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Marketing Women’s Fashion: Fetish + Violence = Art?
Submitted by Macala Wright on 07/29/2009 – 9:19 PM2 Comments
Barney’s New York Helmut Lang & A.L.C. window display has caused editorial frenzies among fashion bloggers and writers. I followed the coverage, tweeting:
Fashion Marketing Blogger
Earlier this year, I praised Bisazza’s fall advertising campaign (shot by Nobuyoshi Araki) that featured the skillful art of Japanese rope bondage. From Chanel to Valentino , fashion brands are taking their creative ques & inspirations from adult-oriented and fetish-inspired photography. The term “Fashion Porn” is taking on a new meaning as fashion brands have been pushing and testing the limits of artistic creativity in ad campaigns for over a year now.
A commenter (Hannah) on Bust Magazine’s Blog caught my attention when she wrote, “It [The Barney's widow display] goes way beyond selling dresses. There’s a pattern in the fashion industry of using dead or tortured women to sell fashion and the scary thing is that it totally works as a marketing tool. The fact that this picture sells means that women and men look at these gory displays and think ‘Wow, that’s racy and chic’ instead of ‘wow, that’s messed up’.”
As fashion marketers, have we gone too far? Are we glorifying violence against women and increasing society’s tolerance towards what’s ‘normal’ instead of ‘disturbing’?
Are we interested in cultural analysis or creating shock value in the name of art?
Chanel Shoe Advertising Campaign
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You raise a good point, which is illustrative of the tension between art and mainstream, and not just fashion and mainstream (I consider high fashion an art form). I think pushing the boundaries in the name of art is perfectly fine, as long as you allow the “masses” to opt into it first. So if I wanted to watch an edgy fashion or art display or show, I should feel free to go where it’s displayed, but the mom-next-door with her child-next-door shouldn’t be exposed to the same without their volition. By buying a magazine or going to a website, I am expressing volition to consume this art form, but if I am just walking down the street, I shouldn’t have that choice taken away. I think this is the main issue here.
I HIGHLY reccommend that everyone watch the “Killing Us Softly” series by Jean Kilbourne if you can get your hands on it. I saw the first two in college (I was actually shocked my college showed it to us). My housemate is a teacher who shares it with her history classes. It’s pricey, but worth watching if you know someone who has a copy. Here’s a link to the 3rd installment: http://bit.ly/2BE4Co