Sex sells – "or at least, that’s the thinking that Eckhaus Latta wanted to tackle head-on in its first ad campaign featuring its SS17 collection". A full-frontal, look at real sex is unconventional but a totally on-brand take on the prominence of sex imagery in fashion.
Mike Eckhaus and Zoe Latta teamed up with friend and photographer Heji Shin. The pair decided that they were “amused by the relationship between fashion advertising and sexuality (and) more interested in producing images that are open to interpretation.”.
Saying more than it doesn't, the couples wear Eckhaus Latta clothing, nothing else, even in their most intimate moments. Moreover, looking at the mix of people featured in the campaign is a political message about sexuality, ethnicity and identity as a whole. Same sex couples, inter racial couples and couples ambiguous of racial identity are featured non-discrimintantly, projecting an enlightened ethical quality to the brand position. By featuring couples of this make up, the target audience has been broadened to connect with everybody in one way or anything. This will start to build a brand reputation of inclusivity of the people, where free love and non-racial, non-homophobic stereotypes occur or exclude anyone for any reason. Perhaps this is the message Latta wants to install in its audience- 'we are non-discriminatory, wear our clothes'.. 'wear our clothes and you'll get laid'...'wear our clothes and your relationship passion will increase just like the couples in the images'.. or even positioning the brand recognition mentally in the same place as sex. Think of sex, think of these ads, think of Eckhaus Latta.
On the other hand, showing sex in this much detail is also a message about empowerment as much as fashion. The factors of self-esteem are impacted by the clothes we wear, the brands we consume and what this all means as facets of our identity and personality. Eckhaus Latta is selling ideal's and the Freudian complex, disguised by the unobtrusive camera angles and photographic style.
Muted, stylistic photography works in the favour to remove any 'tackiness'. When people think of sex, the most common relation is to porn or own personal experiences- these 99.9% of the time do not come with perfect lighting and the right cooling filter. The photographic quality brought to the situation hightens viewer perception by the removal of the 'smut factor'.. the removal of bright unsaturated colours and studio lighting gives a classic realism to the situation yet removing the connotations of smutty porn, cheesy 1970's music and shots created with schopophellia (and masturbation) in mind.
This has been an extremely clever campaign by its uncharted shock tactics. 2.8K shares in the first few days, just on Dazed and Confused shows the response gained from public intrigue, positioning the audience as active followers of Latta's latest, encouraging interaction between brand and consumer.
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