Flora Botanica

F L O R A B O T A N I C A

I S I A G A B A L E P NA RC

Since being founded in 1919 by Christobal Balenciaga the Spanish fashion house made its mark on the industry and rose up to become one of the most prestigious and dominant brands the industry has ever seen, even inspiring designers such as Christian Dior who famously called Christobal, the master of designers.

Balenciaga has been celebrated as one of the most influential couture houses due to their haute couture, fragrance and jewellery sectors. Balenciaga fragrances have always been an important component to the brand, back in 1968 Balenciaga stopped manufacturing and selling clothing, this came shortly after

Christobal's passing. But the brand survived due to their strong fragrance business. Then again in the early 1990’s Balenciaga clothing was re-launched. Since its re-launch the influential designer Nicolas Ghesquiere has taken over the reins at Balenciaga and has succeeded impeccably in reviving a classic, timeless brand who now also positions itself at the fore front of modern design.

This magazine advertisement I came across in Cosmopolitan magazine for Balenciaga’s Florabotanica fragrance is a great way of Balenciaga promoting the brand towards the younger market and

widening their consumer base. Cosmopolitan may not be a high end prestigious fashion magazine but I think it fits perfectly for the market Balenciaga is catering their perfume too. Most readers of Cosmopolitan magazine are young girls and woman on average age between 15-25, therefore Balenciaga have positioned their fragrance in the perfect place where young woman will see the advertisement.

The model casting is also very deliberate; Kristen Stewart is a rising star in Hollywood and being the main character in a multi-million pound movie franchise such as Twilight means she is prominently and permanently in the eye of the public. Therefore by heading a campaign for Balenciaga Kristen attracts mass amounts of attention to the brand from the younger generation. She is also very relatable to the young woman and her personal style is very current and grungy which fits the ad and makes her a textbook model choice to face the fragrance.

The advertisement itself is floral and playful using prints designed by Ghesquiere from former collections. But unlike typical floral prints, the graphics in this ad are bold in colour and shape and strike a resemblance to jungle botany, the striking printed background that surrounds the model suggests Balenciaga are marketing their fragrance towards strong young woman who are playful yet independent, which is also clearly shown in the models body language. Her stance is strong but laidback, she is unnerved and sure of herself. Usually, a fragrance ad would be about the model striking an exaggerated, sexy lounge pose, being seductive and enchanting the consumer with come to bed eyes, whereas Kristen has stayed true to her laid back grungy style, she looks comfortable and in her element. Although her expression would seem empty and she is merely gazing into the camera, she gives off an endearing angelic expression. I think this is the kind of look the brand were trying to achieve, due to the perfume being targeted towards a younger audience it may have been deemed inappropriate if the ad came across too sexual instead opting for a younger vibe.

I also believe the advertisement has had obvious mass influence from its photographer, Steven Miesel. He defines his style of photography as ‘a little bit outrageous, a little bit crazy or sick’ which is clearly portrayed through the almost psychedelic Ghesquiere prints chosen to accompany Stewart in the shoot. Miesel has also created a Dali inspired surrealist mood to the ad choosing to use an oversized life size bottle of the perfume to accompany the model.

This again demonstrates the playful mood Balenciaga are trying to project to their consumers through the advertisement. This is a far cry from the other perfume advertisement out at this time.

Steven Miesel has let the model and set design play off each other, it almost seems effortless and I personally think it’s a pleasant change from the usually overly seductive and flashy ads from other brands such as Gucci and Calvin Klein who use sex appeal and to sell their perfume which wouldn’t work for this fragrance.

Balenciaga have furthermore stayed true to their humble Spanish roots opting to use the classic Balenciaga colour scheme of peacock blue, teal green, aquamarine, melon orange, ice pink, cherry red and their statement colour black. These colours have been encoded into the Balenciaga brand and the use of these colours clearly confirms that Balenciaga is able to imbed their heritage and brand values into their new ideas and designs successfully. This is also confirmed by the dress the model is seen wearing; Ghesquiere has taken a class Balenciaga plum silhouette teaming it with exaggerated floral prints re-creating a timeless piece with a modern twist.

Overall I believe the ad has all the components for a very successful fragrance advertisement. Their target market is clear through their use of model, set and colour scheme. The ad is in perfect position for maximum display to their consumers and it’s cleverly positioned near the style section of the magazine which usually gets the most attention from the reader. I also believe the choice of art direction and photographer was amazing, Miesel is known for being crazy and thinking outside of the box which really suits the quirky vibe you get from looking at this advertisement for Florabotanica.

Written by Victoria Baldwin