A woman in Chanel is still a woman: A qualitative study on the portrayal of women in adverts for luxury brands in Vogue.

Through the lens of semiotics, this work analyses the portrayal of women in advertising for luxury brands in the American Vogue, from 2015 to 2019. For this reason, this research introduces the history of the magazine, the definitions of luxury, the contextualisation of the topic, the research question and the social and scientific relevance. Later, a theory background is presented and the theoretical framework explained, which includes Goffman’s codes (1979), the liberal feminist movement’s general principles, the American feminist movement and the influence of the feminism in the fashion industry. After that, the methodology is delineated including the research design, details of data collection, conceptualisation, operationalisation, sample description, data analysis and ethical concerns. Following this, the results are described and conclusions drawn, including theoretical and social implications, the critical assessment of the study and suggestions for future research. Furthermore, it is found that women are still sexualised, objectified and infantilised in advertising. Besides this, some unique nuances are observed such as the use of the low angle to objectify women’s bodies instead of empowering them and the portrayal of racial bias related to black models in adverts. Lastly, this research points out how companies/brands should work together and continue to create images that are more gender-equal, that protect women’s welfare but are also profitable in business terms.