Dylan Sprouse may not be super used to modeling, but for his latest gig, he had two of his biggest cheerleaders in his corner helping him out.
Co-starring in the new Spring 2025 campaign and Dress to Express alongside Dylan is his wife, Barbara Palvin, who wasn’t shy about giving him a few “pointers,” she tells PEOPLE jokingly. The campaign was also lensed by Dylan’s twin brother, Cole Sprouse.
“[Barbara] definitely helps me a lot through it,” Dylan tells PEOPLE exclusively of working alongside his wife, whom he married in July 2023, on projects like this photo shoot. “I’m used to more video content. I’m used to more of the acting side, so I can tend to be a little bit stiff, but Barbara helps me get out of that shell. I think with anything, when you work with people that you know and love, it always gets easier.”
Palvin, 31, says she “always” loves working with her husband because he makes her laugh on set — whether or not that’s a good thing or bad thing depends on the day, she jokes. She loves that he brightens the day, but sometimes his presence makes it hard to stay on task. The two say, though, that they make a point to not do many of these couple’s shoots — only ones that truly speak to them and align with their style or lifestyle.
Express fit the bill, as did this campaign, which is all about celebrating confidence and self-expression. Plus, the couple was more than happy to get on set with Cole behind the camera. For Palvin — who is a modeling pro and has worked with everyone from Victoria’s Secret to Stella McCartney — it was a new experience, as she’d never worked with Cole before.
“He made it really easy,” she says of working with her brother-in-law. “Also, the glam team are really close friends. It really just felt like a love project, a family project.”
For Dylan, there was a sense of pride in working with his brother, who he spent years watching shoot photos casually before he took it up professionally. He tells PEOPLE that he has fond memories of the two of them growing up and being on road trips, where Cole would stop to “take obnoxious photos of landscapes outside the RV.”
“I really thought nothing would ever come of it for him,” Dylan says with a laugh.
“And look at him now!” Palvin chimes in.
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“It’s cool to see him be so professional on set and command the room,” he gushes. “As his brother, I’m proud of him for that. But as well, to know that my wife, who’s a consummate professional in her own field, gets on stage and kills it with my brother who’s a consummate professional in his own field, makes me feel like I’m definitely the newbie … which I am.”
But Dylan blended in “pretty well,” his wife reassures, adding that with all three of them together, the magic happened, resulting in a sleek photo shoot in the Express collection. Palvin adds that at the end of it all, she truly loved the “dynamic” that Cole brought to the shoot, and even though the three of them all had to put their professional faces on for work, they still had so much fun together as a family.
“There was a point where I was like, come on Dylan, we’ve got to pull it together. We got to pose a little,” Palvin says. “But yeah, I’m always excited when I get to work with [Dylan.] He’s a great, handsome man.”
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In the campaign, the couple models elevated Express pieces that can be worn from day to night, and Palvin says that she loves “every piece.”
“It really represents my style, which is casual chic, and I love their elegant, laid-back new pants that they have in the collection,” she shares. “I can easily go from day to night, easy to dress up in the morning, whatever I have going on.”
For Dylan, on the other hand, the clothes gave him the opportunity to step out of his California-cool wardrobe of Dickies, high socks and Chuck Taylors.
“This was an opportunity to dress really nicely, but not without its own casual style too,” he says. “I think the clothes, for me, met that nice middle ground where I felt like it was certainly dressing up, but at the same time, it was very comfortable and practical, which is important to me as a 32-year-old married man.”
Pieces from the campaign — including new denim, tees and trousers — are available online and in stores now. Check out the whole campaign, starring Dylan and Palvin and photographed by Cole, across all of Express’ social media, as well as in stores and online.
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