FabSugar

Fashion and Advertising: Provocative Is an Understatement

FabSugar — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 07:00:22 -0800

Sex sells. We know it, fashion conglomerates know it. But some companies take that notion a step (or two, or three) too far.

There are provocative ads and then there are provocative ads, like Emanuel Ungaro's super steamy one (left). A handful of advertising campaigns from the '90s and early 2000s will make your jaw drop like they did mine. Still, they make you want to keep staring. I certainly don't live in a bubble, but there's still something mind-boggling about aggressively seductive ads. They make me feel like a kid who accidentally walked in on her parents' love-making session (gross!).

Take a lookie and let me know how these make you feel. Warning: These ads are NSFW.

To see some overly provocative fashion ads, read more

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Fab Ad: Diesel Spring/Summer '07

FabSugar — Mon, 22 Jan 2007 13:43:23 -0800

The Spring/Summer ad campaigns have arrived in the new issues of all our favorite fashion bibles and I wanna talk about them! I grew up drooling over fashion through memorable and provocative ads. Some fashion brands can be quickly identified by their famous ads, for example, Versace, Kenneth Cole, Gucci and Diesel. My 'Fab Ads' will serve as a round table to discuss the effectiveness, beauty and selling power of our favorite, and not so favorite, fashion advertisements.

To kick this off, here is the Spring/Summer '07 campaign for Italian denim pioneer Diesel.

While Diesel is known for showing their clothes through sexual messages, this season they decided to take the social commentary angle. Shot by Terry Richardson, the ads feature everyday scenes that have been drastically altered due to rising temperatures and seas. Global Warming is a hot topic right now and Diesel's aim was to take the serious issue and put it into the surreal world of premium denim. In this ad, parrots have replaced the pigeons of Venice's St. Mark's Square - signifying a world that's been turned upside down.

What do you all think of Diesel's socially aware advertising approach?

Fab Ad? Sisley Fashion Junkie, 1

FabSugar — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 09:00:33 -0700

UPDATE: I have been informed by Sisley's parent company Benetton that these ads are fake. To see the real Sisley fall ad campaign, please visit Sisley.com. Thanks!

OK hold up. Sisley has gone too far with this ad. I normally like Sisley's racy and daring ads but this is too much - too in your face! The line of poking fun has crossed over into inappropriate. This ad is part of a series and if you look at Fashion Junkie, 2, where the fashion vice is alcohol instead of blow, I think that is as far a fashion junkie as Sisley should have gone.

Back in 2004, Benetton owned Sisley was featured in an article about how in France ultra provocative advertising isn't shocking - which is true for a lot of countries - but the US is tighter lipped about such things. While I appreciate sultry imagery and can laugh at a cheeky message, there is a fine line.

There are a couple more things I'd like to point out here. There is some nippleage on the left model - no big whoop really. And, I wonder if Chase Bank is OK with these models using one of their bank cards as a cutting device. As for the clothes, I like the deep purple dress but I really can't focus on anything but the not-so-subliminal message and the weird look in the model's eye. What do you all think?!

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