FRAGRANCE ADVERTISING

Genre research into vintage advertisements: Mavis Vivaudou print 1920s

Mavis Vivaudou print 1920s

This 1920s print advertisement for Mavis by Vivaudou features an elegant, sophisticated French woman in an Art Deco style. The representation is very much a product of its period in history: Art Deco was a movement that began in Paris in the 1920s and spread to captivate Europe between the wars. Its influence on the appearance of things is seen in many aspects of design from fashion to architecture including, of course, advertising.
The woman represented in this image is the ideal target audience, a woman who lives surrounded by fashionable Art Deco furniture, like the elongated lamp stand and the ceiling chandelier.
This woman epitomises glamour, elegance and theatricality. She stands as if on a stage, the centre of attention, arms outstretched in a confident, theatrical gesture which allows the drape of her silky shawl to float out in colourful eye-catching ribbons. The representation is constructed in glowing, warm autumnal tones (hence the word 'September'). Her striking red hair, heavily rouged cheeks and scarlet lipstick construct a glamorous, sophisticated and dramatic representation.
Other design features carry the viewer's eye upwards in a sweepingly theatrical manner and curve around two oriental arches that reveal distant views: interest in oriental style at the time included, for example, a craze for 'willow pattern' china. This can be seen in the highly stylized oriental tree and the craggy mountain.