August 14, 2006—Homoerotic imagery is nothing new in advertising. Witness the Marlboro Man or, more recently, all those shots of half-naked yet oddly overdressed guys who apparently like to congregate in steam rooms and dungeons. That's why we found Marc Jacobs's new campaign, which includes an unabashedly straightforward image of two fully clothed men kissing, so refreshing. Shot as always by Juergen Teller, the ads do away with innuendo and instead depict makeup artist Dick Page and his husband James Gibbs in a series of intimate moments in their Manhattan apartment and outside their Long Island house. "You always see something more sexual and aggressive, a stereotype of gayness," Teller says. "For me, this ad is about two human beings loving each other." Robert Duffy, president of Marc Jacobs, concurs. "We try to make a lot of things we say and do positive statements," he says. "They are a normal family, what I consider normal." No argument there—especially compared to the he-bots in the steam room.
To see the series in its entirety, check out the Paris magazine Purple
this fall, which will feature a portfolio of the photographs, www.purple.fr.