I finally got around to "reading" the September 2012 issue of Vogue in all of of its' 916 page glory. Pretty much every fashion campaign is represented side by side in this issue as opposed to just the major campaigns in smaller issues and seeing all the campaigns in one place made it easier to pick up on major trends in the Fall 2012 campaign approach. I noticed that an overwhelming majority of the campaigns this season opted for short hair on the models and a rather fierce and commanding look, so much so that the trend repeated itself so much and became almost seared into my brain. Other types of successful and original ideas for ad campaigns were like a breath of fresh air. On the other hand it is always interesting to see different executions of relatively the same idea and concept incorporating androgeny, and strong and commanding poses. I was also really excited to see Erwin Olaf photographing for Bottega Veneta because his fine art photographs generally "feel" like fashion images with something slightly off. I've been a fan of his work for years.
I'm not saying that I think these types of ad campaigns this season are necessarily bad or unsuccessful, just that the repetitive nature makes me disregard them more than usual. It's like when two movies come out at the same time with the same plot, like the two Coco Chanel movies in 2009 ('Coco Before Chanel' and 'Coco Chanel and Igor Stravinsky') or the two identical movies about the President's daughter ('Chasing Liberty' and 'First Daughter') in 2004. When multiple products come out at the same time with extremely similar content it is as if they are competing in a way for the 'best' one. In the same way these ads all resemble each other so much that they are almost asking us to choose which campaign 'did it best'. Because they are all doing such similar things with their campaigns it honestly makes me disregard all of them and hope that the companies will come up with something more unique and reedeem themselves for next season. I understand trends in the fashion shows for a particular season but very rarely do I notice a trend in fashion photography for a certain season since usually the approaches are more varied for each brand. I hope that the creative directors and art directors of these fashion empires can come up with more unique and individual campaigns that convey the different moods and feels of each company for next season. Its about time something new happened with ad campaigns.
