Photographers and creative minds worldwide are paying tribute to Oliviero Toscani, the Italian photographer and visionary behind some of the most provocative advertising campaigns of the 20th century. Toscani passed away today at the Cecina hospital in Tuscany at the age of 82, following a battle with amyloidosis.
In his honor, Benetton, the company where Toscani served as art director for two decades, shared a heartfelt post featuring one of his iconic images: a hand offering a bouquet of flowers, accompanied by the message, "In order to explain certain things, words simply don't suffice. You taught us that. And with that said, we'd like to pay tribute to you with a photo that you took for us many years ago, in 1989. Farewell Oliviero. Keep on dreaming."
Born in Milan on February 28, 1942, Toscani inherited his passion for photography from his father, a photographer for the Italian daily Corriere della Sera. His artistic journey began early and led him to study photography and graphic design in Switzerland.
His career took off when Annabella, an Italian magazine, saw some of his first fashion photographs. From there, Toscani's portfolio grew to include prestigious titles such as Harper's Bazaar, French Elle, and Italian and British Vogue, as well as collaborations with fashion brands like Fiorucci.
In the 1970s, Toscani partnered with Emanuele Pirella to create groundbreaking campaigns for Jesus Jeans, Italy’s first denim brand. Their slogans, including "Thou shalt not have any other jeans but me" and "Those who love me, follow me," emblazoned on the denim-clad buttocks of model Donna Jordan, sparked controversy and debates.
Toscani also worked for interior design companies such as B&B Italia: in 1972 he took a picture of Mario Bellini's iconic sofa, Le Bambole, combining fashion and design for the first time in a commercial campaign.
Toscani’s work reached new heights of influence during his tenure with Benetton from 1982 to 2000. Known for using advertising as a platform to tackle social issues, his campaigns provoked global debate and forever altered the landscape of fashion and marketing.
In the early 1980s, Benetton revolutionized fashion advertising with images of young people in colorful clothing set against a neutral white background. These campaigns, paired with the iconic "United Colors of Benetton" slogan, conveyed a message of diversity and unity. Celebrating optimism in a multicultural, carefree world, the early ads exuded joyful exuberance, showcasing vibrant garments as a metaphor for inclusion.
Behind these images was a skilled and cohesive team: Oliviero Toscani, stylist Caroline Baker, hairstylist Valentin Mordack, makeup artist Marc Schaeffer, and Benetton's Artistic Director Bruno Suter.
Their synergy ensured the campaigns' coherence and impact. Benetton's model scouting was unconventional for the time, often taking to the streets, with casting processes lasting weeks to find faces that truly represented the brand's message.
However, Benetton's campaigns weren't confined to cheerful imagery. Toscani's vision often veered into controversial territory, using advertising to challenge societal norms. A nun kissing a priest (A/W 1991; a stark critique of religious celibacy that infuriated the Vatican when it first came out), a newborn still attached to her umbilical cord (A/W 1991), and three raw hearts labeled "white," "black," and "yellow" (S/S 1996) were among the images that sparked further debates.
One of the most provocative and widely discussed images remains the 1990 photograph of David Kirby, taken by journalism student Therese Frare. Kirby, an AIDS patient, lay on his deathbed, surrounded by his grieving family. Critics labelled the campaign (S/S 1992) as shocking and opportunistic, yet Kirby's family defended the use of the image.
"We never had any reservations about allowing Benetton to use Therese's photograph in that ad," David Kirby's mother, Kay, told LIFE. "What I objected to was everybody who put their two cents in about how outrageous they thought it was, when nobody knew anything about us, or about David. My son more or less starved to death at the end. "We just felt it was time that people saw the truth about AIDS, and if Benetton could help in that effort, fine. That ad was the last chance for people to see David a marker, to show that he was once here, among us."
Toscani consistently maintained that Benetton was not merely selling clothes but using its platform to address pressing social issues. By looking at themes that traditional advertisers shied away from, Toscani and Benetton redefined the boundaries of advertising, transforming it into a medium for impactful social commentary.
In the years that followed, Toscani continued to push boundaries with powerful imagery. Themes such as peace were starkly represented by the blood-stained clothes of Marinko Gagro, a young man killed near Mostar, Bosnia-Herzegovina, in 1993 (S/S 94 campaign). Another striking campaign tackled the death penalty.
Toscani emphasized in interviews that his work was about communicating ideas, not producing mere advertisements, like his 1986 "Globe" series, which conveyed a message of peace through imagery of young people, including a Jewish boy and a Palestinian boy, holding the world in their hands (a theme that foreshadowed the Spring/Summer 1998 campaign, showcasing the stories of ordinary Jews and Palestinians in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, and Hebron).
However, the controversial nature of Toscani's work often met resistance. Many of his Benetton ads were banned in various countries and publications. The campaign featuring Gagro's bloodied clothes sparked intense debate in the UK Parliament, where the House of Commons condemned it as "sick and loathsome" and filed a petition against it in 1994.
In the 1990s, Toscani expanded his creative vision by launching Colors magazine, a publication blending global culture with social commentary. He also conceived Fabrica, Benetton's innovative think tank and communication research center.
In the years that followed, Toscani shifted his focus to personal projects and exhibitions such as the "Workwear" event, held in 2009 at Florence's Stazione Leopolda. This exhibition offered a historical exploration of workers' attire through the centuries, examining the interplay between workwear, fashion design, and safety. The event showcased fashion designs juxtaposed to garments and accessories created for individuals working in hazardous, uncomfortable, or extreme conditions, blending utilitarian functionality with design innovation. For this event Toscani drew inspiration from his early photo shoots, but admitted in an interview that the project also stemmed from his disillusionment with contemporary fashion designers, whom he criticized for being trapped "in the grips of an absurd aestheticism."
In 2011, Toscani once again sparked global controversy when Benetton decided to reignite its provocative spirit with the "Unhate" campaign. Toscani delivered with a series of photoshopped images depicting world leaders in unlikely scenarios, including Pope Benedict XVI kissing Sheikh Ahmed Mohamed el-Tayeb. The campaign's bold imagery drew international attention and once again incited outrage from the Vatican.
In 2013, I was commissioned to write a piece about fashion and religion for a Russian publication. The article was prompted by a proposed bill aimed at protecting citizens' religious feelings, likely influenced by the Pussy Riot protest inside Moscow's Cathedral of Christ the Savior. My research explored how artists and designers incorporated religious symbols into their work. While many fashion houses ignored or declined interview requests, a few individuals, including Oliviero Toscani, were willing to engage.
"I was often criticized, but I was never legally charged for my photographs and adverts," Toscani told me during our conversation for that piece. "My main aim is not to offend someone's religious feelings but to critique religion, just as others might critique political power."
In 2017, the exhibition "Oliviero Toscani. Più di 50 anni di magnifici fallimenti" (More than 50 Years of Magnificent Failures) opened at the Whitelight Art Gallery in Milan. Among the works displayed there was also his 2007 photograph for the fashion brand Nolita, featuring model Isabelle Caro, who suffered from severe anorexia and posed nude for the campaign. The haunting image, with the slogan "No Anorexia," was timed to coincide with Milan Fashion Week and appeared on billboards across the city. Tragically, Caro later succumbed to the disease.
Toscani returned to Benetton in the same year of this exhibition with a campaign shot in a multicultural Italian classroom at a primary school in Milan. The campaign featured 28 children from 13 different countries, emphasizing themes of integration, education, and the hope for a brighter, barrier-free future without racism.
However, in 2020, Benetton abruptly severed ties with Toscani following his controversial remarks about the deadly collapse of the Morandi Bridge in 2018. This was a significant moment, as the lack of maintenance was a major factor in the tragedy. At the time of the collapse, Autostrade per l'Italia - the toll road operator responsible for the bridge and controlled by the Benetton family through Atlantia SpA since 1999 - had failed to address critical repairs to the pylon that eventually gave way (Spea, another Benetton-owned company, was tasked with inspecting the infrastructure but fell short of its responsibilities).
Toscani's series "Razza Umana" (Human Race), which began in 2007, has been widely exhibited across Italy in public spaces and squares and selections from this series, are now permanently displayed in the hospital of Pescara where they welcome visitors in the main entrance, symbolizing humanity in all its diversity.
Throughout his career, Toscani neither sought consensus nor avoided controversy, an approach that offers valuable lessons. While some perceived his work as deliberately provocative, he defended his approach. "I don't understand why provoking has to have a negative connotation," Toscani once told me during an interview. "I personally think that it can be a very positive strategy to spark interest, encourage dialogue, ignite cultural debates, and create new opportunities."
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