Vogue India Puts Fendi on Destitute Babies. Trouble Ensues.

A man modeled a Burberry umbrella in Vogue that costs about $200. Some 456 million Indians live on less than $1.25 a day. From The Times: “Vogue ...

A man modeled a Burberry umbrella in Vogue that costs about $200. Some 456 million Indians live on less than $1.25 a day.

From The Times:

“Vogue India’s August issue presented a 16-page vision of supple
handbags, bejeweled clutches and status-symbol umbrellas, modeled not
by runway stars or the wealthiest fraction of Indian society who can
actually afford these accessories, but by average Indian people.

Vogue India editor Priya Tanna’s message to critics of the August
shoot: ‘Lighten up,’ she said in a telephone interview. Vogue is about
realizing the ‘power of fashion’ she said, 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,” she said.

‘You have to
remember with fashion, you can’t take it that seriously,’ Ms. Tanna
said. “We weren’t trying to make a political statement or save the
world,” she said.”

In Vogue India magazine, a child from a poor family modeled a Fendi bib, which costs about $100.

“The editorial spread was ‘not just tacky but downright distasteful’
said Kanika Gahlaut, a columnist for the daily newspaper Mail Today
that is based here, who denounced it as an ‘example of vulgarity.’ “

Read the whole article here.

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