Benetton's Most Iconic Campaigns by Oliviero Toscani
Italian photographer Oliviero Toscani revolutionized advertising with his provocative and disruptive campaigns for the United Colors of Benetton. See his most memorable images that redefined visual communication.
Italian photographer Oliviero Toscani passed away Monday at the age of 82 after a long-fought battle (with a terminal illness, amyloidosis), and he leaves behind a great legacy in fashion photography. His work with United Colors of Benetton remains some of his best known and most impactful, both for contributing to the company's own success and for redefining visual communication.
Luciano Benetton and his siblings Carlo, Gilberto, and Giuliana launched the family business in 195 in Treviso, Italy. The mark grew after that, earning its place as a prominent label to know in the Italian and fashion scene, despite the brand's waning in recent years amid changing of hands and fashion's changing landscape. Still, the brand remains known for its innovation, particularly in its ad campaigns, thanks to Toscani.
“Art is the highest expression of human communication. And by art I don’t mean only painting or sculpture or the ancient and traditional arts, but, above all, the modern, mass arts, like photography, design, fashion, architecture, cinematography, and so on," Toscani remarked in a early 2010s speech, offering a glimpse into his philosophy and dedication to his craft. "Creativity is communication. Today the creativity of communication is conditioned by an obsessive search for consensus, in the false belief that consensus is success. Fear of failure always produces mediocrity, because the chosen solution will always be the least risky and the most banal."
Toscani transformed Benetton into art through his lens, creating some of most referenced campaigns in fashion that are still the subject of study in universities and communication college classes. Some remain controversia, some remain emblematic of visuals of an epoch. The photographer's shock-vertising has been exhibited across museums, too, boasting his vibrant visual style and appreciation of the human form.
Keep scrolling to see some of Benetton's most iconic campaigns shot by Toscani, from the '60s through the late 2010s.
