Luxury Italian house Gucci began as a boutique leather company long before it became a fashion house with high-profile designers at the helm. Founded in 1921 by Guccio Gucci, over the years the brand has been at the pinnacle of fashion. Tom Ford redefined the Nineties look with his seismic marketing moves and game-changing, provocative advertisements that blurred the lines between pornography and fashion. During his ten years at Gucci, Ford engaged iconic (and now infamous) photographers, as well as the eye of Carine Roitfeld, to create genuinely unforgettable campaign imagery in the mid-’90s when it was first testing the bounds of censorship.
Under his tenure, Gucci campaigns, with their glossy finish and beautiful aesthetic, prioritise sex over sartorial considerations and, in some cases, leave out clothing entirely. The advertising for Ford’s refined collections, fragrance launches, and other lines, indicate that designers sell more than just their products — they build a style and vision. Ford’s vision consistently evoked wanting, seduction, and fantasy. After all, sex sells.
We’ve chosen ten of our favourite Gucci ads from Tom Ford’s tenure that pushed boundaries of sex and fashion with strong, iconic images in the nineties and noughties.
Spring/Summer 1997
Renaud Tison by Mario Testino for Gucci Underwear.
Spring/Summer 1997
Edward Fogg by Mario Testino.
Spring/Summer 1998
Erin Cummings and Ryan Locke by Luis Sanchis and the atmosphere heats up.
Spring/Summer 1998
By Mario Testino.
Fall/Winter 1999
By Mario Testino.
Spring/Summer 2001
We’re into the 00s and so it’s about time for the arrival of Queen Kate in this classic campaign from the lens of Inez and Vindooh.
Fall/Winter 2001
JR Gallison by Terry Richardson.
Fall/Winter 2001
JR Gallison by Terry Richardson.
Spring/Summer 2003
The most famous – and controversial – Gucci ad of all time: it’s Carman Kass by Mario Testino.
What’s your favourite Gucci campaign? Stay with The Last Fashion Bible for all the latest fashion news.
