Suistudio Uses Naked Men in Marketing to Reinforce They Are “Not Dressing Men”

Suistudio, the younger sibling of Suitsupply, is now offering suiting for women and they are driving home the point by featuring fully suited women alongside completely naked men in their new campaigns.

While most of the suits featured in the campaign have a more “feminine” cut by traditional definitions, they are also creating suiting with more androgynous and masculine silhouettes as well.

Their website states:

Like its older sibling Suitsupply, Suistudio focuses on ensuring a perfect fit and modern aesthetic through its expert tailoring and use of only the finest fabrics from world-renowned Italian mills. Having power suiting at its core, the collection is an array of chic, impeccably tailored silhouettes — a paradox of powerful and playful, it’s a no-fuss look that means business. Take a browse through our new collection and it will soon become apparent: we specialize in suits, but we’re not dressing men.

The campaign is definitely a talking piece, with opinions ranging from applause for the brand showcasing women in atypical reversed sexual roles not often found in fashion marketing to criticism for the messaging and separate branding reinforcing rigid binaries. What are your thoughts?

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3 Comments

  • I like to change my entire wardrobe from male to undefined. I have a problem in how clothing colors and styles defines gender identity.

  • Ok, when I first saw this I seriously thought it was meant as a parody of all those menswear ads that objectify women’s bodies. I’m disappointed that their intention was much simpler: “we’re not dressing men.” Also I agree with the criticism of the rigid binaries sentiment — no need to exclude trans and NB people! And what about femme men who might love these suits? Sadly, this company will probably make a lot of money by catering to the dominant group after men: cis, thin women. P.S. where are all the butch presenting women in these ads?

  • I mean I could have been down for this if there was something more complex added to the conversation. A parody/reversal of objectification might (key word might) have been interesting. But certainly we’ve already seen that done and if there’s nothing clever or political to back an ad like this, I’m left with “Ok, that’s cool. Do I want to wear those clothes tho?” Also, I’m not in support of objectifying any gender in this way. Like the answer for me is not to just reverse the genders, but to break ourselves away from this kind of marketing overall. I know many queer, femme, gendernonconforming masculine folx who have been sexually assaulted and harassed and who have suffered their own body issues because of traditional marketing as well. An ad that starts from a place of assuming that “men” being objectified is novel or noteworthy is…well…I won’t knock it if it gets people talking, but I’m not thirsty for the kind of lazy marketing they’re pushing out here.

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