In 2005, we launched the communication project to celebrate Benetton Group’s 40th anniversary, which will culminate in a grand event in Paris in October 2006 at the prestigious Centre Pompidou, featuring both fashion and art and which will be designed by Fabrica.
During the year, Benetton’s communication research center continued its multicultural and international activities with projects and events ranging from the global campaign to promote tourism in the Veneto region to Flipbook, the media art project encompassing nearly 200,000 animations and 15 million visitors (winning the Grand Prize at the Japan Media Art Festival), from promotion and graphic design for art exhibits to a documentary on the city of Shanghai for Swiss German television.
The United Colors of Benetton campaign, photographed for Fabrica by David Sims,
reaffirmed the brand’s values of color and youth with a decidedly modern flair.
Sisley asserted its reputation as a sexy, trendy brand in its Fall/Winter 2005 campaign, which was set in the streets of Naples and photographed by Terry Richardson.
The success of the clothing collections in 2005 was also supported by communication, with a significant
increase worldwide, up 16%, of coverage in fashion newspapers and periodicals.
In the world of new media, both the blog, benettontalk, designed to open up dialogue with online youth, and the new web site dedicated to the world’s media debuted during the year.
“Working for Benetton is a lot of fun. It’s interesting to see how the company has united clothing and values, fashion and color.
As a photographer, I tend towards the essential, and interpreting the colors and weave of a fabric, bringing them together,
and creating a fluid, modern image is a challenge that I face with great pleasure. In the Benetton campaign, I tried to give new
light to products and issues such as the trademarks of the brand, one of the first to be truly ‘global’, with an unmistakable
international image.”
David Sims, fashion photographer