A clothing company that has made ‘not dressing men’ its slogan is further making its point with a series of ads featuring naked males next to ladies in their power suits.
Suistudio, a suit label that originated in Amsterdam and is opening its first US boutique in New York City this month, has released a new series of edgy ads giving women center stage.
The pictures appear to be a tongue-in-cheek reversal of the objectification of women frequently observed in the advertising world, with female models often depicted in sexual, submissive positions.
Ooh la la: Clothing company Suistudio, which has made ‘not dressing men’ its slogan, is further making its point with ads featuring naked males next to ladies in their power suits
Their turn? The pictures appear to be a tongue-in-cheek reversal of the objectification of women frequently observed in the advertising world
Making a point: Suistudio, which is opening its first US boutique in New York City this month, released the new series of edgy ads giving women center stage
In one of the photos, a woman can be seen wearing a beige suit, sitting on a couch and looking confidently into the camera, while a man lies on the ground completely naked, resting on a furry rug.
Another picture features another female model clad in a grey suit, also sitting on a couch, but this time resting her hand on a man’s naked butt cheek.
Two other ads showcase a woman in a suit in the foreground, while a naked man can be seen in the background, as if passing by during the photo shoot.
Some people praised the brand’s initiative on social media, with one person writing on Facebook: ‘It was time to subvert the ruthless logic of advertising campaigns. The campaign was syntactically and semantically beautiful. Congratulations on your daring [sic].’
Don’t mind me! One of the ads showcase a woman in a suit in the foreground, while a naked man can be seen in the background, as if passing by during the photo shoot
Branching out: Suistudio’s CEO and founder, Fokke de Jong, also created Suitsupply, a suit company for men, in Amsterdam 17 years ago
Convinced: ‘Some people praised the brand’s initiative on social media, with one person writing on Facebook: ‘It was time to subvert the ruthless logic of advertising campaigns’
Not so much: Others believe the campaign ‘doesn’t do anything’, and one person slammed it for putting the man at the ‘center’ of the images
But others believe no gender should ever be objectified, such as this person who told the brand: ‘How can you be proud of this campaign? It doesn’t do anything. The man is still the center of this ad—not the woman.
‘Show a powerful woman without trying to purposefully be shocking. This was a failed “feminist” campaign. And i put that in quotes because this is not feminism.’
Suistudio’s CEO and founder, Fokke de Jong, who also created Suitsupply, a suit company for men, in Amsterdam 17 years ago, said in a statement about Suistudio’s women’s clothing that his first brand has been asked for a long time to start making ladies’ garments.
He also described the ‘Suistudio woman’, i.e. the typical woman that the brand wants to dress, as going beyond a simple gender-flipping exercise.
‘Labeling [the Suistudio woman’] as flipping a gender puts too much emphasis on flawed impositions that have been put on the sexes for far too long,’ de Jong said. ‘She is powerful, confident, and proud of herself. She also has a naked man in her apartment.’