Oliviero Toscani and the (challenging) task of communicating fashion

The fashion market is one of the most demanding within the Creative Industry — not only due to the seasonality of products and sudden shifts in direction, but also because of the ongoing challenge to communicate fashion with intelligence, innovation, and yes, commercial purpose.

Studying the strategies of major brands can bring valuable insights, and that’s why today’s topic is the (controversial) visual language of Oliviero Toscani, one of the most influential advertising photographers of the 20th century, who passed away in January of this year.

To talk about the Italian photographer Oliviero Toscani is to talk about extremes — about fashion communication that pushes social concepts to their provocative limits. His photography is a crucial part of fashion’s visual history: bold, shocking images that confronted prejudice and sparked debate. For those who lived through the ’90s, it’s impossible to forget his photos — such as a man dying of AIDS or a Black woman breastfeeding a white baby, among countless others.

But where was the fashion? The glamour? The beautiful clothes and attractive models? That’s precisely the point. Even while working for Benetton, Toscani chose a purely conceptual path. The Benetton logo was always there, but actual looks? Almost never.

Toscani wanted to provoke — and did so intensely — in a pre-Internet world, using print ads that consistently crossed into the realms of politics, religion, and ideology. The message came from Toscani, but also from the brand, in a strategy that still resonates today: brand positioning. If a brand stands for something, the consumer who identifies with it will buy into the message — and the clothing.

Though some accused him of sensationalism, Toscani’s work also became a reference point for others. Diesel’s campaigns in the ’90s, for example, followed a similarly provocative approach, albeit with more sarcasm and humor. One idea that emerged at the end of that century was the notion of indirect selling — offering concepts and abstract images rather than the product itself. It was, in many ways, a response to the excesses of the ’80s.

Today, it’s easier to understand that fashion is not just about clothes. It is a market that moves taste and emotion within the creative industry. “My goal is to communicate beyond beautiful dresses,” said the late Franca Sozzani in a 2012 interview (with this author). Franca knew that “fashion” exists in many forms — from the design of a couch to the cover of a notebook. Clothing, of course, holds a large part of the lifestyle market, and it has the potential to be one of the most innovative in the way it communicates with the 21st-century consumer.

And yet, what we often see in the digital world today is sameness: vertical photos of “outfit of the day” looks, isolated product shots, repetitive poses, repetitive bodies.

With Toscani’s passing in January, a major event for the global fashion and communication industry, a timely question resurfaces: how can we create fashion communication that is effective, but also fresh, intelligent, and engaging? How can we speak to our consumers in a more thoughtful way — delivering not just a product, but content, connection, and identity?

Each brand will have its own answer and strategy. What matters most is to never stop searching — and to avoid falling into sameness in a market as dynamic as this one.

By Juliana Lopes – fashion journalist and consultant. Instagram: @j.u.lopes