In 2008, Versace released an ad campaign featuring two women in various positions, often naked and embracing each other in an obviously sexualized manner. One specific ad depicts these two women close up, one embracing the other and the woman in front holding the Versace bag in front her bare chest, covering it up. The two women in the ad stare at the viewer with no emotion in their faces. No words accompany the photo, and the only way to know that it is Versace is if the viewer notices the small “Versace” label on the bag.
Mario Testino took the photographs for this ad campaign, with the clear intention of giving it sex appeal. Testino, born in 1954 in Peru, grew up admiring fashion and the media in the United States, and especially in Hollywood. As an adult, he moved to the US to pursue his photography. Many of his previous works before this one include the “sex sells” type of advertising, especially when involving two women. Although a lot of his ads base themselves around two women interacting as what seems to be lesbians, Testino has refused to explicitly state his sexuality, and has never been actively involved in the LGBT+ community. The two women in the campaign, Isabeli Fontana and Natalia Vodianova, are also not actively part of the community, however their sexualities are also not known for certain.
The inclusion of real LGBT+ in the ad seems very lacking. The two women are embracing in a purely sexual manner, not looking at each other, and not smiling. This ad,
Mario Testino took the photographs for this ad campaign, with the clear intention of giving it sex appeal. Testino, born in 1954 in Peru, grew up admiring fashion and the media in the United States, and especially in Hollywood. As an adult, he moved to the US to pursue his photography. Many of his previous works before this one include the “sex sells” type of advertising, especially when involving two women. Although a lot of his ads base themselves around two women interacting as what seems to be lesbians, Testino has refused to explicitly state his sexuality, and has never been actively involved in the LGBT+ community. The two women in the campaign, Isabeli Fontana and Natalia Vodianova, are also not actively part of the community, however their sexualities are also not known for certain.
The inclusion of real LGBT+ in the ad seems very lacking. The two women are embracing in a purely sexual manner, not looking at each other, and not smiling. This ad,