Audrey Hepburn Chanel Pre-Fall Ad
When I
was browsing through a fashion blog, I crossed paths with the 2012
Chanel Pre-Fall advertisement, featuring two models in white dress suits. Being a
great admirer of the 1950s fashion and style icons, such as Audrey Hepburn, and
having realized the many ad techniques businesses use, I became captivated by
the models’ appearance and the picture’s simplicity.
To
attract consumers, Chanel used white to associate elegance and wealth with its
products. Historically, the color white has represented purity and a sign of
authority whereas black and darker colors have been associated with people of
lower status. In consideration of Chanel’s worldly recognition and contribution
to the haute couture industry, I was
not all surprised by Chanel’s choice in its color scheme. In addition, the
scene of the models holding onto bars depicted an image how Chanel women were able
to engage in physical activities while wearing clean, white clothes, which represented
a sign of wealth and privilege. And due to the color's association with people of power - most notably Caucasians and people of European descent - the addition of an African-descent
model caught my interest, given the current economic disparity between
different ethnic groups in the United States and the low usuage of colored models in high-fashion.
To complement
its sharp, sophisticated look, Chanel brought back, with slight alterations, the fitted jackets and dresses
and the short haircut that were popularized in the 1950s. Back in the 50s, America
was socially conservative and underwent great economic growth, and the popular fashion
trend emphasized the values of that time. To the viewers, if people wanted to look like the ideal women, Chanel evoked a message that consumers needed to purchase these 1950s-inspired clothes. Even though the current fashion trend is about "personalized style," it was fascinating to see how Chanel was influencing its audience to buy clothes from a specific period.
Personally,
if I haven’t taken the Consumer Culture class, I wouldn’t have given much thought
regarding the economic, social, and even historical context shown in the
advertisment. From lighting to the picture’s setting to the models’ pose, these
factors made me realize how much detail was involved in advertisement. Therefore,
given the many factors involved, consumers should be aware of the product’s
message when they see a fashion magazine or blog.
Beautiful ad. Like it or not, advertising is a principle form of art in our culture--and the decisions marketers make in the images they use have a huge effect on our collective conscious and unconscious. It makes sense to give props to a firm that makes an ad like this one, I think, even if you think it's stupid to pay hundreds or thousands of dollars for the clothing pictured.
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