We were living the very liberal (and also very controversial) period between the Seventies and the early Eighties, the Studio 54 era to be clear, when an important advertising appeared on United States’ national television. In that a very young (she was barely 15) and beautiful Brooke Shields, wearing a pair of denim trousers, was asking to the public at home:”What do you think comes between Me and my Calvins?”, and she went on saying: “Nothing!”, suggesting that an under-age girl could wear something without using underwear! Clearly the adv created a stir, it was a lot talk about and criticised but Calvin Klein’s denim line became (another) huge success for the brand in every part of the world and probably it is thanks to that adv that we now have a jeans collection by every single famous designer, because that was the first time (with the exception of Gloria Vanderbilt’s previous successful effort in that field) in which a key figure of the fashion industry decided to open his business to workwear and to something not considered that ultra-chic! Brooke, that was already coming from the scandal created by Louis Malle’s “Pretty Baby” movie, went on to became the protagonist of other two famous and talk about films: “The Blue Lagoon” and Zeffirelli’s “Endless Love”, while the photographer of that advertising, the already super-known Mr. Francesco Scavullo, continued shooting every single Cosmopolitan cover for the next decade.
But I was asking myself if something like that could be possible today. After the rise of the “MeToo” movement (which by the way I totally support) and years of politically correctness it would probably end up ostracized and crucified. And this scenario would open the discussion on another important issue: what can be the thin line that divides censorship and freedom of expression today? Should creativity be subjected to the chains of a public opinion, always ready to throw stones and judgments, often hidden behind the anonymity of a computer or a mobile phone? Are we perhaps on the verge of a black medieval moment for the creative arts?
I don’t have a smart answer, but I’m not at all sure I want to experience a period like this!