Versace S/S 2015 : Madonna by Mert Alas & Marcus Piggott

[Benn98]

after last night's Grammy performance, I don't want to see the untouched version. people are calling her grandMadonna.

I still want to see them, just to see how much post-production work was actually done. They should send out a bounty hunt for the unretouched ones.

 

[KoV]

I still want to see them, just to see how much post-production work was actually done. They should send out a bounty hunt for the unretouched ones.

Yes, because the best way to combat sexist, ageist, low-self-esteem forming treatment of women in the fashion industry is to set out on a witch hunt to try to shame and embarrass a woman who clearly WANTS to be depicted this way.

 

[jj36]

Yes, because the best way to combat sexist, ageist, low-self-esteem forming treatment of women in the fashion industry is to set out on a witch hunt to try to shame and embarrass a woman who clearly WANTS to be depicted this way.

How is it sexist? IF you proclaim you used minimal retouching in an ad campaign with Madonna and get images like this its fair call Versace out. AS IF the photos aren't heavily retouched. Gaga's images were night and day so will these images if the unretouched photos are ever leaked.

 

[KoV]

How is it sexist? IF you proclaim you used minimal retouching in an ad campaign with Madonna and get images like this its fair call Versace out. AS IF the photos aren't heavily retouched. Gaga's images were night and day so will these images if the unretouched photos are ever leaked.

I'm not saying you're being sexist, I'm saying that generally, the practice of refusing to portray women naturally in fashion (i.e. with unretouched photos) is sexist. Men get photoshopped as well, but I usually find it's not as rampant, especially with older men, because their imperfections are viewed more as "character" than they would be on a woman. For the past decade or so, people have been highly critical of Madonna's appearance and it seems to me that has only pushed her further into making sure all studio photoshoots with her are either so stylized or photoshopped that she doesn't really show her age or anything that might be considered an imperfection. In my opinion, this campaign is different. She obviously has some creative control over the photos that are produced so I think it's safe to say she did in this case as well, and it's a bit of a change for her, imo. Yes, the lighting is obviously very dramatically overdone so that she appears so have blemish-free, lit-from-within skin, but in terms of things actually altered via photo editing software, I actually DO think it's minimal. Look at the areas that are often photoshopped (legs, arms, hands -- specically elbows or knees or anywhere where skin gets a big looser with age) and you'll see they haven't gotten rid of that. In most of them it looks like they didn't even get rid of stray hairs. Yes, they used heavy makeup, heavy lighting, maybe some smoothing out around the eyes and mouth. It doesn't look like they slimmed her down any (which would have been ridiculous, but that hasn't stopped people before). This is no more digitally altered than the type of stuff you see in nearly every photograph posted in the ad campaign or magazine portions of this forum. Often it is the women who are unpopular, who haven't ever or are no longer widely considered beautiful that are on the receiving end of this criticism. If a model or actress considered beautiful by more or less everyone gets photoshopped, people take it in stride, because she's already beautiful. If someone who is unpopular or who we don't consider beautiful gets the same level of photoshop, we cry foul. Madonna, Lena Dunham, Lady Gaga, etc. only benefit from the same photographers and photoshoppers as everyone else. My point is that doing a call-out and hoping the unretouched photos leak so they get "caught in the lie" in completely unhelpful. It doesn't change industry practice, it just shames the model or celebrity involved. That's my two cents, anyway.

 

[Benn98]

So many charges in the post above. First men gets dragged in the mix as usual, then you blatantly justify and try to diminish the photoshop carried out, then you actually paint these women who allow themselves to be digitally altered thereby subscribing to society's standards, as martyrs. The irony of course is that these are the very vocal provocateurs who are constantly addressing society's skewed perception of age, shape and beauty. Can you not spot the sheer hypocrisy when they allow themselves to be airbrushed against type? Not very long ago Jessica Lange fronted campaigns for Marc Jacobs Beauty. Interestingly enough, a colour collection aimed at women of all ages! If society was so ageist, where was the backlash against that campaign?

 

[KoV]

Of course society is ageist, and that can be seen in many different aspects of life, but especially in the extremely youth-obsessed world of fashion. I don't quite see your point. Anyone who doesn't dress themselves 100% based on physical comfort, who uses any type of makeup, hair product, etc. designed to improve appearance is subscribing to society's standards. That's not a crime, it's something most people do. I'm not painting these women as martyrs, I'm saying the operate within an industry where this is an enforced norm and just because she's Madonna doesn't mean she should be held to a nearly impossible standard. It's "news" when a "plus sized" model gets a campaign or a feature in a magazine, when anyone over 50 gets high-profile modeling work, or when a brand does a campaign without photoshop. My point is that since it is SO commonplace in the industry, targeting just a few women to try and embarrass them/the brand for succumbing to the unrealistic standards of perfection isn't just an unkind thing to do, it's also ineffective and I question the motives behind wanting to do something like that to specific people. Leaking the unaltered photos of Lena Dunham didn't do a thing to change the way women are portrayed in fashion editorials. Leaking the Lady Gaga/Versace pre-photoshop pictures didn't suddenly make brands stop using the same tactics. Shaming specific women wont change the industry and it just puts more negativity out there.

 

[justaguy]

Regardless of whether its Madonna or someone half her age, photoshopping beauty and fashion ads is here to stay. We've all seen photoshopped work that goes beyond reality and I think that's how brands and a lot of the public want it. In my opinion, people are looking for fantasy, not reality. I personally don't like it and I'm tired of even trying to understand it.

 

[MDNA]

instagram.com/voguebrasil

 

[GivenchyHomme]

^

Looks like a senile old lady that keeps forgetting she has her glasses on her head but keeps putting another pair on.

 

[Benn98]

^

Looks like a senile old lady that keeps forgetting she has her glasses on her head but keeps putting another pair on.

Hahahaha, oh wow! Touché.

 

[FND74]

Some of you guys are the reason why people get photoshopped really. Read your own comments.

 

[MDNA]

thewardrobe.it

 

[MDNA]

yason.rs