Trendig aktivism : En multimodal kritisk diskursanalys av Balenciagas marknadsföring av kollektionen Winter 22

Sammanfattning: Balenciaga was one of the most influential fashion brands of 2022. Due to the attention the brand gets in traditional and social media, and their tendency to address political issues during their fashion shows, I consider it relevant to analyse what the brand communicates ideologically. Hence, this study aims to investigate what ideological values are portrayed through audio-visual elements in Balenciaga’s marketing of the Winter 22 collection. A multimodal critical discourse analysis was made on the Winter 22 runway show and campaign video – with support from theories concerning semiotics, discourse, ideology, hegemony, and brand positioning.   The study resulted in four ideological discursive main themes: climate, flight, celebrities, and fashion. Throughout the material a climate discourse was seemingly produced using extreme weather such as snowstorm, flooding, and drought. Grave-looking models walking through a snowstorm in impractical clothing, and the reading of a pro-Ukraine poem gave rise to a flight discourse – a flight caused by climate change or war. The campaign video had a visual focus on celebrities known for their work in popular culture or sports. A fourth pervading theme was fashion, showing a fixation on appearance despite harsh circumstances. These main discourses were used in a marketing genre implicating Balenciaga used climate change and social and political issues to generate more sales. Altogether, in the marketing of the Winter 22 collection Balenciaga used discourses regarding climate, flight, celebrities, and fashion to reproduce the western society’s hegemonic ideologies such as capitalism, materialism, consumerism, individualism, and elitism.