Oliviero Toscani is an Italian photographer, born in 1942, in Milan. He is the ingenious force behind some of the most successful brands and magazines of the world, such as Esprit, Chanel, Fiorucci, Benetton and more. He studied design and photography in Zurich from 1961 to 1965.
Many a times, eminent brands all around the world communicate controversial statements through their advertisements and promotional campaigns. Toscani is one such artist who makes it possible for these huge or elite companies to spread creativity yet taunt at some social, economic or political issue. Through his work, Oliviero Toscani has given insinuation to war, racism, capital punishment and religion.
He is popular for his controversial commercial campaign designing for Benetton, an Italian brand between 1982 to 2000. Most of the time, the ads had a controversial picture often with the logo of the company. Toscani built the company’s identity, image and communication approach in terms of promotion and advertisement.
In 1990, he made the first global magazine, Colors, with Tibor Kalman, an American graphic designer; and this trend gave ideas to many editorial projects.
His work has appeared in magazines like Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, Stern, Espire, GQ, Elle etc.
www.ftn-books.com has the CHanel Boutique catalog from 1988-89 photographed by Toscani available.
