His wife Kirsti Toscani and his three children Rocco, Lola and Ali announced the sad news to the press. “It is with immense pain that we inform that today, January 13, 2025, our beloved Oliviero has embarked on his next journey,” his loved ones wrote in a letter to the Italian press agency ANSA. The death of Oliviero Toscani comes five months after he announced that he was suffering from amyloidosis, a rare devastating disease.
Since the 1970s, the Italian photographer has become known for his controversial photos.
A great photographer with punchy campaigns
Son of the very first photojournalist of the Milanese newspaper Corriere della SeraOliviero Toscani was born in the capital of Italian fashion, Milan, in 1942. After leaving the Kunstgewerbeschule, the university of the arts in Munich where he learned the techniques of photography and design, he flew to New York in the 1970s. 60. There, he first tried his hand at street photography before being approached by the fashion press.
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The most important photographers of the time were Helmut Newton and Richard Avedon. Their sophisticated imagery sublimates the covers of all magazines and the Italian follows in their footsteps when his photos land on the pages of GQof Vogue or even ELLEmagazines with which he collaborated for several decades. But it is through his divisive, even shocking representations that Oliviero Toscani became famous.
In 1973, he framed a close-up of a female buttock for the property ofan advertising campaign for the Italian brand Jesus Jeans. It doesn’t take much to cause a scandal. However, the photographer is sought after by many other brands including Chanel, Fiorucci and Esprit, seduced by his talents. But Oliviero Toscani will especially write his legend during his long collaboration with United Colors of Benetton.
From 1982, he created punchy spots for the Italian ready-to-wear company, like his very first advertising campaign for the brand featuring a cast of models of various ethnicities with the slogan ” All the colors in the world. A famous advertisement broadcast in 1993 aimed to raise awareness of the AIDS virus. In short, so many images committed to tackling social issues head-on and completely boosting the image of Benetton, born in 1965.
On January 13, 2025, the brand famous for its multicolored collections paid tribute to its favorite artist via a message published on Instagram: “To explain certain things, words are not always enough. That’s what you taught us . Nevertheless, we would like to pay tribute to you with a photo that you took for us, many years ago, in 1989. Farewell Oliviero. Keep dreaming.”
