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author: Luca De Bortoli (Università di Bologna (IT))

CK One: a shared fragrance. Body representation and sexuality gender-free

language: italian

abstract: The polarization masculine/feminine which, in the 1980s, shaped the representation of sexuality and the body in the discourse of fashion – both in the delimitation of market segments (“Pour homme”/ “Pour femme”) and in the semantic positioning of the terms of the category of sexuality – dropped in the 1990s, under the impulse of new proposals that appealed to a new conceptualization of a more inclusive sexuality (in line with the newborn Queer Theory). The advertising campaign for the fragrance Calvin Klein One exemplifies this process; it is hereby analyzed with the aim to provide a paradigmatic example of such a shift in perspective, concerning the themes of sexuality and body representation. The analysis considers several aspects of the campaign and makes a diachronic comparison with other previous advertising campaigns from the same fashion house; thus, the innovation and shift from a separatist and stereotyping paradigm to a more inclusive and neutralizing one are even more highlighted.

citation information: Luca De Bortoli, CK One: a shared fragrance. Corporeità e sessualità gender-free, "Ocula", vol.19, February 2018. DOI: 10.12977/ocula2018-1

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