Fashion
8 of the Most Controversial Fashion Images of the 2000s
Rehab, racism, overall raunchiness. There aren’t many topics that the fashion industry hasn’t met head-on, enveloping them into glossy fashion ads and spreads. Recently, an ad for Elle MacPherson Intimates surfaced, featuring a Peeping Tom view of a woman lying crumpled on the floor in a bra and underwear. Her shoulders are hunched and her face is down. It didn’t take long for critics to read this ad as one of a defeated and sexually vulnerable woman. The fashion industry has a long history of using provocative imagery, meant to provoke, push and propagate general discomfort. Whether these images instigate important dialogue or exploit them, is a debate that has a winding recorded history on Twitter, blogs and articles across the Web. Here are some of fashion’s most controversial from the millennium.
Rehab, racism, overall raunchiness. There aren’t many topics that the fashion industry hasn’t met head-on, enveloping them into glossy fashion ads and spreads. Recently, an ad for Elle MacPherson Intimates surfaced, featuring a Peeping Tom view of a woman lying crumpled on the floor in a bra and underwear. Her shoulders are hunched and her face is down. It didn’t take long for critics to read this ad as one of a defeated and sexually vulnerable woman. The fashion industry has a long history of using provocative imagery, meant to provoke, push and propagate general discomfort. Whether these images instigate important dialogue or exploit them, is a debate that has a winding recorded history on Twitter, blogs and articles across the Web. Here are some of fashion’s most controversial from the millennium.
Diesel Ad, 2006
The first thought that crosses your mind when you see this ad is wait, is that even possible? The "multitasking" ad was later banned after feminist organizations asserted that the ad was sexist.
Dolce & Gabbana Ad, 2007
Three muscled men stand and watch their shirtless comrade restrain a woman on the floor. The red lips and sultry pose of the woman and the gleaming skin and sunglasses of her restrainer caused many people to label this ad as a glamorization of gang rape.
Tom Ford Ad, 2007
Banned in almost every country, this unsubtle ad was taken by fashion’s resident provocateur Terry Richardson.
Vogue Italia's Rehab Shoot, 2007
Crotch shots, shaved heads, paparazzi snaps: the allusion to Britney Spears in Steven Meisel’s 2007 Vogue Italia’s spread, “Supermods Enters to Rehab” is apparent. Featuring a mix of languid bodies, beautiful clothes and ghostly models, the spread is hauntingly beautiful, capturing models in their own grim yet glamorous prison.
American Vogue Cover, 2008
American Vogue’s April 2008 cover featured Gisele Bundchen hanging off the arm of a screaming LeBron James. It didn’t take long for critics to coin the cover “King Kong LeBron”, voicing their opinions that Vogue was simply reinforcing a racist trope: the savage, animalistic black man who causes harm to the beautiful white woman. What added more fuel to the fire was the fact that the editors passed over several more “civilized” images of LeBron featured inside the magazine and instead chose a cover photo that made LeBron look threatening and criminal. Supporters of the image countered that the image simply shows an athlete’s game face, accompanied by a beautiful woman who hardly looks like frightened to be with him.
French Vogue's Blackface, 2009
In their 2009 October issue devoted to Supermodels, French Vogue featured a spread of Lara Stone in blackface. Appropriating race is always sensitive, especially in an industry still grappling with such a low diversity representation — proven by the fact that this supermodel issue featured no actual black models. Was the spread trying to instigate important questions or just misusing race as costume?
United Colors of Benetton Ad, 2011
No stranger to controversy, United Colors of Benetton revealed a series of ads showing world leaders kissing each other. The brand later withdrew the ads after the Vatican expressed anger over an ad featuring Pope Benedict XVI locking lips with another male.
