What I have been thinking about for a really long time is this kind of democracy of fashion.
This photospread from the August issue of Vogue India definitely provoked all kinds of reactions from people. "Generally, we'd applaud the use of non-models in a fashion book. But we usually reserve our "thanks for not using anorexic models" applause for those who don't substitute them with "skinny because of malnourishment" persons." - Jossip
"Vulgar, tacky and distasteful." - Kanika Gahlaut, columnist for an Indian daily newspaper
Vogue India editor Priya Tanna, defending her decision, said:
"Lighten up...Vogue is about realizing the 'power of fashion' and the shoot was saying that 'fashion is no longer a rich man’s privilege.' Anyone can carry it off and make it look beautiful. You have to remember with fashion, you can’t take it that seriously. We weren’t trying to make trying to make a political statement or save the world."
My question is...how can you NOT be making a statement with that kind of photoshoot? She, if anyone, should know that anything you put out there in the marketplace of ideas is SURE to have an impact...couldn't she at least TRY and have it be a positive one?
In a seperate statement, she said:
"As with any other creative pursuit, fashion feeds and thrives on fantasy, aspirations and above all fun."
Hmmm...she's essentially implying that by putting a $100 Fendi bib on a baby she is somehow democratizing high-end fashion...but doesn't that kind of point to the whole 'pull yourself up by the bootstraps' ideology that people keep dumping on underprivileged people? Does nobody get that these people often remain trapped in a vicious cycle of poverty, which stems from lack of proper education, housing, development-related policies?
EDIT: Just found a fantastic comparison to the white man's burden by someone at my fav. 'desi' blog, Sepia Mutiny:
"There's this parallel in that, a century and a half ago, you had Westerners looking at India and saying, 'Oh, those poor, poor, savages-let's go preach Christianity to them and civilize them!' And now, here we are, and Vogue India is basically saying, the same thing-except they're proselytizing to them with products. They're saying, 'Let's convert the wretched masses to the church of Fendi.'"
As the world's largest democracy, India sure has seen some good-times lately...a fact I am even more aware of every time I visit and am dragged by eager cousins to malls that stock up on Mango, Dolce & Gabbana, Louis Vuitton, Dior and Tiffany's.
I do understand the need for people to feel like they can aspire towards "better" things, isn't that what ambition and consumerism are mostly all about? But those people in India are part of the burgeoning middle-class...and not the people featured in Vogue's fashion spread. I wonder, would the pictures have been less offensive if the models had been a part of the English-speaking, 'convent' educated, 'tall, fair and slim' elite?
Welcome to New India indeed.
- P
