Styling

Studies show that there are five main ways of styling for specific purposes (Pöllänen et al., 2019). One way of styling is personal styling, which appeals to the individuals needs and wants, as well as their lifestyle. Commercial styling portrays the product in a simple way to get sales. Artistic styling tends to exaggerate the stylists’ ideas, and is seen as more creative than personal styling, it can be influenced by a number of factors, such as the stylist’s personality and the culture they are surrounded by. Both fashion styling and promotional styling are created around the customer’s aspirations, however, also ensures that this aspiration could be achievable. It promotes the message that a customer can achieve their aspirational style with certain clothes. The fifth type of styling is fashion blogging and marketing, which allows the blogger to showcase their own personal style, and others can take inspiration from this.

The motivation for styling can affect the way a product is styled on a brand’s website or on a promotional video. For example, personal styling could be shot with a clothing item worn in an everyday setting, like on Hollister’s Instagram. Each element of styling differs in the way it reaches the client.

PART NINE: The legacy of Oliviero Toscani.

Oliviero Toscani is a fashion photographer, best known for his controversial advertisements he shot for the fashion brand Benetton between 1982 and 2000 (Famous Photographers, nd). He shot advertisements that focused more on social issues at the time than Benneton’s products, for example images relating to AIDS at a time where it was a taboo (International Centre of Photography, nd). The campaign shot in 2000 caused Benneton to cut ties with Toascani, as he focused on prisoners on death row, which caused great upset to the families of the victims of the pictured criminals (Wordpress, nd). Toscani argued that his photographs were supposed to create conversation, saying “Controversy is very useful” and other brands and photographers have tried to emulate this more recently (Carroll, 2000).

Balenciaga launched images shot by Gabriele Galimberti in November 2022 that pictured a young child alongside a bag that included bondage gear (The Guardian, 2022). At the very least it was deemed inappropriate, however some claimed that it promoted paedophilia (Issawi, 2023). Balenciaga could have been trying to replicate the shocking images like that of Toscani, to get people talking about the images, and therefore the brand. However, the public clearly felt that it was not appropriate to release. After seeing the backlash, Balenciaga’s director apologised, saying it was a mistake and that he does not condone child abuse (Raiken, 2022).