Probably you have seen this already. No photo will be used in an ad without being digitally retouched today. I thought it was kind of whack when a friend of mine first showed me how he retouched a photo with his Macs for the cover of Vogue Italia some 15 years ago. Most of us won’t care anymore if an image we see is truthful or not.

The campaign for real beauty from Dove delivers another critical commercial called Onslaught. You have to see this one, too.

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A sculptor living in New York

11 Comments

  • Octavian

    I carry a small fashion research now and I looked through all french Vogue between 1960 and 1975. It’s amazing how photo retouching changed our perception… at least in makeup. Looking at all the covers or makeup pages is quite shocking now because…. they were not retouched. It’s funny to see the small wrinkles on Catherine Deneuve face (though young) and makeup that sometime looks like a real mask.

  • Octavian

    Did you see what happened recently in UK with l’Oreal and Avon, I mean their ads?

  • Nobi

    In the beginning of digital retouching, it was just about removing wrinkles, a shadow under the nose, or a mole in the middle of the face. Now they will bring another model’s mouth on Daria’s face if they don’t like her lips. Maybe I’m old fashioned, but that’s outragious !

  • Nobi

    Mascara advert?

  • Octavian

    Yes, the mascara!
    But changing legs, hands, faces…. was done also by Diana Vreeland in Vogue US and Bazaar. It is a way fashion works, but I agree with you, today it became…surreal!
    A good idea for a fragrance consultation program: give me your favorite fragrance, I will retouch it to match your skin, etc…:))

  • Nobi

    It’s a great idea, but most perfumers will say “It’s a sacrilege!” unless the fragrance is customized by the original creator. I think it will sooner or later become a reality… what do you think? I hope this won’t be done by someone without proper training.

  • Octavian

    By the same perfumer or one from the team…it can be done for small releases (perfumes). Just to put a small GC device in the boutique that “would trap” your skin scent and do a nice marketing show, a perfumer… and the “special service” is finished.
    I agree most perfumers would think it’s a sacrilege when not the original creator is involved but…there are so many changes in today’s word and things that 20 years ago seemed “sacrilege” now are current… I don’t see that a big problem.
    A good idea for Tom Ford… to tailor his fragrances to the end, so he has the whole concept as for the clothes.

  • Octavian

    Or, by an in-house perfumer, working like in a parisian “couture house” – retouching your perfume. It could give luxury image to houses that lost it the late years and it’s cheaper than custom made fragrance. I have plenty ideas to borrow from fashion world-system…:)
    In fashion all the nice models are made on standard size but women who can afford and pay…does not have standard sizes, on the contrary. The designer doesn’t complain that his creation/idea is changed… is just adapted by other persons in the same house.
    In a funny way it would be like saying: you have Black Orchid in S, XS, XXL size and…custom tailored. 🙂

  • Nobi

    Let’s say L’Oreal or Lauder likes your idea… first they will simply steal the idea, and then make the suppliers listen to “their” idea to let it happen. It is as simple as 1, 2 and may happen next year!

    And you are right about borrowing ideas from other industries. The fragrance industry needs to learn a lot of things from other fields like auto, fashion, architecture, and music. The industry is too narrow minded.

  • Octavian

    Let them steal it! I even invite them to steal other great ideas I have on my computer. :)))
    By the way, do you now anything about Mobile Art Project from Chanel/Zaha Hadid. I heard that there will be also some polysensorial experience around the Chanel bag…including smell. But I have no more details for the fragrance part.

  • Nobi

    Funny, your comment reminded me how I got into this weird world of scent. My friends once had a brand called 31 Fevrier, and they incorporated scent into their bags. I got the introduction to the fragrance industry thanks to them.
    As for Mobile Art, I’ve only seen the rendering and don’t know anything more. Zaha Hadid’s design is too masculine (funny to say so) and too sharp for me. I have a tendency to skip information on her work (I’m not a sexist, though). I should check it out. Thanks.

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