Prada Re-Nylon 2026 Campaign Stars Cumberbatch, Wright in Ocean Sustainability Push

For the third consecutive year, Benedict Cumberbatch has made the Prada Re-Nylon campaign his own. The 2026 iteration paired him with Letitia Wright across two documentary films produced with National Geographic CreativeWorks, with the first, set in Japan's Izu Peninsula and Kamakura, following Cumberbatch as he met scientists and educators working to inspire younger generations to protect the sea. Still imagery for the campaign was shot by National Geographic photographer Ami Vitale, while Wright anchored the broader visual identity across both films and the wider campaign rollout.

The documentary format is the point. Prada has described this year's push as moving beyond imagery, and National Geographic CreativeWorks, its storytelling partner on Re-Nylon since the program's launch in 2019, shot across Oahu, Hawaii, and Japan's Izu Peninsula and Kamakura with the explicit intent of making the cause and effect of human action on marine ecosystems visible on screen. The landscapes are not backdrop; they are the argument. Both films trace the real-world impact of Sea Beyond, Prada Group's ocean literacy and education initiative developed with UNESCO-IOC, which the Re-Nylon program has funded since its inception.

The material itself has always carried that argument inside its chemistry. Re-Nylon is produced via depolymerization and repolymerization of plastics collected from landfills, textile fiber waste, and the oceans, making it a fully circular alternative to virgin nylon. The collaboration with supply-chain partner Aquafil extends that circularity to the garment's end of life: Re-Nylon components can be returned to their original purity with no downcycling and no degradation of fabric integrity.

"Through the collaboration with our partner Aquafil, the Re-Nylon components of the new collection can be recycled again at the end of life back to their original purity, without downcycling, telling the story of a project that preserves the integrity and the value of the original fabric," said Lorenzo Bertelli, Prada Group's head of corporate social responsibility.

That loop, from ocean plastic to finished nylon to end-of-life recycling and back, is what the 2026 campaign asks consumers to hold in mind alongside the images of Cumberbatch and Wright on Hawaiian and Japanese coastlines. Nylon has been embedded in Prada's DNA since Miuccia Prada introduced her first nylon bags in the late 1970s; Re-Nylon reframes that founding signature as the house's most legible sustainability credential.

"With the Prada Re-Nylon collection, we reaffirm our commitment to supporting the Sea Beyond project, continuing to promote ocean literacy among younger generations. We firmly believe that education and awareness are fundamental drivers of long-term change, and that fashion can play an active and responsible role in this process," Bertelli said.

An estimated 1% of Re-Nylon proceeds supports Sea Beyond's educational programs worldwide. After seven years and three consecutive Cumberbatch appearances, the question is no longer whether Prada can sustain the storytelling momentum of Re-Nylon, but whether the circularity the campaign promises on screen is becoming the industry standard it was designed to pressure.