Over the past year and a half of delivering social and communications consulting services, I have had the pleasure to travel to Italy, and specifically Milan, on several occasions.  I have made new friends and met in real life with a long time Web friend.   Ive done some photography along the way too…not to mention just adored my experiences and time there.  As you know, Milan is one of the “fashion capitals” of the world.

During my visits, I am continually amazed, in almost an awestruck and sort of reflective way, at how good the Fashion industry is at using visuals to communicate.   The store windows of the high-end designers are a feast for the eyes and sometimes leave you wondering.   The fashion advertisements often tell stories (and here I am speaking of the best kind, not the ones that from time-to-time embroil the industry in some controversy).

In thinking about it, obviously fashion is a visual art and business in many ways; the industry allocates big dollars to advertising.  For example, in 2013, over $300 million was spent globally in connection with the advertisement, marketing and promotion of the Calvin Klein brand.  However, beyond the spending, they also invest in the talent and ideas to tell visual stories.  So in this quick blog post, I’m just going to leave a few examples of the fashion industry’s visual communications and visual stories. If you want a detailed examination of one of these ads, the first picture of the Armani Exchange visual story is completely dissected here.  I hope you too might simply reflect and enjoy some visual stories