DIOR 2013 SECRET GARDEN CAMPAIGN
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his campaign is a pastiche of Édouard Manet’s ‘Luncheon on the Grass,’ which was painted between 1862-1863. Manet used his artwork to ‘break French academic tradition’ and experimented with bringing societal normalities and issues into his art work. Within traditional French paintings, before Manet’s work, naked women were used to represent mythology only however Manet placed an ordinary naked women within a prosaic setting to show refusal ‘to conform to convention’ (Kelly RichmanAbdou, My Modern Met). Within Dior’s campaign, they have recreated the ‘luncheon’ scene with the models lounging on the forest floor in an orderly manner. The two models who are representing the men from Manet’s work are dressed in black, professional office wear that tailor their bodies connoting their power and authority. As well as this, the front model is positioned to have her legs spread across the photo which may suggest control over the female as it is obstructing the view and hiding part of her body. In contrast to this, the two models
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are blind folded inferring that the males are only able to see the female for her sexuality and are blind to her intelligence and strength. The model representing the female juxtaposes the other models as she has blonde hair, lighter complexion and is wearing a bright red, feminine gown. The use of the colour red immediately draws attention to the model and connotes being strong and aggressive. Dior may have chosen this colour to reference upcoming female empowerment and how the freedom of women has progressed since Monet’s artwork in the 1800s. In addition to this, she is the only character making eye contact with the camera which hints at her bold character and her willingness to stand out from the crowd. Manet’s work can be considered ‘the departure point for modern art’ (Kelly Richman-Abdou, My Modern Met) so Dior may have chosen to recreate this campaign to show their state of transition within their business as they announced their new artistic director, Raf Simons.
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