FASHION AND ARTS - YSL AND GABRIELLE d'ESTRÉES

The author has been inspired by the painting "Gabrielle d'Estrées et une de ses soeurs".

The nipple-pinching gesture is an allusion to Gabrielle's pregnancy with the illegitimate child of king Henry IV. In fact the breast is a symbol of fecondity.

The ring is a symbol of marriage. Gabrielle was going to marry the king.

There is a big difference between the two images: In the first one, the two naked sisters are alluding to the next birth and to Gabrielle marriage, in the second one, a couple, a man and a woman, are sending an erotic message.

She is pinching his nipple, and this is a symbol of sensuality and he has in his hand a ring, symbol of marriage.

The advertising picture becomes an allegory of erotic love in which the YSL woman is strong, self confident and loves to play with tenderness and sensuality with the body of her partner.

SPRING/SUMMER 1999 YSL AD CAMPAIGN
CREATIVE DIRECTOR ALBER ELBAZ
PHOTOGRAPHER MARIO SORRENTI

GABRIELLE D'ESTRÉES ET UNE DE SES SOEURS
FONTAINEBLEAU SCHOOL
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