As horrific the Duncan Quin advertisement was, this photo came to my attention as American Apparel is a sweatshop free clothing brand and specifically states that they are about ‘Equality, Diversity and Creativity’. In this ad the first thing you notice is the half-naked women lying on the bed staring at the camera. The women has no obvious emotion on her face in comparison to other advertisements I have seen. The model is positioned in a way that is very open and exposed. In this position is now vulnerable and can be taken advantage of. We also notice about the photo that the place she seems to be in does not seem very pleasant. The wooden chair in the background would probably be quite cheap, even though the photo is in black and white we are able to tell that there is no colour in the room, that everything seems to be mostly white, therefore we are able to tell that there are chips and cracks in the furniture you can see bits of. And that the room is very plain and does not seem to have much in it. From this we can suggest that whoever’s room this may be, may not be very wealthy. I searched American Apparel and their website states that their advertising campaigns [1]‘have become as synonymous with our brand name as the signature natural beauty’. When researching more about what they were about and what their campaigning signifies
They state that they feature ‘real girls who are selected not just for how they appear but for who they are’. So, does this advertisement really show who she really is as a person?
‘Their Intelligence, having a point of view and being an interesting person are qualities that we look for and those qualities brings energy to the pictures they take.’ The question that haunts me is how does advertisement seem to be showing this women’s intelligence?
When I researched about controversy in fashion advertisement I came across an article by the Varsity Fashion Editor Ellie Mullett, ‘The continual controversy of fashion ad campaigns’ as she reviews fashion houses mistakes in their ad campaigns.
[2]‘Some clothing is featured, but not a great deal of it, and that’s definitely not the first thing the viewer notices’ when reviewing the Saint Laurent campaign and how the way the model is sitting ‘She has been positioned to look compromised, and an uneasy feeling that she could be taken advantage of is projected’. This specific ad was described ’porno chic’ by director of the French advertising authority, Stephane Martin.
These type of advertising campaigns raise so much attention and make such a big impact. I feel that sometimes the fashion industry can become too competitive and can get carried away when trying to be more eye-catching than other competing brands. However, even in the fashion industry there should be such boundaries and should still respect them and avoid taking things to extreme.
Bibliography :
[1] http://www.americanapparel.com/en/aboutus/index.jsp
[2] https://www.varsity.co.uk/fashion/12930 Varsity, The continual controversy of fashion ad campaigns, Ellie Mullett
