FASHION AND LUXURY ARCHETYPES

There are a series of popular archetypes, or narrative roles, used in literature and movies:

1. Innocent
2. Orphan
3. Wanderer
4. Warrior
5. Martyr
6. Magician

They can be used in luxury advertising, too.

Here is a brief outline of these archetypes, (that are narrative roles, not real people):

Innocent
He is at the height of his accomplishment and has no further goals to achieve. He could only but fall, and fears the loss of bliss, of Paradise. A young, rich and beautiful model is the archetype of innocent.

The innocent

Orphan
His goal is safety, the quest for the lost and unfound goodness. Hope is his task and his greatest fear is abandonment.
This archetype, much used in fiction, is not often used in luxury advertising.

The orphan

Martyr
His goal is goodness, a just world. To achieve it, he would even consider self-sacrifice. He has a great ability to give up. He only fears selfishness, even his own, in moments of spiritual weakness.
This archetype is not often used in fashion and luxury advertising.

The Martyr

Wanderer
His goal is autonomy. Freedom is like the air he breathes. His task is to develop his sense of identity and assert his ideas. He fears conformity and compliance with written rules.
A self confident business woman, waiting to get in the plane for a trip, is the archetype of wanderer.

The wanderer

Warrior
His task is to fight, his goal is strength. He seeks courage and fears weakness.
A business leader, or a captain of industry may be the archetypes of warrior.

Leonardo Del Vecchio: the archetype of the warrior

Magician
He seeks wholeness in himself and in others, connectedness of opposites, the fullness of knowledge and sharing.
He seeks joy for himself and faith for others. He fears and hates superficiality.
This is the most complex and commonly used of archetypes.
A well know director, or a scientist, or a designer may be archetypes of magician.

Karl Lagerfeld: the archetype of the magician

Sometimes, the same character embodies two o more archetypes in himself, and so is more involving and effective.

For instance, Harry Potter is the archetype of the wizard, but also of the orphan (he lost his parents), of the warrior (he fights against Voldemort), of the innocent (he is a child), of the wanderer (he travels between the worlds of Muggles and the wizarding world) and of the martyr (he sacrifices himself to save his friends and destroy Voldemort).

These choices build on the desire to identify with meaningful characters by using items (design or luxury objects) that call to mind their characteristics. But such intensity originates in the very archetypal role that these characters embody.

The appropriate use of archetypes is extremely important in the creation of visual texts, if we wish to penetrate the innermost spheres of the receiver, suggesting images that call to mind certain messages that originate in the deepest layers of his being, an offshoot of what Jung calls collective unconscious.

Archetypes help us stimulate the memory of forgotten messages and implicitly generate them in the mind of our receiver, without directly manifesting them, making use of the principle of identification or of transference by our spectator.

Advertising of design items created on these archetypes will have a stronger impact, as it will touch the deep, subconscious chords of the soul of potential buyers, increasing its symbolic strength, communicational effectiveness and desirability.