Lee's ad campaign controversial
There's nothing remarkable about Lee Jeans' new ad campaign, which features a girl being photographed in her room whilst licking a lollypop. Sex, as we know it in advertising, sells fashion, and it has for the greater part of the decade. The sexy images are by Terry Richardson, the fashion world's naughtiest photographer, renowned for his envelope-pushing, groundbreaking porn-flavoured Gucci and Sisley campaigns.
The creative director of Spin Communications, Emil Vrisakis, said the campaign was, yes, "a bit cheeky" but, "Jeans have always been linked with sex and sexy imagery." He also compared the photographs to nudes by Botticelli and Norman Lindsay, adding: "Terry Richardson is an artist too."
The original idea for the Lee campaign, said Mr Vrisakis, was to photograph a concept of "feeling good about yourself". The models would play around as they might in their own bedroom and photograph themselves posing like porn, rock or pop stars. As teens do. In private. It was Richardson, said Mr Vrisakis, who came up with the idea of inserting himself, shirtless and with his camera flashing, into every picture.
A little sexy controversy goes a long way and everybody's doing riskier, ruder things to get it. Pants-off fashion photographs are still rare enough to shock, but not for long. Mario Testino's closed-leg photograph of a La Perla corset and neat Brazilian wax in Vogue Paris' May issue is treasured by some collectors as an historic moment, as are Gucci's famous campaign shots, also by Testino, of the "double G" logo shaved into a woman's pubic hair.
But where to from here? "If you are going to be overly proper about things, you can't go forward," said former model Charlotte Rampling to London's Telegraph magazine recently. She had been asked about nude photographs taken of her in 1973 by Helmut Newton. "I think it's great that Newton broke taboos . . . it often takes an artist to open the door."
On the advertising blog site Adland this week, the Australian Childhood Foundation's CEO Dr Joe Tucci quickly got the ball rolling on the Lee controversy: "An horrific portrayal of young people in sexually explicit poses that were very close to child pornography". He complained to the Advertising Standards Bureau. Australian Family Association national secretary Gabrielle Walsh also weighed in: "We are concerned about the public portrayal of young women in this manner."
American Apparel has had similar themes in its advertising. Open-legged shots of young men and women in teasing poses for good shock value. One does wonder, where to go from here? And next season is just around the corner.
www.lee.com
26 September 2006
Lee To Launch Young Fashion Range
Denim
brand Lee is to launch a jeans range aimed at the young fashion market. Called
X-Line, the mass market collection features exaggerated heritage details and
will have a pan-European launch for UK stores in March. Naomi May, Lee's UK marketing manager, said: "Lee has always focused on
fit, fabric and finish, but with X-Line we are also concentrating on the features."
Details include an oversized "Lazy S" embroidery on back pockets, larger leather patch on the rear of the waistband, vintage -style donut buttons and greet rivets. X-Line follows a similar design ethic as Levi's Type 1, which was launched at the beginning of 2003. Type 1 also accentuates heritage details, such as the Levi's arched stitching on the back pockets.Lee is currently stocked by 300 UK accounts and X-Line is Lee's fifth sub-range, joining Originals, 101 Unionalls, and Lee's core denim range of five-pocket jeans.
5 November 2003
www.leecooper.com
Lee For London
Denim brand Lee is opening its first European store in London's Carnaby Street this November. It will house the brand's men's and women's ear collections over two floors, including Lee's Originals, 101s, Union Alls and selected seasonal collections.
8 August 2003
www.leecooper.com
The ultimate in bulge enhancement
Women have been faking it for years thanks to the wondrous properties of the
booster bra but now men are getting in on the act with a new pair of jeans designed
to maximise their "upfront" appeal.
Jeans maker Lee Cooper says it has re-released its subtly named 1970s "Packit" jeans - redesigned to give every man the kind of eye-popping trouser frontage normally associated with moustachioed porn stars or a well-placed pair of socks. "The bulge has become the fashion statement of the season," a spokeswoman for the company said.
"The (jeans) are designed for the ultimate in bulge enhancement...so men can put their assets on display." She said the original skin-tight version of the jeans, released in 1978, had been popular supporting acts for a host of pop stars and rock legends including Bruce Springsteen and Jon Bon Jovi.
The 2001 version has been redesigned with a new type of body-friendly denim
which allows men to "follow fashion without risking their health or sexual prowess",
she said. "But ultimately, just like the Wonderbra, if you haven't got the right
equipment in the first place, there is only so much the jeans can do."