Oliviero Toscani and his successful campaigns for Benetton

The name Oliviero Toscani, who passed away today in Cecina, is inextricably linked to that of the Benetton family. For the Veneto brand (which is currently experiencing a deep crisis and is being restructured under the leadership of CEO Claudio Sforza), Toscani created the historic campaigns that established United Colors of Benetton's global success.

Oliviero Toscani: From 1982 to 2000, he created the image of United Colors of Benetton

From 1982 to 2000, Toscani crafted the image, identity, communication strategy, and online presence of United Colors of Benetton, transforming it into one of the most recognized brands in the world. In 1990, he conceived and directed Colors, the first global magazine, and in 1993, he conceived and directed Fabrica, a research center on creativity in modern communication.

"Oliviero Toscani's objective will be to tell the everyday stories of Jews and Palestinians who live, communicate, and collaborate together every day, overcoming the barriers of hate and the differences of race and religion. The images will be taken in Israel, in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, and Hebron, from September 15 to 23, and will be used for the United Colors of Benetton Spring/Summer 1998 catalog. Toscani will be accompanied by a crew from Rai's TG3 news program, which will exclusively document this journey of peace between Israel and Palestine for the entire duration of the photographer's work," reads a Benetton press release dated September 10, 1997.

A few months later, the photographer created another successful campaign, capturing the attention of the press and public opinion worldwide. "A red ribbon, a symbol of awareness and prevention against AIDS, pinned on the underwear of young women and men: this is the image of the new international Benetton communication campaign, created in collaboration with LILA, the Italian League for the Fight against AIDS, which will be launched on December 1 to mark World AIDS Day. These are three photographs taken by Oliviero Toscani and signed Undercolors, the Benetton underwear brand, which offer a witty and clear reflection on the need to avoid the risks of contagion through prevention," states a Benetton press release dated November 27, 1997.

In 1990, he conceived and directed Colors, and in 1993, he conceived and directed Fabrica

The campaign was published by some of the leading newspapers in Italy, France, Austria, Germany, Great Britain, Spain, Portugal, Greece, the Netherlands, Slovenia, and Serbia. About a year earlier, Benetton had created the official image for the World Food Summit, in collaboration with the FAO, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations: "A wooden spoon on a white background, as a symbol of humanity's relationship with food, or with hunger. The most basic tool to recall the oldest gesture: that of nourishing oneself. This simple and direct image, created by Oliviero Toscani, will appear on the pages of the major international newspapers and on billboards in the main European capitals, as the Benetton Group's contribution to the communication of the upcoming World Food Summit, which will be held in Rome from November 13 to 17, 1996." It was October 1996 when the Benettons announced this initiative.

AIDS, racism, international conflicts, and gender-based violence are some of the themes also addressed in Colors magazine, the first global magazine launched in 1990 and conceived and directed by Toscani, some of whose covers are reproduced in this FashionUnited article.

The break with the Benettons

The highly successful creative and entrepreneurial partnership with the Benettons ended abruptly in 2020.

On February 6, 2020, through a press release, the Benetton Group announced the end of its collaboration with photographer Oliviero Toscani.

Benetton, "with its chairman Luciano Benetton, in completely dissociating itself from Oliviero Toscani's statements regarding the collapse of the Morandi Bridge, acknowledges the impossibility of continuing the collaborative relationship with the creative director. Luciano Benetton and the entire company renew their sincere condolences to the families of the victims and to all those affected by this terrible tragedy," the statement reads.

The apologies to the relatives of the victims involved in the Morandi Bridge tragedy, which collapsed in August 2018, were not enough for Oliviero Toscani to put the controversy over his unfortunate phrase, "Who cares if a bridge collapses," to rest. This phrase was uttered during a live broadcast of "Un giorno da Pecora" regarding the visit of the Sardines movement leaders to the Benettons' "Fabrica."

The Benetton Group, then the largest shareholder of Atlantia, the holding company that controls Autostrade per l'Italia (which returned to public ownership in May 2021 and is part of Holding Reti Autostradali spa), decided to terminate its collaboration with the photographer.

"I apologize. More than that: I am ashamed to even apologize. I am humanly devastated and deeply saddened," Toscani said in an interview with La Repubblica. "I said those unfortunate words, but my phrase was taken out of context."

This article originally appeared on FashionUnited.ES, translated and edited to English.

It was translated using AI. .

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