The famous Yves St Laurent ad for Opium featuring Sophie Dahl is in the headlines again – this time for making history…
It was the ad that made Sophie Dahl infamous, and relaunched the 1970s classic YSL perfume Opium – with a bang.
Now the infamous ad for the perfume, which features a naked redhead Dahl in the throes of passion, has been listed as the eighth most complained-about ad of the past fifty years.
It was a risky promotional strategy for Tom Ford, who was at YSL at the time – Opium was viewed as passe, and the Dahl ad used a plus-size model in a position you’d rarely see outside erotica – but it paid off.
Unusually, the Advertising Standards Agency in the UK actually upheld a lot of the complaints against the ad, and demanded that magazines only show it internally and that it couldn’t be displayed on billboards.
Rescu. readers might remember the ASA having a problem with Dakota Fanning’s ads for Lola Lola, the Marc Jacobs perfume, arguing that they were ‘sexualising’ an underage girl and banning the ads from dissemination.
It’s the only fashion ad on the list – which is surprising, given that Gucci tried to emulate the controversy and corresponding sales with an ad featuring a ‘G’ shaved into a model’s public hair a few years later.
Fashion ads are big business, and news about a ban can push sales – or harm them. Miu Miu hired 14-year-old actress Hailey Caulson as their face, but the ads featuring her sitting on train tracks brought complaints and buyers were confused by the youth of the actress.
It’s all a gamble – but it looks like YSL’s has given them a spot in history.
Image: Sophie Dahl for Opium.
One of RESCU’s favourite events of the year? The Strand Arcade in Sydney’s VIP shopping evening, An Evening With Our Designers.
They’re making it into an even bigger event this year, and have announced that the theme of the gala and campaign will be ‘The Art Of Authenticity’ – a focus on the artisan craftsmanship used by bespoke designers with Strand Arcade stores.
And in search of authenticity, they shot the campaign in India, where many Australian designers utilise local craftsmen to put intricate beading and techniques on their clothing. It’s all part of a partnership with the Artisans of Fashion initiative, which aims to promote the skills behind couture before they fade away.
Luxury fashion depends on artisanal skills, and they’ve come under an increasing spotlight recently as globalisation and outsourcing make designers worry that they aren’t being passed on. The Gucci artisans who just visited Sydney and Melbourne to display the intense workmanship which goes into a single handbag are part of this promotion of skills.
Rescu. can bring you an exclusive preview image from the campaign set in India. It was shot on location in Jaipur, in the Neemrahna-Fort Palace, and it makes us very excited for the finished product.
An Evening With Our Designers will be held in the Strand Arcade on August 16, where the Art Of Authenticity campaign will be officially launched.
Stay tuned to Rescu. for all the updates and gossip.
Image: Art Of Authenticity behind-the-scenes shot.
