Top 12+ Iconic Fashion Advertisements from the ’70s That Changed Marketing

As someone who lived through the groovy era of the 1970s, I can tell you firsthand that fashion advertising wasn’t just about selling clothes and perfumes—it was about selling dreams, attitudes, and lifestyles. These groundbreaking campaigns didn’t just change the way we shopped; they changed the way we thought about ourselves. Let’s take a nostalgic trip back to some of the most influential fashion advertisements that defined our generation.

1. Charlie Perfume – The Working Woman’s Signature Scent (1973)

Revlon’s Charlie perfume campaign truly revolutionized how women were portrayed in advertising. Model Shelley Hack famously strode through TV and print ads in a pantsuit, embodying independence and confidence. Charlie was the first major fragrance directly marketed to young, working women, and its bold, modern attitude set the tone for a new era in marketing.

2. Diane von Furstenberg Wrap Dress (1974)

Diane von Furstenberg’s wrap dress debuted in 1974 and was famously marketed as a go-anywhere, do-anything piece for women on the move. The campaign’s focus on versatility and empowerment, with the tagline “Feel like a woman, wear a dress,” helped cement the wrap dress as a symbol of liberated 1970s femininity and career-minded women.

3. Love's Baby Soft – The Controversial Classic (1974-75)

Love’s Baby Soft launched in 1974 and quickly became a teen favorite, though its tagline “Because innocence is sexier than you think” stirred controversy for blurring the line between innocence and sensuality. The campaign was emblematic of the era’s evolving—and often conflicting—attitudes toward youth and beauty in advertising.

4. Lauren Hutton for Revlon (1973-1974)

Lauren Hutton broke barriers as a beauty model, famously signing a major contract with Revlon. Her natural look—including her signature tooth gap—challenged the era’s beauty standards. Her Revlon campaigns in the early 1970s helped usher in a more natural, less “perfect” standard of beauty that resonated with women everywhere.

5. Jordache Jeans – The Designer Denim Revolution (1979)

Jordache’s “You’ve Got the Look” campaign, with its memorable jingle and sexy, horseback-riding models in tight jeans, ignited the designer denim craze. The provocative ads were sometimes considered too racy for TV, but their boldness made Jordache a household name and helped launch the era of branded, fashion-forward jeans.

6. Fiorucci's Pop Art Revolution (1977)

Fiorucci’s advertising campaigns in 1977 brought Andy Warhol’s pop art aesthetic to mainstream fashion marketing. Their colorful, comic-book-style advertisements, featuring angels, cherubs, and bold graphics, revolutionized the fashion advertising industry. The brand’s innovative blend of art, fashion, and youth culture created a new visual language for fashion advertising that influenced decades to come. Their New York store was dubbed the “daytime Studio 54” and their ads captured that same electric energy.

7. Halston’s Ultrasuede Dress Campaign (1972)

Halston introduced Ultrasuede to America in 1972, marketing it with sleek, minimalist ads featuring elegant, urban women. These campaigns helped popularize the fabric and made Halston one of America’s most influential designers, ushering in the era of luxurious but practical ready-to-wear fashion.

8. Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche (1976)

YSL’s Rive Gauche line was among the first designer ready-to-wear collections, and its campaigns—often shot by Helmut Newton—brought a stark, high-fashion aesthetic to mainstream advertising. These ads helped make luxury labels accessible and desirable for a wider audience, forever changing fashion marketing.

9. Oscar de la Renta's "The American Look" Campaign (1977)

Oscar de la Renta’s groundbreaking 1977 campaign was one of the first to feature both African American and Caucasian models together in luxury fashion advertising. Shot by acclaimed photographer Arthur Elgort, the campaign showcased de la Renta’s ready-to-wear collection against iconic American landscapes, from Manhattan skyscrapers to the Arizona desert. This inclusive vision of American glamour helped break down racial barriers in fashion advertising and established a new standard for diversity in luxury fashion marketing.

10. Cheryl Tiegs for Sears (1980)

Cheryl Tiegs launched her first Sears collection in 1980, making her the first supermodel to have a namesake line at a mass retailer. The ad campaign was a hit, helping to democratize designer fashion and paving the way for other celebrity fashion collaborations in the years to follow.

11. Calvin Klein Jeans with Brooke Shields (1980)

Although the campaign with Brooke Shields became famous in the fall of 1980, Calvin Klein’s provocative denim ads started in the late 70s. Shields’ “Nothing comes between me and my Calvins” tagline became a pop culture sensation, forever changing how jeans—and youthful rebellion—were sold to America.

12. Gucci’s Jackie Bag Campaign (1970s)

After Jackie Kennedy was photographed with her favorite Gucci shoulder bag in the late 1960s, the brand renamed it the “Jackie” and began marketing it as the must-have accessory of the 1970s. The bag’s association with celebrity style made it an early “it bag,” and Gucci’s campaigns blended glamour and status in a way that changed luxury accessory marketing forever.