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SILENCE OF THE LAMBS: THE FASHION MEDIA PROSTRATES ITSELF BEFORE CHANEL AND LOUIS VUI

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  • Ahimsa
    Vegan Police
    • Sep 2011
    • 1879

    SILENCE OF THE LAMBS: THE FASHION MEDIA PROSTRATES ITSELF BEFORE CHANEL AND LOUIS VUI

    SILENCE OF THE LAMBS: THE FASHION MEDIA PROSTRATES ITSELF BEFORE CHANEL AND LOUIS VUITTON
    by Eugene Rabkin

    "Vestoj and StyleZeitgeist have teamed up in a dialogue and series of critiques of recent events in fashion media to raise more wide-reaching questions about the state of contemporary fashion media – and what that says about our industry at large. In our second installment of this collaboration, we examine the recent political faux pas of the Chanel and Louis Vuitton resort collections, and the fashion media’s sycophancy.

    A while ago I wrote about the need for divorcing fashion from politics, and I mentioned that often fashion is incredibly tone-deaf when it comes to current events. The recent Chanel and Louis Vuitton pre-collection shows – displaying clothes for the ultra-rich in the poverty-stricken Cuba and Brazil – are only reinforcing this view. As expected, virtually no one in the fashion media – pretty much everyone who covered the events was flown in, put up in a hotel, and wined and dined by the brands – dared to speak up. The shows got overwhelmingly positive coverage, even from seasoned journalists at major newspapers who are usually not afraid to speak their mind.

    Chanel staged its show in Havana, shutting down a section of the Prado boulevard, its main thoroughfare, and paid for 700 people to come see it. It was billed as a “celebration of Cuba’s cultural richness,” but few Cubans were actually allowed in – they were cordoned off behind a police line a block away. As usual, the show was reserved for the international rich and the global fashion press elite, and the whole thing had a strong whiff of neocolonialism. The dissonance between showing ultra expensive clothing, complete with a beret reminiscent of Che Guevera’s, in a country where most people struggle to find basic goods was not lost on “the natives.” Unsurprisingly, the Cuban intellectuals lashed out, “It would be hard to overturn a revolution, much less Cuba’s revolution, by closing the Prado boulevard to show off the cruise collection of a famous French brand,” wrote Sergio Gomez, a Cuban columnist. “But the way in which these events are interpreted, in the context of a process of change that will define the destiny of 11 million people, can subvert the social consensus that the country has maintained for more than half a century.”

    In his review for the Business of Fashion, Tim Blanks wrote that “the fundamental incongruity of the moment was lost on no one.“ And yet, there was not a peep out of the fashion press about the aforementioned incongruity, with very few exceptions. Even then, someone like Vanessa Friedman of the New York Times – who was not flown in – refused to take Chanel to task, wondering out loud, “Who is to say those benefits do not far outweigh the moral ickiness of promoting very expensive clothes for the very few in a country where no one can buy such clothes?” Who? Well, why not you, a fashion critic for a major newspaper?"

    Read the full article on StyleZeitgeist Magazine
    StyleZeitgeist Magazine | Store
  • julian_doe
    Senior Member
    • Mar 2013
    • 339

    #2
    Originally posted by Ahimsa View Post
    SILENCE OF THE LAMBS: THE FASHION MEDIA PROSTRATES ITSELF BEFORE CHANEL AND LOUIS VUITTON
    by Eugene Rabkin

    "Vestoj and StyleZeitgeist have teamed up in a dialogue and series of critiques of recent events in fashion media to raise more wide-reaching questions about the state of contemporary fashion media – and what that says about our industry at large. In our second installment of this collaboration, we examine the recent political faux pas of the Chanel and Louis Vuitton resort collections, and the fashion media’s sycophancy.

    A while ago I wrote about the need for divorcing fashion from politics, and I mentioned that often fashion is incredibly tone-deaf when it comes to current events. The recent Chanel and Louis Vuitton pre-collection shows – displaying clothes for the ultra-rich in the poverty-stricken Cuba and Brazil – are only reinforcing this view. As expected, virtually no one in the fashion media – pretty much everyone who covered the events was flown in, put up in a hotel, and wined and dined by the brands – dared to speak up. The shows got overwhelmingly positive coverage, even from seasoned journalists at major newspapers who are usually not afraid to speak their mind.

    Chanel staged its show in Havana, shutting down a section of the Prado boulevard, its main thoroughfare, and paid for 700 people to come see it. It was billed as a “celebration of Cuba’s cultural richness,” but few Cubans were actually allowed in – they were cordoned off behind a police line a block away. As usual, the show was reserved for the international rich and the global fashion press elite, and the whole thing had a strong whiff of neocolonialism. The dissonance between showing ultra expensive clothing, complete with a beret reminiscent of Che Guevera’s, in a country where most people struggle to find basic goods was not lost on “the natives.” Unsurprisingly, the Cuban intellectuals lashed out, “It would be hard to overturn a revolution, much less Cuba’s revolution, by closing the Prado boulevard to show off the cruise collection of a famous French brand,” wrote Sergio Gomez, a Cuban columnist. “But the way in which these events are interpreted, in the context of a process of change that will define the destiny of 11 million people, can subvert the social consensus that the country has maintained for more than half a century.”

    In his review for the Business of Fashion, Tim Blanks wrote that “the fundamental incongruity of the moment was lost on no one.“ And yet, there was not a peep out of the fashion press about the aforementioned incongruity, with very few exceptions. Even then, someone like Vanessa Friedman of the New York Times – who was not flown in – refused to take Chanel to task, wondering out loud, “Who is to say those benefits do not far outweigh the moral ickiness of promoting very expensive clothes for the very few in a country where no one can buy such clothes?” Who? Well, why not you, a fashion critic for a major newspaper?"

    Read the full article on StyleZeitgeist Magazine
    What an amazing article. Faust, I sincerely love what you and your team have made of StyleZeitgeist, and I feel glad to be part of a community which is able to have significant discussions about fashion which are this investigative and in-depth. SZ is the NPR of fashion, haha.

    Comment

    • Faust
      kitsch killer
      • Sep 2006
      • 37852

      #3
      Thank you for the kind words! We truly try to bring some counterweight to the mainstream.
      Fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months - Oscar Wilde

      StyleZeitgeist Magazine

      Comment

      • GucciAmen
        Senior Member
        • Sep 2014
        • 363

        #4
        Originally posted by julian_doe View Post
        What an amazing article. Faust, I sincerely love what you and your team have made of StyleZeitgeist, and I feel glad to be part of a community which is able to have significant discussions about fashion which are this investigative and in-depth. SZ is the NPR of fashion, haha.
        Seconded! Always a pleasure to read your unbiased articles Faust, a breath of fresh air to be sure .

        Comment

        • casem
          Senior Member
          • Sep 2006
          • 2590

          #5
          Nice article. I've been thinking a critical media is lacking in just about every field these days, but certainly its especially bad in fashion. Unfortunately the only people making critiques are uniformed internet trolls lobbing childish insults, rather than those situated to make an intelligent critique. SZ being the exception of course ;-)
          music

          Comment

          • Faust
            kitsch killer
            • Sep 2006
            • 37852

            #6
            Thank you, guys - every comment means a lot!
            Fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months - Oscar Wilde

            StyleZeitgeist Magazine

            Comment

            • SafetyKat
              Senior Member
              • Aug 2014
              • 169

              #7
              Im really digging the topics of these new collab. writings. Very insightful articles Faust and I cant wait for more.

              I was speaking with a classmate of mine who traveled there on a business trip around the middle of last semester. She described Havana as an impoverished city eager to acquire wealth, but as of now hosts a distinct divide between the new-found wealth and the dirt poor. While I think businesses importing wealth into the country can benefit the impoverished, its a fine line between empowerment and exploitation. For some people I talked to, the coverage of these shows were also their first news concerning Cuba's embargo status. What farcical first impression.

              “This was much more than a fashion show. It was about showing our love for this country, our appreciation, about giving back. Is it a humanitarian activity? No, I wouldn’t go that far. But it has a little bit of that.”
              At least he reigned himself in a little there at the end. We were approaching zoolander-esque territory there for a second...

              Comment

              • Anton
                Senior Member
                • Oct 2014
                • 261

                #8
                Fantastic article and writing Faust.

                "By now few people who know how the fashion media works are surprised or outraged. Positive coverage is often bought by brands indirectly, through advertising or sponsoring press trips, or more increasingly directly." I think that this is relevant to pretty much most online presence these days. You can barely find articles online that are not some part of a marketing plan. Whether you take music, fashion or many other industries it's becoming incredibly hard to read genuine opinions.
                I love beautiful melodies, telling me terrible things.
                My Music: https://soundcloud.com/iamanton

                Comment

                • wildinthewoods
                  Senior Member
                  • Feb 2014
                  • 101

                  #9
                  Hey, I finally got around to reading this, and as someone who grew up in Havana, I was left with a really sour taste in my mouth upon hearing about that show and its coverage, so I'm really glad to see such a well written critique of it. Great job Faust.

                  Comment

                  • Faust
                    kitsch killer
                    • Sep 2006
                    • 37852

                    #10
                    Originally posted by wildinthewoods View Post
                    Hey, I finally got around to reading this, and as someone who grew up in Havana, I was left with a really sour taste in my mouth upon hearing about that show and its coverage, so I'm really glad to see such a well written critique of it. Great job Faust.
                    Thank you.
                    Fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months - Oscar Wilde

                    StyleZeitgeist Magazine

                    Comment

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