Oliviero Toscani, driving force behind provocative Benetton ads, dies at 82

Oliviero Toscani, the Italian photographer who used images of AIDS patients and death row inmates to break the boundaries of fashion images as the creative mastermind of Benetton advertising campaigns, died on Monday. He was 82 years old.

His family announced his death on Instagram. They did not say where he died or give a cause of death, but in August, Mr. Toscani died He said Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, where he was diagnosed AmyloidosisIt is a rare and incurable condition in which protein buildup occurs.

for him Shock and awe campaigns In the 1980s and 1990s, Benetton helped from a small Italian brand to a global fashion powerhouse, by… Provocative Ads that blur the lines between marketing, activism, fine arts and consumer industry.

In one advertisement, an AIDS patient was lying on his back, his mouth open, and his hands folded on his chest. His dark eyes stared past his family gathered around his deathbed. Patient David Kirby He looked almost like Christ.

And there, near the bottom right, A few words hanging in the green box: “United Benetton Colours.”

The ad, which ran in the 1990s, was one of the most provocative and divisive in modern fashion history, sparking angry debates about whether Benetton and Mr. Toscani were creating art, engaging in advocacy or exploiting the pandemic to sell their clothes.

It is worth noting that Mr. Toscani had So the Kirby family To use a color version of the photo taken by photographer Therese Frary in 1990. The Kirby family said the campaign helped expand awareness about AIDS.

“Benetton did not use us, he did not exploit us,” the Kirby family said, stressing that this was a way to project their son’s image “around the world, and that is exactly what David wanted.”

Mr. Toscani’s ads were often socially progressive, with images of gay and racially diverse families. They were also meant to shock. Use pictures of horses mating. He used the bloodstained one Uniform A soldier was killed in Bosnia and Herzegovina. One advertisement featured actors dressed as a priest kissing a nun.

“Advertising agencies make millions by repeating the same old thing,” he added. He said The New York Times added in 1995: “We are trying to go another way.”

Mr. Toscani sometimes crossed the limits even for Benetton. He joined the company in 1982 and left in 2000 amid uproar over an advertising campaign that included images of Prisoners sentenced to death All over the United States.

He returned as creative director in 2017. But his career at Benetton ended in 2020, not for the calculated and bold risks he took in photography and advertising, which he delighted in broadly challenging conventional ideas about respectability. Rather, it was because of an offhand comment he made in a radio interview about A Bridge collapse in Italy Which killed more than 40 people. “Who cares about the bridge collapsing?” He said. Despite his apology, Benetton fired him.

Italian Politicians and creative Leaders honored him on social media on Monday. Designer Valentino Garavani, creator of Valentino Call him “A visionary who challenged the world through his lens.” Designer Giorgio Armani wrote that “the frankness and visual impact of his language sets a standard.”

Oliviero Toscani was born in Milan on February 28, 1942. He followed in the footsteps of his father, Fidel Toscani, a photojournalist. Mr. Toscani trained at the Zurich School of Applied Arts and worked as a fashion designer before joining the Benetton Group as artistic director in 1982.

His survivors include his wife, Kirsty Musing-Toscani, and their three children, Rocco, Lola and Ali. Mr. Toscani had been married twice before and had three other children. Complete information about the survivors was not immediately available.

In his final months, Mr. Toscani told the Corriere della Sera newspaper that he had lost some weight while being treated for an illness Amyloidosis And his sense of taste has declined. He said the wine tasted different to him. “I’m not interested in living this way,” he added.

But in September, he said Travel To the Design Museum Zurich Great retroactive effect For his work called “Oliviero Toscani: Photography and Provocation”. It was closed just over a week before his death.

“I have discovered that advertising is the richest and most powerful medium that exists today.” He said The Times in 1991. “So I feel a responsibility to do more than say, ‘Our jacket is nice.’”

Elisabetta Povoledo and Matthew Mbok Big Contributed to reports.