Sunday, November 04, 2007
Haute Couture Shock
by Shanon Corbin, [X]press Online
My little known secret: I like the culture of fashion and fashion-photography. When Gentlemen’s Quarterly, W magazine, Purple Fashion Magazine or any other stylish publication grabs my attention on the newsstand through slick and innovative photography or great clothing, I will buy! I was more than compelled when I saw this month’s Out magazine with cover model and designer Tom Ford – Oy!
Tom Ford is a big deal in the fashion world. Tom Ford summary: Ford graduated from the Parson’s School of Design in 1986 and moved to Italy in 1990, where he began working at Gucci and took different leadership roles, from designing women’s clothing to becoming their creative director in 1994. Ford left Gucci in 2004, to form a clothing line under his own name only a year later.
I read the article, and like most stylish, hip magazine pieces that are made for gay 21-to 36-year-olds, it is a fluff piece. Flipping through the new November issue of Out magazine or visiting Ford’s website (www.tomford.com), a viewer will see a well-positioned bottle of Tom Ford’s new men’s fragrance nestled in the middle of a woman’s neatly shaven crotch. Yes…exactly.
Granted, the ad does what it sets out to do -- cause some chatter and maybe get some people to buy the fragrance. But even I, as a gay man, wonder if the ad is going a bit too far. Tom Ford says in the Out article, “We need to get over our sexual hang-ups,” but is using a woman’s body in a sexually explicit and exploitive manner to sell a fragrance for men really going to create conversation about why people in the United States are so silent when it comes to sexuality? No, because changing the views of sexuality starts by disrupting the heterosexist and patriarchal systems that exist in the United States, and not in a magazine where someone is trying to sell a product. Ford took a gamble in his new ad campaign, but I believe it wasn’t worth the bet.
My little known secret: I like the culture of fashion and fashion-photography. When Gentlemen’s Quarterly, W magazine, Purple Fashion Magazine or any other stylish publication grabs my attention on the newsstand through slick and innovative photography or great clothing, I will buy! I was more than compelled when I saw this month’s Out magazine with cover model and designer Tom Ford – Oy!
Tom Ford is a big deal in the fashion world. Tom Ford summary: Ford graduated from the Parson’s School of Design in 1986 and moved to Italy in 1990, where he began working at Gucci and took different leadership roles, from designing women’s clothing to becoming their creative director in 1994. Ford left Gucci in 2004, to form a clothing line under his own name only a year later.
I read the article, and like most stylish, hip magazine pieces that are made for gay 21-to 36-year-olds, it is a fluff piece. Flipping through the new November issue of Out magazine or visiting Ford’s website (www.tomford.com), a viewer will see a well-positioned bottle of Tom Ford’s new men’s fragrance nestled in the middle of a woman’s neatly shaven crotch. Yes…exactly.
Granted, the ad does what it sets out to do -- cause some chatter and maybe get some people to buy the fragrance. But even I, as a gay man, wonder if the ad is going a bit too far. Tom Ford says in the Out article, “We need to get over our sexual hang-ups,” but is using a woman’s body in a sexually explicit and exploitive manner to sell a fragrance for men really going to create conversation about why people in the United States are so silent when it comes to sexuality? No, because changing the views of sexuality starts by disrupting the heterosexist and patriarchal systems that exist in the United States, and not in a magazine where someone is trying to sell a product. Ford took a gamble in his new ad campaign, but I believe it wasn’t worth the bet.
# posted by [X]press Staff @ 1:36 PM 