Eskapism som visuell strategi : En fallstudie av Filippa K

Sammanfattning

This study examines escapism as a visual strategy in fashion communication, through a case study of the Swedish fashion company Filippa K. The study aims to analyze how escapist visual strategies alter the meaning of a brand’s visual communication and how these elements are perceived by the target group in terms of emotions and associations. The study adopts a qualitative research approach, where a semiotic analysis is combined with a focus group study. Two different fashion brands are analyzed in the semiotic analysis, Filippa K and Jacquemus. The companies were selected because their visual expression differs in terms of how escapist the visual elements are perceived by viewers. The results are used to design a fictional Filippa K campaign, which is used as the basis in the focus group study. The theories included in the analysis are semiotics by Roland Barthes, Uncanny valley, Narrative Transportation Theory and Persuasion Knowledge Model (PKM). The result shows that escapism as a visual strategy alters the viewer’s perception of Filippa K as a brand, from realistic and relatable to distant, exclusive and exclusionary. The images containing escapist visual elements resulted in increased attention and curiosity, but lower relatability and reduced focus on the product. The use of AI-generated images was not perceived as a negative aspect, but was instead associated with innovation. Meanwhile, the study shows that human attributes that were perceived as deviating from reality contributed to cognitive dissonance.