Dolce & Gabbana Court Controversy With Ad Campaigns
By Sarah Stefanson March 22, 2010
Photo: Dolce & Gabbana
Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana have been designing clothes together for nearly three decades. In that time they’ve learned that the old adage “sex sells” is perpetually true, especially in the fashion world. The fashion superstar duo has never been afraid to push the sexual envelope with their clothing or their ad campaigns. Some of the images the label uses for advertising have been accused of going too far and have come under fire for what critics interpret as depictions of homosexual sex, gang rape, violence and even necrophilia.
The hyper-sexuality of Dolce & Gabbana’s advertising may be inspired by several factors. The designers started off as a couple and their passions for fashion and for each other fuelled their creativity until their split in 2005. A sexy partnership seems to have translated into arousing advertisements again and again. No doubt the fact that they are homosexuals has also had an influence on the types of images used to market their clothes, with several ads featuring gorgeous male models in various states of undress, sometimes in rather intimate positions.
Some people, including Raul Martinez, CEO and executive creative director at AR, New York, insist that the sexually charged atmosphere portrayed in many D&G ads is due to the brand’s Italian heritage. The passion and emotion of the Italian people naturally creates a sexy environment.
Whatever the reason, the ads created and run by the company have caused their fair share of controversy over the years. In their 2005 menswear ad campaign, D&G took sexual marketing to a new low—literally. An ad featuring the company’s new jeans showed a male model wearing a pair that were low enough to show a considerable patch of pubic hair, inspiring the moniker “pubic pants.” Some critics of the ad called it gross, tasteless and without wit or humour, while others, including Kevin O’Malley, then vice president and publisher of Esquire magazine, which ran the ad, defended D&G’s right to artistic expression.
Dolce & Gabbana have frequently used young, virile, nearly naked models, both male and female, to sell their products. In 2009, their underwear line was modelled by members of the national Italian swim team and supermodel Gisele Bundchen has been seen in many a D&G ad campaign.
While D&G do default to standard provocative fashion ads on a regular basis, they also often make a point of going beyond traditional choices and themes. Same sex kisses have been the highlights of television ads for D&G’s Time and Jewels lines, while their print ads often place female models in suggestive poses with each other and scantily clad men in a variety of homoerotic situations.
Dolce & Gabbana got into trouble with the UK’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) in early 2007 over a Napoleonic Period themed ad campaign. In one ad, models held knives menacingly and one model lay on the ground with a bullet hole in his forehead. In another, a female model holding a knife with a wound on her chest was supported by two men. The 156 complaints received by the ASA from groups including Mothers Against Murder And Aggression (MAMAA) and Media March called the ads irresponsible because they “condoned and glamorised (sic) knife-related violence in the UK” and “linked self-harm with fashion.” D&G defended its campaign saying that the ads were highly stylized, theatrical and modelled after famous paintings by Delacroix and David. After adjudicating the ads and taking statements from D&G as well as Time and The Daily Telegraph, which had run the ads in their publications, the ASA concluded that the images were irresponsible. They then reminded D&G of their “duty to prepare ads with a sense of responsibility to consumers and to society.”
Dolce & Gabbana ads have caused plenty of controversy over the years, but perhaps none more so than an early 2007 ad featuring a woman in a tight dress and stilettos being held down at the wrists by a shirtless man while four other men watch the scene. The ad is described by the National Organization for Women (NOW) on their website as “beyond offensive, with a scene evoking a gang rape and reeking of violence against women.” NOW joined women’s groups in Spain, Italy and the United States in protesting the image. The Spanish government and various groups including the Spanish Women’s Institute (Observatorio de la Imagen del Instituto español de la Mujer) started the outcry, demanding that the ad be banned. Within weeks, thirteen Italian senators added their objections to the ad.
Dolce & Gabbana eventually decided to pull the ad from various publications due to pressure from governments, associations and the public, but the designers insisted that they did not see anything wrong with the image, saying it had nothing to do with real life and was an artistic expression. In response to the accusations that it depicted gang rape and violence toward women, Stefano Gabbana said, “it does not represent rape or violence, but if one had to give an interpretation of the picture, it could recall an erotic dream, a sexual game.” D&G labelled Spain as behind the times and out of touch.
Despite the uproar, D&G’s sales don’t seem to be hurting. According to the official Dolce & Gabbana website, the company’s revenues had increased by 21% by the end of the fiscal year in March 2008, resulting in 1266.6 million British pounds (1.9 billion CAN) in sales. Controversy aside, with famous fans like Madonna (who is featured in D&G’s Spring 2010 campaign), Monica Bellucci, Isabella Rossellini, Kylie Minogue and Angelina Jolie, the brand is clearly here to stay.
Photo: Dolce & Gabbana, full version
Related Articles:
Submitted on March 22, 2010 in Industry News.
Sarah is our Western Canadian correspondent. She recently left a long-standing position as editor and writer for TheSoko.com, DriverSense.com & LiveDress.com to focus on book and novel writing. Sarah continues contribute weekly articles to AskMen.ca and Models & Moguls. Sarah thinks she might have been a model if it weren’t for the blessing of Slavic hips and thighs.
Sarah Stefanson has contributed 64 articles to Models & Moguls.
