V i v i en n e W e st w ood N aug h t y A l i c e
Er in Hu s h o n N049 4 9 1 2 FCP( Le ve l 1) - FASH1 0 1 0 6
The first in the three piece Alice collection, Naughty Alice released in October 2010, has
been accepted worldwide due to the fragrance representing ‘Vivienne Westwood’s playful and highly creative imaginary universe.’ (Vivienne Westwood Official Website - Naughty Alice Eau De Parfum), The print campaign also embodies this Vivienne Westwood identity.
When I looked at the advert my first thoughts were: fun; youthful; girly and simple due
to it being obvious what it signifies. The denotations of the advertisement are that there is a girl standing with a large surreal bottle, wearing matching red dress, shoes, lipstick and hair, in front of a frame.
The campaign uses a “Naughty Alice” illustrated character rather than a real life model,
which is unique in comparison to other brands that were releasing fragrances around the same time, due to it being the era of celebrity endorsement. The character has been initially based around Alice from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland linking the fragrance name and character together. However 6 months prior to the release of the fragrance, the Tim Burton fantasy film, Alice in Wonderland, was showcased in a modern and altered manner. Vivienne Westwood has also taken Burton’s approach to modernise the well-known classical novel by creating an innovative narrative behind Alice, that you wouldn’t associate with the original Lewis Carroll character. Alice was drawn by the pin up artist Maly Siri who styles herself in a 1950’s pin-up fashion, which is reflected in her design. Pin-up girls typically were very sensual, would wear seductive clothing and had a retro style including their hair, more than likely involving curls. This personality has been portrayed in Alice in more ways than one. One way is her positioning against the bottle. Bending slightly over becomes a seductive pose allowing for cleavage to be slightly on show and her other assets to be highlighted. Her fingers are delicately draped over the top of the bottle holding the jewellery in a playful way. Another way in which pin-up has been shown in “Naughty Alice” is the use of red. The design has perpetuated the legend that the colour red is dangerous and feisty as well as being the colour of love and lust, so therefore “naughty”. A pin-up girl that has been influential to the design is ‘Rita Hayworth for her class’ (Maly Siri 2014). Hayworth was an American actress and dancer and a common pin-up in the 1940’s. “Rita was shy, quiet and unassuming; only when the cameras rolled did she turn on the explosive sexual charisma” (Rod Crawford. Rita Hayworth Biography – IMDb) that pin-up girls were recognised for. Originally filmed in black and white, her fiery red hair still stood out and is remembered due to this. Westwood’s Alice has this quality of being a good girl with a mischievous sexual charisma similar to Hayworth.
Alice also seems to have the sex appeal of Jessica Rabbit from the ‘1988 hybrid film Who Framed Roger Rabbit.’ Like Alice, ‘Jessica is a tall, beautiful, and voluptuous woman. She has a curvy and slender hourglass figure with a narrow waist, buxom bosom and broad hips. She has fair skin and long, luxurious deep-red hair.’ (Jessica Rabbit, Physical Description. -DisneyWiki.) As well as her ensemble of a low cut red dress, red stilettos and bright red lipstick. Jessica Rabbit is remembered for her flirty and naughty side to her personality and therefore the link to her clothing and figure now represent this. The figure of Alice has also been represented in the highlighted bottle as it is voluptuous and curved just like she is. The bottle also continues the running theme of fan tasy, as it is relatable to a potion bottle that could show the strength of femininity.
Another fantasy influence could be from the story, The Wonderful Wiz-
ard of Oz, originally written by L. Frank Baum. The book was called a “veritable Alice in Wonderland brought up to the present day standard of juvenile literature.” (New Fairy Stories: Grand Rapids Herald. 1900) The story too was a twist on what was expected for a fairy-tale. However it wasn’t until the 1939 film that Dorothy wore her magical ruby red slippers. In Maly Siri’s design of Alice she is seen wearing ruby red slippers possibly representing that the fragrance will take you to another place like they did for Dorothy.
Those w ith red hair usually come accompanied by pale skin, which Alice has also adopted.
This makes the character more realistic as well as showing innocence as an English rose, but with an unexpected flirty side with ‘a twist of rock attitude and evanescent’ (Maly Siri 2014) from Florence Welch. This is relatable to Vivienne Westwood’s brand as she is very patriotic and tries to include her British roots into her products. Westwood is also well known for her punk rock influences and her extravagant personality and therefore puts twists on what is socially expe cted.
Another way in which Westwood’s patriotism has been shown is in the colour contrast of
the advert. The paleness of Alice’s skin a gainst the warm red and the cold blue could represent the colours of the British flag. The use of gold also represents luxury and wealth, which can be replicated in the brand, as it’s high quality fashion. Another symbol of luxury is the use of a Victorian frame to highlight the product. The frame links to the original narrative of Lewis Carroll, which was written within the Victorian era. The circular pattern of the frame and also the text portrays the femininity and luxury of the brand and product, as well as the trademark Vivienne Westwood globe logo.
I think that the advert is suited for the product target market of ‘the modern woman with
classic sensibilities.’ (Fragrance Net) The advert is definitely feminine and doesn’t use the stereotypical girl next door which women can deem to be unrealistic. Also women probably want to believe that they can also have a ‘naughty’ side. The print advert was shown in In Style, a ‘fashion, beauty and celebrity lifestyle magazine.’ (InStyle UK) The magazine also suits the target consumers of the product who would possibly have an interest in celebrity culture and want to be able to have a piece of luxury on their dressing table. The advert originally allowed readers of the advert to ‘wave a printed symbol in front of the website to make the Alice drawing walk around and be naughty.’ (Argumented Reality for Westwoods Naughty Alice - Design Gazette – JKR) This used modern technology to allow the consumer to be involved in the product as well as being able to bring the character to life and successfully show the personality of both brand and product not just the canvas.
Re f e r e n c e L ist Webs ites Vivienne Westwood. Naughty Alice Eau de Parfum [online]. UK: Vivienne Westwood. Available at: http://www.viviennewestwood.co.uk/shop/fragrance/naughty-alice-eau-de-parfum-9223/ [Accessed 25th March 2014].
Rod Crawford. Rita Hayworth Bibliography [online]. Washington. Available at: http://www. imdb.com/name/nm0000028/bio [Acce ssed 25th March 2014].
Jessica Rabbit, physical background [online]. Available at: http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/ Jessica_Rabbit [Accessed 25th March 2014].
Frangance Net [online]. Available at: http://www.fragrancenet.com/ [Accessed 25th March 2014].
InStyle UK [online]. Available at: http://www.instyle.co.uk/[Accessed 25th March 2014].
Review s “New Fairy Stories: “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” by Authors of “Father Goose.””. Grand Rapids Herald. September 16, 1900. A rchived from the original on February 2, 2011. Retrieved 2011-02-02.
Argumented Reality for Westwoods Naughty Alice: 8th November 2013. Design Gazette – JKR [online]. Available at: http://www.jkrglobal.com/design-gazette/augmented-reality-forwestwoods-naughty-alice/
Electr onic Communica tion Hushon.E (erin_alex@hotmail.co.uk), 2014. Naughty Alice References. 25th March. Email to: (maly.pinupart@gmail.com)
D i g i t a l I m ages ( Per f ume Bottle) Sugarscape, 2014. Beauty Lust Have Vivienne Westwood Naughty Alice Perfume [online]. Available at: http://www.sugarscape.com/main-topics/fashion-beauty/558273/new-beautylusthave-vivienne-westwood-naughty-alice-perfume [Accessed 25th March 2014]
( Naughty Alic e Advert) Fragrance Expert, 2014. Vivienne Westwood Naughty Alice [online]. Available at: http:// www.fragranceexpert.com/vivienne-westwood-naughty-alice.html [Accessed 25th March 2014]
( Alice in Wonderla nd Poster) WGSN, 2010. Johnny Depp Named Biggest Box-Office Star of 2010 [online]. Available at; http://www.wgsn.com.ezproxy.ntu.ac.uk/content/report/Pop_Culture/Film_TV_Music/2011/ January/johnny_depp_namedbiggestbox-officestarin2010.html [Accessed 25th March 2014]
( M aly Sir i Pinup S ke tc he s) Maly Siri, 2011. Pin Up And Cartoon Girls [online]. Available at; http://www.pinupcartoongirls.com/2011/03/maly-siri.html [Accessed 25th March 2014]
( Rita Hayworth) Obssesionistas. 1940’s [online]. Available at: http://www.obsessionistas.co.uk/ collections/2011/4/5/0002-vintage-hairdryers.html [Accessed 25th March 2014]
( Per f um e Gift S et) WGSN, 2010. Christmas Gifting: Product & Packaging trends [online]. Available at; http:// www.wgsn.c om.ezproxy.ntu.ac.uk/content/report/Beauty/Product_and_Packaging/2010/November/christmas_giftingproductandpackagingtrends.html#retro_boudoir [Accessed 25th March 2014]
( Flor ence W elch) Undone Thoughts. Flobsession Part 1. [online] Available at: https://undonethoughts.wordpress.com/tag/florence-the-machine/ [Accessed 25th March 2014]
( Wizar d of Oz ) Listal, 2010. Picture of Wizard of OZ. [online] Available at: http://www.listal.com/ viewimage/1227335h [Accessed 25th March 2014]
( J es s ica Ra bbit) JEWell, 2013. Jessica Rabbit. [online] Available at; http://jeweell.com/ct/people/1167660jessica-rabbit.html [Accessed 25th March 2014]
Bi b l i o g r a p h y •
http://www.instyle.co.uk/
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http://www.viviennewestwood.co.uk/shop/fragrance/naughty-alice-eau-de-parfum-9223/
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com%2F&session_token=oRPzdBxmRdFXp-Qfxk8VeDz2Hvx8MTM5NTY5NTU2MEAxMzk1NjA5M TYw •
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wf/en_US/22994 •
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Alice in Wonderland Through the Visual Arts- edited by Gavin Delahunty& Christoph
Schulz •
Vivienne Westwood- Claire Wilcox
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100 Dessous, A History of Lingerie- Giles Néret (Taschen)
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Fashion Now 2- edited by Terry Jones & Susie Rushton (Taschen)
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All-American Ads- edited by Jim Heimann (Taschen)
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A Decade of Guess? Images, 1981 to 1991- Guess?, Inc. 1991
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Alice in Wonderland- 2010 Film, Tim Burton, Walt Disney
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Alice in Wonderland- 1951 film, Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson, Hamilton Luske, Walt
Disney •
The Wizard of Oz- 1939 Film, Victor Fleming