Lakshmi Menon

[Luxx]

To quote a wise prophet,

HOMEGIRL IS DOIN' THE DAMN THANG!!

 

[*Kristina*]

She seems like such an intelligent and level- headed person!

 

[dr4732]

To quote a wise prophet,

HOMEGIRL IS DOIN' THE DAMN THANG!!

agreed

 

[Deleted member 98391]

Completely off topic, I agree with her about living in Bangalore as being difficult, the traffic is beyond ridiculous nowadays.

To briefly continue the off-topic thread of conversation: god, it was terrible back when I visited in '03 -- I can't even imagine how it is now! I hear the out-of-control/poor city-planning is greatly to be blamed for this.

 

[FashionCapital]

The new face of Hermes, the legendary century-old Parisian fashion house, Lakshmi also features in a series of ad campaigns for Hermes with, what else, but elephants, with paint all over them, even toe-nails!
Hail the ever-exotic mythical Indian obsessed over in the wild wild west. Lakshmi sighs as she admits: “Unfortunately yes! That’s the sad part that they want to keep the myth of India being the land of elephants, and colourful women with pots on their heads intact. They are not comfortable with the new India emerging…the multicultural and global India,” she says talking of the unchanging image of the country in foreign media. “They’ve still not come to terms with it yet…there’s still wonder in their eyes.” But the 25-year-old doesn’t see herself in that mould.

Yes, yes, yes, Lakshmi! So true! Imperialism is still rampant in everyone's minds, apparently.

 

[dior_couture1245]

^^While I agree that 'modern India' hasn't fully been addressed in fashion quite yet, I don't think designers being inspired by the "land of elephants, and colorful women with pots on their heads" is offensive. I don't think it's so much trying to keep the imperialism mindset intact as it is simply being inspired by the history of India. JPG doing romanticized India for Hermes is really no different than say, McQueen doing his romanticized Britannia collection for FW 08, Karl doing his romanticized vision of America for Chanel SS 08, Galliano doing a romanticized interpretation of China for Dior HC SS 03, Tisci doing a romanticized Peruvian collection for Givenchy HC FW 08, etc.

 

[cestmagique]

^I agree.

 

[Deleted member 98391]

^^While I agree that 'modern India' hasn't fully been addressed in fashion quite yet, I don't think designers being inspired by the "land of elephants, and colorful women with pots on their heads" is offensive. I don't think it's so much trying to keep the imperialism mindset intact as it is simply being inspired by the history of India.

But that's the point -- that modern fashion very often deliberately chooses to perpetuate these old-fashioned tropes about, how shall I put it, non-Eurocentric cultures. The history of India is far more than elephants and colorful women with pots on their heads: how about the great empires of Chandragupta, Asoka, the Mughals*? The socioreligious diversity? The fact that an Indian woman wears a sari not because it's this quaint, primitive garb, but because it has a rich sartorial history and significance?

*I felt that McQueen's F/W 08 collection was certainly inspired by the British Raj

 

[pmegha]

But that's the point -- that modern fashion very often deliberately chooses to perpetuate these old-fashioned tropes about, how shall I put it, non-Eurocentric cultures. The history of India is far more than elephants and colorful women with pots on their heads: how about the great empires of Chandragupta, Asoka, the Mughals*? The socioreligious diversity? The fact that an Indian woman wears a sari not because it's this quaint, primitive garb, but because it has a rich sartorial history and significance?

*I felt that McQueen's F/W 08 collection was certainly inspired by the British Raj

Thank you for writing this, I agree with what you are saying. And it saves me time because I wasn't looking forward to writing an impassioned essay about how these stereotypes aid in the image that India is still stuck in the past and isn't advancing and such.

To briefly continue the off-topic thread of conversation: god, it was terrible back when I visited in '03 -- I can't even imagine how it is now! I hear the out-of-control/poor city-planning is greatly to be blamed for this.

I was there last summer staying with my cousins, lets just say it took an hour or more to get anywhere we wanted to go, except in the early morning when the streets were empty. You hit the nail on the head when you said poor city planning is to blame for it. They definitely weren't planning for the future and the influx of people that comes with any up and coming city.

 

[dior_couture1245]

But that's the point -- that modern fashion very often deliberately chooses to perpetuate these old-fashioned tropes about, how shall I put it, non-Eurocentric cultures. The history of India is far more than elephants and colorful women with pots on their heads: how about the great empires of Chandragupta, Asoka, the Mughals*? The socioreligious diversity? The fact that an Indian woman wears a sari not because it's this quaint, primitive garb, but because it has a rich sartorial history and significance?

*I felt that McQueen's F/W 08 collection was certainly inspired by the British Raj

I agree. What I meant, was that I don't think designers being inspired by the history of India is offensive or done with the intent to ignore the growing, modern India...I think it's simply being inspired by the beauty of a culture, past or present.

Plus, JPG has been inspired by more than British Imperialism when it comes to India...for SS 02 he did a collection based on Buddhism.

 

[Deleted member 98391]

I agree. What I meant, was that I don't think designers being inspired by the history of India is offensive or done with the intent to ignore the growing, modern India...I think it's simply being inspired by the beauty of a culture, past or present.

Plus, JPG has been inspired by more than British Imperialism when it comes to India...for SS 02 he did a collection based on Buddhism.

That certainly may be so... it's just that sometimes it feels like the exoticism pervades through and through. re the Hermès ads, they could have chosen a different way to highlight the Indian theme without resorting to (I'm loosely quoting la_sonnambula) "lazy visual shorthand for the Subcontinent". I think that this edit is a perfect example of how one can pay homage to a culture without caricaturizing it.

 

[FashionCapital]

^ I agree. Yes, it's good that such brands as Hermès show an interest in and degree of respect toward the Indian culture, yet it sometimes looks as if the India they know (in terms of history) is solely composed of elephants, saris, and the like--a bit Eurocentric.

 

[Bahiyya]

^^ Yeah, it's just like all the edits and collections inspired by "Africa". All you see is savannah and elephants, maybe some vendors selling trinkets. You would never think that anything like an urban city existed anywhere except in South Africa .

 

[jssy4eva]

I came across these randomly searching jedroot, sorry if reposts!

*jedroot.com

 

[pmegha]

^I think the first two might be reposts, but I've never seen the last one before. Thanks for posting!

 

[*DiamondQueen*]

Those Hermés Campaign shots are gorgeous One of my favourite campaigns of the past months for sure

 

[unche]

She's so, so beautiful. I like that Givenchy is using her as a model, not just an Indian model; what I mean is, she's not advertising an Indian-themed or Indian-flavoured collection.

 

[pmegha]

She's so, so beautiful. I like that Givenchy is using her as a model, not just an Indian model; what I mean is, she's not advertising an Indian-themed or Indian-flavoured collection.

I agree type-casting (ie. Indian model for Indian themed collection) happens far too often and mostly with models of colour.

 

[Deleted member 103203]

Iv'e really liked her for the longest time and i havent subscribed i dont know why but I'm glad i have now!

 

[Deleted member 98391]

I agree type-casting (ie. Indian model for Indian themed collection) happens far too often and mostly with models of colour.

Mhm, I third this.