Oliviero Toscani: The Provocative Visionary Behind Benetton’s Unforgettable Campaigns Passes Away at 82

Reuters
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Oliviero Toscani, the individual responsible for the provocative advertising campaigns that propelled Italy’s Benetton into one of the largest clothing brands globally, passed away on Monday at the age of 82, as confirmed by his family in a statement.

Toscani was hospitalized on Friday in Cecina, near his Tuscan residence, in critical condition. A source familiar with the situation reported on Saturday that he had lost consciousness.

“It is with profound sadness that we share the news that today, January 13, 2025, our cherished Oliviero has started his next journey,” stated Toscani’s wife Kirsti and their three children.

The photographer disclosed in an interview with Corriere della Sera in August that he was battling amyloidosis, an uncommon and untreatable condition that causes a buildup of amyloid proteins affecting the body’s essential organs.

Toscani expressed that he had lost 40 kilograms (88 pounds) over the span of a year, and the newspaper published a photograph depicting him appearing frail and gaunt.

Born on February 28, 1942, Toscani followed in his father’s path by training as a photographer, studying in Zurich, and working for various fashion magazines where he contributed to launching the careers of models such as Monica Bellucci.

He rose to fame, however, in the 1980s as the creative director for Benetton, the family-run fashion label situated in northern Italy.

Toscani featured images of a terminally ill AIDS patient and the blood-stained clothing of a soldier killed in Bosnia on billboards globally, igniting controversies that contributed to the popularity of the “United Colors of Benetton” branding.

The photographer departed from Benetton in 2000 following a backlash over a campaign displaying images of US inmates on death row.

Toscani and American freelance reporter Ken Shulman conducted interviews and took photographs of 26 prisoners on death row in US prisons in a campaign that resembled a fervent manifesto against capital punishment.

“I utilize clothing to highlight social challenges,” Toscani remarked to Reuters during that time as the debate intensified over whether the campaign had crossed a line.

“Conventional advertising claims that if you purchase a particular item, you will be attractive, sexually empowered, and prosperous. All that nonsense doesn’t genuinely exist,” he asserted.

He returned to working with the group in 2017, reinstating his collaboration with Luciano Benetton, one of the company founders, who had come back to attempt and rejuvenate a brand that had been surpassed by more agile competitors in the fast fashion industry.

Nevertheless, the Benetton group severed ties with him in 2020 after remarks that minimized the importance of the 2018 Morandi Bridge tragedy which claimed 43 lives.

The bridge in Genoa was managed at that time by a division of the Benetton family-controlled infrastructure group Atlantia.

His work was featured in an exhibit at Zurich’s Museum fur Gestaltung in 2024 titled “Photography and Provocation.”