Bruce Weber for Versus Versace SS94
http://www.dazeddigital.com/artsandculture/gallery/20149/5/gianni-versace-s-best-ads
The two posters above were the ads for Versus(Versace), which is a brand Gianni Versace created for his sister Donatella Versace. Female cult and body cult are clearly shown in the both images, especially in the one that three guys in vivid printed silk shirt gathering under a female figure in leather. I assume Gianni Versace wanted to show his respect, love and probably adornment to his sister. The girl in the first poster was wearing a navy sweater, which navy is a typical menswear color. The second image reminds of the composition of the painting of Saint Mary carrying baby Jesus with two angels, especially the males were wearing the famous baroque print. The silk neck scarf is a symbol that indicates masculinity.
The ad subvert the traditional notion of gender characteristics. Actually Gianni Versace’s success was based on swapping gender identities.
“Fashion thrives on contradiction (conflicting truth claims) and ambivalence (conflicting emotion): both/and ways of knowing and feeling…that disrupts, blurs, and transcends binary(either/of) oppositions. (2012, Susan B. Kaiser, Fashion and Cultural Studies)
