Hennessy is rewriting its expansive history with the Move Out Loud Campaign
To commemorate the new ‘Move Out Loud’ campaign, Hennessy teamed up with B.Side to highlight how the collaboration marks a brand-new horizon.
Since its founding in 1765, the Maison Hennessy has upheld a tradition of supporting avant-garde artists. Today, the Maison celebrates urban culture and contemporary creation through artistic partnerships for the Hennessy Very Special Limited Edition.
This dedication to the celebration of urban culture led to their partnership with French-born international dancers, Larry, and Laurent Bourgeois. Tagged, ‘Move out Loud’, the campaign marks a brand-new horizon and a ground-breaking meeting of minds.
Born and raised in the projects in Sarcelles, north of Paris, identical twins Larry and Laurent made a splash in their early teens by taking their unique style of dance to the streets of Paris to earn a living. That splash quickly became waves that broke across the Parisian street dance scene. Self-taught talents, they drew inspiration from what was in the air and on the airwaves, picking up classical moves and incorporating them into their repertoire to light up dance floors with their freestyles. Soon, their dance had spread well beyond the Parisian underground.
In 2008, they shot to fame as finalists on the TV show Incroyable Talent, the French version of the “Got Talent” franchise. Two years later, a US breakout came when a video of their World of Dance performance in San Diego went viral, earning more than 50 million views to date. Shortly after, they went from dancing on the streets of Paris to sharing a stage with Beyoncé as the only male dancers on “The Mrs. Carter Show World Tour.” After two consecutive world tours with Beyoncé, they continued to captivate audiences worldwide by joining Beyoncé and Jay-Z on the OTR tour. During a brief break in those world tours, they managed to sweep season one of Jennifer Lopez’s World of Dance competition on the TV channel NBC.
Today, their flair for freestyle dance, fashion, acting and producing has garnered international recognition. Yet, Les Twins continue to hone their art as they always have. Cultural icons, Larry and Laurent continue to innovate on the street culture scene with their unique intuition, inventing new moves and paving new paths with every step.
In their new collaboration with the Hennessy Very Special, the French urban movement developers express the pulse of street-culture in a dual design incorporating freestyle dance - using motion capture technology, original music, and the Maison’s first-ever fashion capsule. Ahead of the collaboration, invited media worldwide were treated to a press preview by way of an immersive virtual experience created with Les Twins. The 3-day virtual trip took selected guests on a journey from the twins’ birthplace in the Greater Paris area to Cognac where they found their inspiration for this exclusive collaboration with Hennessy Very Special. The innovative creativity of the unique experience is a clear testament to the innovative nature of Hennessy and their hopes with this new collaboration.
In their exclusive interview with Bounce B.Side, the twins discussed the creative process behind the Move out Loud campaign as well as their thoughts on how Hennessy is rewriting its expansive history.
Bside: Hennessy is a brand that’s renowned for speaking to black culture globally. What qualities did you notice in the brand that made you want to partake in this collaboration?
Laurent: Well, personally, I’m going to start with, Hennessy is a worldwide movement. It’s an expression of our daily lives, what we go through, what we feel everywhere. For me, it’s the Never stop, never settle attitude.
Our collaboration with Hennessy is very special because we are so proud of how far we have come and the impact we have made on the world with our dance. Our aim is to constantly change the narrative about what we do and what Hennessy does. We do not want to be in a box, we are very versatile dancers, which is something we have in common with Hennessy, the ability to be fluid and with this collaboration, we have tried to express our creativity. We do not just want to be the best; we also want to make an impact. When Hennessy reached out in 2019, the whole process was so amazing and we were like ‘Oh my God, we are going to do something crazy’.
What does ‘Move Out Loud’ mean to you?
Larry: To be honest with you, I’m a very loud person naturally. When I’m dancing, you know when you meet someone with this energy, some on you can vibe with? Like its crazy. Like when this person is around, you cannot sleep or stay down because there’s a lot going on.
My movement is loud. It’s not even about the music. You can play some random music, like calm music and we will still be loud and explosive. That’s just who we are
Laurent: Well, to me, it’s more like speaking up finally. It was about not looking at Hennessy as a European, French or African brand. ‘Move out loud’ is more about seeing what Hennessy should truly look like in everybody’s hands. We are very excited to do this, and we are glad that Hennessy chose us to do this, to move out loud.
So, this campaign, as we both know, is a story of many firsts for Hennessy – the Hennessy Very Special brand. In your own words, what are the exact novel aspects of this collaboration, and how did that make you feel, being the first to do it.
Laurent: With everything Les Twins does, we ensure we put our best foot forward and step up our game We always make sure we do so much more. It’s like a stage performance for us, to be recognised by Michael Jackson’s family, Jay Z, and Beyoncé. All these people recognise us. We work hard, but I always remember that I am this French dude doing this dance thing. People still want to know us and are inspired by us.
The collaboration with Hennessy is a huge step for us. It’s a major and historic move for us. We know we can collaborate with different artists, but a brand outside of the usual suspects like sports or other streetwear designers? Now it’s Hennessy and I’m thinking, how can I work with this liquid? I never thought about how a liquid can match my life.
It’s huge, a whole Hennessy matching our story and working perfectly with us. Who can give me a bigger gift than that?
How did you translate the parallels between cognac and dance into your freestyle routine?
Larry: Well, our freestyle routine is about our life; we’re always doing something very natural. We constantly switch it up with our routines. If you play a kind of music and another music after that, our dance moves will be different. It’ll never be the same dance. During the process, everyone had a hard time selecting the final routine to use because every move was unique and amazing. The emotions are different every time.
