MCM marks 50 years with whimsical family gifting campaign

MCM made its winter 2026 campaign feel less like an anniversary exercise and more like a family joke with excellent taste. Lucio Castro’s short film, which launched on the brand’s digital channels on June 15, centers on a son coming home with MCM bags packed as gifts, including a compass and a spirit level, while Nathalie Richard plays the formidable mother holding the whole scene together. Dirk Schönberger said he wanted something cross-generational that also told the story of the 50th anniversary, and he tied that idea to “realness” coming back as human interaction regains weight in the age of AI and social media. The timing matters because MCM, founded in Munich in 1976 and owned by South Korea’s Sungjoo Group, has spent the year marking its 50th with Icons Reinvented, a platform built around the house signatures people actually remember: Stark, Liz, Ella and Ottomar.

The smartest gift in the lineup is the Small Pina Tambourine Bag in Visetos, $1,180, because it looks like a collector’s piece before it behaves like one. MCM revived the tambourine shape from the late 1970s, then pushed the rest of the family into a fresher mood with new materials and diamond-inspired studs, which is exactly the kind of detail that makes a luxury gift feel chosen rather than merely expensive. If you want a lighter touch, the Mini Aren Tambourine Pouch is $550, but the tambourine shoulder bag is the one that says you know the recipient likes her accessories with a little personality.

For the woman who actually uses her bag every day, the New Liz Shopper is the practical winner. MCM’s icon page calls the family a polished essential for life on the move, and the pricing backs that up: the Small New Liz Shopper in Visetos is $730 to $780, the Medium runs $830, and the embossed monogram leather versions climb to $980 for the small and $1,080 for the medium. The Ella Boston Bag is the quieter, more polished alternative, with the Small Ella Boston Bag in Maxi Visetos at $980 and the Medium Ella Boston Bag in Visetos also at $980. These are the gifts for someone who wants heritage without having to announce it every time she walks into a room.

If the gift needs a little more structure, the Stark and Ottomar families deliver it. The Small Stark Side Studs Backpack is $1,230, and the Small Ottomar Weekender Bag in Maxi Visetos is $1,280, both part of Icons Reinvented’s reworking of MCM’s core silhouettes. The new Dia shoulder bag in quilted black leather sharpens the diamond story further, and the sculptural alternative in the same vein is the Medium Diamant 3D Shoulder Bag in Calfskin at $1,480, while the Large Dia Shopper in calfskin sits at $1,380. That is the point of this campaign: MCM is selling memory, but the useful kind, the kind that still feels clever the second it leaves the box.