PART NINE:

The legacy of Oliviero Toscani.

Infamous photographer Olivero Toscani partnered with fashion brand ‘United Colours of Benetton’ from 1982 to 2000 to create some of the most controversial advertisements in the fashion world (Chochrane, 2017). Toscani used Benetton to create ‘shock factor’ campaigns that made social commentary on ‘taboo’ topics, and one that arguably received the most backlash was his ‘Looking at Death in the Face’ campaign in 2000.

The images featured several criminals facing death row in America, a social commentary on capital punishment. The campaign was visually striking and featured the inmates looking directly into the camera to provoke emotion into the viewer. Whilst the images did receive backlash for insensitivity to the inmates’ families, it was used to ‘spread awareness and tear down the wall of indifference’ (Benettongroup.com, 2023).

Despite facing backlash on some of Toscani’s most disputed campaigns, controversial imagery remains one of the most effective ways to capture the attention of consumers (Paulins, Hillary, 2020). Toscani’s emotive images was the perfect way for politics and fashion to combine, and made Benetton part of political conversations, pushing the role of controversy as a way for fashion to make comment and an impact on society (TheGuardian.com, 2019). His images have also inspired other photographers to produce ‘shock campaigns’ such as Dov Charney’s illusive images for American Apparel. These advertisements received backlash for his sexual images that protestors described as sexist and taps into the male gaze to sell products. Similarly to Toscani, despite these advertisements being controversial, they were memorable and created conversation around the brand (Stampler, 2014).