Subverting the Sell: Reclaiming the Fashion Advertisement
By reworking my risograph prints into ad-style compositions, I deliberately entered the language and visual economy of fashion marketing—not to replicate it, but to rewire it. Using slogans such as “More Than One Standard,” “All Bodies, All Beautiful,” “Her Body, Her Image,” and “A New Vision of Her,” I created a series of counter-advertisements that disrupt the visual and rhetorical codes traditionally used to sell unattainable beauty ideals.
This phase of the project is particularly powerful because it turns the tools of the industry against itself. Fashion advertising has long relied on repetition, emotional manipulation, and hyper-controlled imagery to sell not just clothes, but identities. By inserting my own artwork—images of real, diverse women’s bodies layered with expressive, imperfect marks—into that format, I ask a direct question: What if fashion sold self-acceptance instead of shame?
The slogans themselves function as mini-manifestos. Short, direct, and poetic, they create immediate tension with the visual history they challenge. “More Than One Standard” rejects the monolithic ideal that has long governed beauty. “Her Body, Her Image” asserts autonomy and demands respect for personal narrative over public consumption. Each phrase acts as both an invitation and a provocation—urging viewers to unlearn what they’ve been taught to value and reimagine what beauty can be.
Visually, the contrast between the risograph aesthetic and the polished nature of real fashion ads amplifies the work’s impact. The grainy textures and layered inks refuse perfection; they insist on visibility, imperfection, and truth. These ads do not flatten or idealise—they empower.
By reframing the ad as a space of resistance rather than seduction, this series reclaims the gaze and repositions the viewer—not as a consumer, but as a witness. It’s a crucial shift: instead of telling people what to buy to be better, these ads affirm that they are already enough.
In this sense, the power of these new visions lies in their refusal to compromise. They are bold, clear, and unapologetic. They don’t ask permission to exist within the industry’s visual language—they take it over, reshape it, and use it to advocate for real change.
