VOGUE has drawn criticism for its 16-page spread on an array of luxury items from Fendi, Burberry, Miu Miu and more modeled by “real people”.
Many Articles have appeared on this issue including in The Independent and The New York Times.
VOGUE India Aug
When I first saw the photos, I found the juxtaposition of these luxury brands in the context of poverty very intriguing. I loved the grainy quality of Jean-Francois Campos’ photographs. High fashion broke class barriers. It was a welcome change to see real people on the pages of VOGUE instead of the usual posse of super(?) models. I consider it a valiant attempt by the Vogue India team to bring these status-symbol brands down from their celestial podium.
The captions of the photos contain the name of the brands displayed and no names of the people in them.Many have argued that this is a ridicule of the class difference between India’s rich and its urban poor.
VOGUE India Aug2008
Do you think that VOGUE is making a mockery of the underprivileged or is it just an artistic expression bringing fashion to the masses?
Is fashion making a calculated shift towards a more materialistic neo-imperial global system?
September 20, 2008 at 6:37 am
[...] Aneeta put an intriguing blog post on Crime of Fashion?Here’s a quick overview [...]
September 23, 2008 at 2:38 am
very interesting post. wonder what your readers in Dhaka think?
September 25, 2008 at 9:37 am
Yeah,I saw these pictures when they first appeared back in August, but I wasnt aware of the controversy it started until recently. The NY Times article offers an interesting critique.
September 26, 2008 at 11:44 pm
I agree that it is a refreshing change to see regular people in the pictures rather than the usual supermodels displaying the clothing items…quite a refreshing change, and it does bring fashion to the masses….
September 27, 2008 at 6:00 am
It is obviously a controversial issue. But it could be that VOGUE is aiming for both, ie. artistic expression while mocking the underprivilaged, the latter being unintentional. Let us know about the recent stage of the controversy. Quite interesting!
September 27, 2008 at 1:32 pm
Mixed feelings…
- how “real” is to dress, well for lack of better words, “poor” and “underprivelidged” people is designer clothing? if you put together their lives worth would you be able to buy a prada bag?
- the picture with the child is quite distressing for some reason….
- “real people” for these shoot should be lawyers, doctors, and teachers and not the ones rolling in money, but the average every day Sally’s like you or me.
- having said all of that, what woman does not like to have her picture taken in a fancy outfir or carrying a stunning bag! its the only time she’ll get to carry anything like it!
November 28, 2008 at 7:06 pm
this looks more like a calculated publicity stunt !! companies often do that…and in a way they are mocking these people..like Ulfath said, no matter what they can never afford all these !!
November 29, 2008 at 8:32 pm
calculated publicity stunt, artistic expression or what not, its indeed disturbing to see this pictures. it makes a mockery of the conditions that these people live in, and infact i believe that if these are indeed status symbol brands, they should be just that. goods are branded as luxury goods because they are just that, and no matter how many ‘real’ people you photograph wearing them, it still ridicules the fact that most of these people will never be able to actually purchase these items.