Oliviero Toscani, Benetton’s impact photographer, dies at 82

Fashion photographer Oliviero Toscani, known for his striking advertising campaigns for Italian clothing brand Benetton, has died aged 82, his family confirmed.

The brand’s former art director revealed at least last year that he suffered from amyloidosis, a rare incurable disease that affects the body’s vital organs and nerves.

“It is with great sadness that we announce the news that today, January 13, 2025, our beloved Oliviero has embarked on his next journey,” Toscani’s wife Kirsti said in a post on Instagram.

Toscani was admitted to the Cecina hospital, near his Tuscan country house, in serious condition on Friday.

In an interview with Italian newspaper Corriere del Sella last year, he said he had unintentionally lost 40 kg (88 lb) of weight.

“I don’t know how much time I have left to live, but I’m not interested in living like this anyway,” he added.

His work brought attention to social issues, such as the AIDS pandemic, racism, war, and the death penalty.

To pay tribute to his work, Benetton published a photograph he had taken for the brand in 1989.

“To explain certain things, words are simply not enough. You taught us that,” a spokesman said Monday.

“Goodbye Oliviero. Keep dreaming.”

Born on February 28, 1942 in Milan, Toscani was the son of a well-known Corriere photographer and attended art school in Zurich.

Throughout her career, she worked for major fashion magazines, including Vogue and GQ, and helped launch the career of model Monica Bellucci.

He photographed cultural icons such as Andy Warhol, John Lennon and Federico Fellini.

But it was during his tenure as director of Benetton, a position he held for 18 years, that he achieved global recognition.

His use of models of all races became the brand’s calling card and popularized the “United Colors of Benetton” logo, but his provocative photographs fueled controversy.

Images of the blood-soaked clothes of a soldier killed in Bosnia appeared on Benetton billboards around the world.

Its graphic use of a photograph depicting David Kirby, a man dying of AIDS, also sparked a boycott of the brand.

Three identical human hearts labeled in black, white and yellow hinted at racism in fashion, while another of their ads, featuring a priest and a nun kissing, was eventually banned.

It parted ways with the brand in 2000 following disputes over its latest campaign, which featured images of prisoners on death row, with the caption “sentenced to death.”

He has said that his campaigns, which touched on issues such as human rights, religion and racism, were designed to raise awareness about certain issues.

“I exploit clothing to raise social issues,” Toscani told Reuters in an interview at the time, as debate arose over whether the campaign had gone too far.

“Traditional advertising says that if you buy a certain product, you will be beautiful, sexually powerful and successful. All of that doesn’t really exist,” she said.

In 2007, his photo of the French model. Isabel Caro for a fashion brand’s anti-anorexia campaign made headlines.

Her gaunt face and emaciated body, ravaged by the eating disorder, appeared on billboards and newspapers during Milan fashion week. The campaign coincided with growing concerns about the use of excessively thin models on catwalks.

The image, taken for fashion house Nolita, was banned in several countries, including Italy, but sparked intense debate online after going viral.

Toscani returned to work for Benetton in 2017, but three years later the group cut ties with him after he downplayed the importance of the Morandi Bridge disaster that killed 43 people.

He is survived by his wife and three children, Rocco, Lola and Ali.