In Taste, a glossy red lip anchors the video’s central motif, while Manchild closes with banana-shaped sweets embossed with the Prada logo. Across the trilogy, the brand’s upcoming beauty line is embedded into the narrative structure, offering a model for how luxury houses are approaching product launches for Gen Z audiences.

Sabrina Carpenter sits in the driver’s seat holding wine and a piece of banana jelly, while a Prada-branded packet and lipstick rest on the dashboard in a desert scene from “Manchild”. — *"Prada-branded banana jellies appear on the dashboard in “Manchild”, alongside other unreleased beauty products. Credit: YouTube/@sabrinacarpenter"*

Prada’s involvement goes beyond post-production styling. The brand appears to have had influence over palette, pacing, and costuming, with each beauty reference built into the scene rather than added after the fact. The result is a format that plays as a music video first and product rollout second, because nothing disrupts the rhythm of the music. For Gen Z audiences, this structure makes sense, and their viewing habits encourage this method. The product identification happens naturally, and for Prada, the outcome is timed exposure without formal announcement, sidestepping the fatigue that often comes with conventional campaign rollouts.

Sabrina Carpenter applies dark red lipstick while holding a reflective kitchen knife as a mirror, lit by soft morning light in “Taste”. — *"Carpenter applies a deep gloss in “Taste”, with an unreleased Prada Beauty lipstick. Credit: YouTube/@sabrinacarpenter"*

The template is not new. Miley Cyrus’s 2013 video for We Can’t Stop placed a bright pink Beats Pill speaker centre‑frame and lined pastel EOS lip balms across a kitchen counter. Director Diane Martel cited colour continuity as the reason for their inclusion, but the commercial return was clear. EOS gained significant visibility with a new audience, while Beats positioned itself as a pop culture fixture before being acquired by Apple for €3 billion.

Carpenter brings a different kind of visibility. Her humour is dry, often self-referential, and leans into a polished exaggeration of self-awareness. That tone, paired with a consistent visual language, gives Prada a partner who can deliver brand presence without veering into overstatement. In return, she gains a production partner invested in image control and aesthetic finish, leaving fans and viewers a result that sits comfortably above the level of standard influencer output.

"Stills from Miley Cyrus’s 2013 video We Can’t Stop, featuring EOS lip balm and Beats Pill. Credit: RCA Records"

Fashion labels have spent the past decade refining that lesson. Rather than rent space in a finished video, brands now enter at script stage. The model keeps production values aligned with brand guidelines, reduces reliance on traditional media buys, and meets audiences during peak attention. A three-minute clip on YouTube or TikTok can out-perform a thirty-second television slot in both impressions and replay.

Carpenter’s Prada trilogy proves the upside, and by the final frame of Manchild, the mascara wand, lip gloss, and novelty sweets read as integral components of her visual world, inviting the audience to engage with the products on the same terms as plot or styling.

Sabrina Carpenter sings under moody purple-blue lighting with a glossy lip and dramatic mascara in the final scenes of “Manchild”. — "*A close-up of Carpenter in the closing scenes of “Manchild”, where Prada-stamped banana sweets appear. Credit: YouTube/@sabrinacarpenter"*

As music labels, directors, and brand partners begin to collaborate earlier in the production process, the line between campaign and content becomes less distinct. And for Prada, the Carpenter trilogy offers a controlled but elastic format: the brand retains visibility while the artist maintains authorship, and visual identity, character styling, and product storytelling operate in sync.

Carpenter delivers on all three; and in doing so, she offers a version of pop stardom that makes space for luxury without diluting the performance.

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