Meet the 5 Stars Behind Samsung’s Greatest Gift Film

From simply staying in touch with friends and family, to finding inventive ways to have fun and celebrate the ones we love, 2020 has seen us take our love affair with technology to dizzying new heights. This year may have presented more challenges than most, but one of its greatest gifts has been the way it has inspired us to use our creativity (and our smartphones) to stay connected with one another like never before.

Collectively showing our love for people via video message has become an important part of how we communicate, with each of these new digital endeavors pushing the limits of our imaginations a little further and the bar ever higher. Enter British rapper AJ Tracey and actor Jess Alexander with The Greatest Gift, an A-list lesson in creative collaboration brought to you by the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip

From simply staying in touch with friends and family, to finding inventive ways to have fun and celebrate the ones we love, 2020 has seen us take our love affair with technology to dizzying new heights. This year may have presented more challenges than most, but one of its greatest gifts has been the way it has inspired us to use our creativity (and our smartphones) to stay connected with one another like never before.

Collectively showing our love for people via video message has become an important part of how we communicate, with each of these new digital endeavors pushing the limits of our imaginations a little further and the bar ever higher. Enter British rapper AJ Tracey and actor Jess Alexander with The Greatest Gift, an A-list lesson in creative collaboration brought to you by the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip.

“I’m feeling the fact that it’s a flip phone. I’ve been missing that feeling of whipping my phone out and flipping it up to shout someone since school times – it’s very nostalgic and very stylish,” AJ Tracey tells Vogue. For Tracey, who has been staying connected with more than 1 million Instagram followers and a staggering 7 million average Spotify listeners per month via live-streams, the Z Flip’s hands-free videoing capabilities (enabled by its flexible Hideaway Hinge) are also a key part of its appeal. “I feel like live-streams are a very direct and personal way to talk to my supporters and show them that I’m doing ok and haven’t forgotten about them,” says the 26-year-old London-born rapper.

It’s a tactic shared by Japanese-British singer Rina, who used video live streams to talk to her fans in real time and host Q&As following the release of her eclectic debut album, SAWAYAMA, during lockdown. For Rina, the Z Flip’s satisfyingly square, micro design is an irresistible nod to the iconic flip phone of the noughties: “I grew up wanting a flip phone and now there’s one with a full glass screen. I’m actually obsessed with it. The folding glass really blows my mind — it’s an incredible engineering feat,” says Rina.

For Tracey’s co-star, British actor Jess Alexander, who passionately delivers some lines from Romeo & Juliet for her part of their virtual show of appreciation, the Z Flip’s design is pleasing in both style and practical terms. “I love the design, it means the screen’s protected and I can actually fit my phone into my handbags and my pockets,” explains the 21-year-old whose Instagram account offers a healthy dose of ’00s style inspiration alongside some ingenious examples of how to draw your audience’s attention to some of 2020’s most important causes.

Having cut her teeth early on as a presenter on cult Gen Z YouTube show Kyra TV, Alexander’s breakout acting role came in hit prep school murder mystery Get Even (an irresistibly pulpy BBC series picked up by Netflix), with her latest film role arriving this year in A Banquet. The year 2020 has presented Alexander with a much welcomed opportunity to slow down and reconnect with herself and her creativity. “I think people have had the time to look internally at themselves and think about what’s important. Things like creative freedom, real connections, and friendships and treating people with kindness.”

Fashion designer Harris Reed has also used this year to reflect on creativity. “We’ve all had to reevaluate what creativity and connection looks like and for me it all came down to my phone and being able to have fun with documenting my process in different ways,” Reed tells Vogue. At 24, the British-American has already dressed Harry Styles and Solange Knowles on multiple occasions, modeled for Gucci and created a viral Instagram filter featuring the white wide-brimmed hat from a first-year project on the prestigious fashion design course at London’s Central Saint Martins. All this before creating a highly anticipated final-year collection in lockdown, which was shot entirely on Reed’s phone. “It’s incredible to have a phone that makes it so easy to talk about my work and get it out there to people,” Reed explains.

The Greatest Gift’s most surreal scene comes courtesy of Checking Invoices, a masked fashion anomaly (and Instagram phenomenon) who describe themselves as an “anonymous duo based nowhere.” Picture a glittering pink dress worn over a silver morph suit accessorized with sunglasses, stilettos, and the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip (propped on a bronze bath) and you’re somewhere close to the brilliance of Checking Invoices. For the Greek photographer and stylist behind the fashion enigma, who are in fact currently based in Milan and Athens, the Z Flip is a natural extension of their unique creative vision. “We love it. The color palette is amazing and so unique. It’s the perfect accessory to complete our look,” Checking Invoices says, while tapping the phone with their pointed 4-inch long bronze nails.

Like so many of us AJ Tracey and his Greatest Gift co-stars have found 2020 challenging in parts, but the rapper in particular has made sure he’s capitalized on his time at home to perfect his craft – as well as his banana bread and online gaming. “I’ve obviously had a lot more ‘free time’ which has enabled me to have more fun doing the things I’m inspired by at home. I think the added time for gaming, streaming, cooking, and making beats has done me good — I’ve definitely written a lot more bars than usual,” he explains.

What does he think 2020’s greatest gift has been? “I think 2020’s greatest gift is that, amidst all of the chaos and negativity, I’ve personally learnt not to take anything for granted.”

vogue