Intro to Fashion Studies – Learning Portfolio Post #2

This picture is Calvin Klein men’s underwear ads, the model in the ads is Justin Bieber. Because this is an obvious advertisement for men’s products, there are many elements in the whole picture that highlight men’s gender characteristics. There was only one model in the ad, and he just wearing underwear and his upper body was completely naked. So, we can see this picture showed a typical men’s dress code to customers. The clipping of the underwear in the advertisement also highlights the outline of the buttocks and the outline of the male sexuality. In the book, Fashion and Culture Studies, Susan B. Kaiser (2012) she said the staying power of male tailoring shows how visual form can have its own authority, its own self-perpetuating symbolic and emotional force (Kaiser 2012) So the clipping of the underwear in this poster also helped to expand the influence of the model’s ability to convey the men’s power. In the picture, rugged muscle lines also create a male-specific sexy sign, and Justin Bieber upper body muscles in this poster magnified a lot, which will give consumers a message that it is wearing Calvin Klein underwear will make a man become a sexy man. Also expanded is the male character of the model’s lower body, which undoubtedly emphasizes a man’s unique qualities. Combined with the pose of the model’s two hands to create a sexy atmosphere, the entire photo creates one of the most popular male body contours. I think there is no doubt that this ad reinforces the gender norms, which use a lot of male-specific features to convey to consumers the sexy features that belong only to men. The entire poster does not incorporate any neutral or feminine elements but may use more women’s inherent impressions of sexy male signs. So, this poster affects both the male and female consumer intentions.