Vogue Italia April 2014 : Issa Lish & Bernd Sassmanshausen by Steven Meisel

[TREVOFASHIONISTO]

Frames Of Fashion
Models：Kirsten Owen, Katie Goodling, Sadie Pinn & Michael Houghton
Photographed by Francesco Carrozzini
Styled by Enrica Ponzellini

glossynewsstand.com

i love the Tarantino film reference of Death Proof Kirsten looks amazing

 

[orthelian]

No, it doesn't really look like domestic violence, it looks like a horror movie. But lets look at it from a wider perspective.
People have mentioned the shining a lot, and I agree it has striking similarities. I also think of a handful of other horror movies when looking at both the editorial and the video. But if you think about the shining as a story, and disregard the fantastic elements of ghosts, isn't domestic violence really exactly what it is about?
A father who goes after his wife and son and tries to kill them.
And does the fact that she gets him in the end make it anything else? If a woman killed and abusive husband after years of being beaten, does that mean that the abuse never took place?

In essence, I think this in many ways can represent domestic abuse, but since it looks like a horror movie, nobody will think about it that way, because "hey, it's just a movie".
Well guess what, movies have messages to. Thats the point of them.
Movies are extremely oriented towards men. Any movie that happens to be about a woman, in 99% of cases is about a woman contemplating about what she should do about the man/men in her life and what they do. Movies about men are about what the men do.
If anything, horror movies can be seen as the ultimate glorification of abuse against women because our minds don't even register it as such. Nobody thinks about why they will go and see a certain movie or why the characters act the way they do, so the message isn't really questioned. But our brain still registers it.

I will say that Franca chose a weird way of drawing attention to abuse, since nobody would ever think of it that way if she hadn't said it herself.

 

[orthelian]

I'm really sorry if I offended anyone, it is just my opinion, and as such completely subjective!

 

[StoneSkipper]

^^ It's really interesting what you said about horror movies. For some reason my mind never thought of that, and yet it is true.

I can understand your point of view. But the fact is, it IS an opportunity to speak out against domestic violence (or any thing else for that matter) and no other editor or magazine is using what they do as a platform to speak out about such matters, or have the bravery to tackle things that fashion is not somehow suppose to get involved with. My respect has risen even more for Franca, something I thought not possible.

Forget print v digital argument THIS is the future of editorial. Content and editorial opinion, not just lame catalogue, which most magazines have become. It's every reason I was interested in the potential of fashion in the first place it is, and has always been Vogue Italia that flies that flag.

I see what you're saying. I also believe in magazines with a strong point of view. What I mean is that I don't think the domestic abuse stance was absolutely necessary here. It's nice that they're taking a stance, but not with this story. It seems a bit forced. And I was criticizing mostly the people who saw this as a glorification of domestic abuse - I think they read way too much into it, as the story wasn't portrayed as such. Just my two cents. (And I think the editorial was great, by the way!)

 

[LylaScans]

Is this it? or will there be the obligatory mariacarla ed as well?

 

[Marc10]

Like orthelian, I think people are failing to see how much the theme of violence against women and the idea of horror movies goes together. That's what makes the ed so brilliant to me. When we look back at most of the horror movies, almost all of them includes the scenario of a man attacking a woman. It's almost a cliche how the innocent and naive woman is always the villain's target of choice. That sounds alot like the reality we see everyday on the news, doesn't it? I think it was really smart from Meisel and Franca to make this connection, because if they would gone with the raw domestic violence theme, I don't think it would be nearly as affective as this one. And also because at the end of the day, this is Vogue. It has to have some kind of fantasy and pleasantness. Meisel has such a great storytelling talent, he literally directs a little movie throughout his photographs.

 

[TianSoFine]

I love how cinematic this issue is. When I first looked at the cover, I didn't think it was remarkable but it still really stood out because of Issa's beauty and the character she portrays. The ed and the video are absolutely amazing, though. They're shocking and unsettling and they're works of art.

As for the horror movie/domestic abuse debate, I agree that it can really be both. Film and literature and different forms of art often have messages that go beyond the most obvious interpretation. Yes, it is a horror movie, but that doesn't mean that domestic abuse can't be an underlying theme.

And for the people who say that they find this disgusting: domestic abuse is an uncomfortable topic. That doesn't mean it should just remain hidden away forever.

 

[gossiping]

the editorials, all of them, not really up to a great standard. second issue in a row i hope that the rest of the year it will get better!

i think last year was one of their best its a shame

 

[swedburger]

Floored by the main ed I would die to see a horror movie directed by Meisel! I'm also glad Issa got the cover instead Natalie

 

[Marc10]

Welp, looks like the controversy is rising...

Domestic Abuse Is Not In Vogue, No Matter How You Style It

My mother used to work with Haven, a shelter for abused women, when we lived in Detroit. One night, she came home very shaken up after a meeting for the charity. I asked her what was wrong, and she recounted a 911 call she’d listened to, in which a little boy was trying to save his mother, who had been beaten by her boyfriend. The boy kept saying, “My mommy’s not moving,” and just before hanging up, told the operator, “My mommy’s dead.” I was 10 years old at this time, and at that age, I had no idea such horror existed in the world. I sobbed for hours, and to this day, I feel sick when I think about that little boy, that haunting call, and that woman whose life was stolen from her.

I don’t care who shoots it—a scenario like that one cannot, and should not, be translated into a fashion photograph. Franca Sozzani, however, attempted to do just that in her May issue of Vogue Italia, which hits newsstands today.

Sozzani, who serves as the editor in chief of Condé Nast Italia, as well as Vogue Italia, is an original and often fearless creative thinker, and she has frequently addressed hot-button issues through the pages of her glossy magazine. In 2005, she ran a clever editorial about plastic surgery. In 2007, she produced an issue that tackled the elite’s rising obsession with rehab. These editions sparked controversy, too—and Sozzani should be commended for her commitment to asking important questions through her often forward-thinking spreads. But the abovementioned problems more or less affect the privileged classes, and the shoots were done in a certain tongue-in-cheek manner. That approach is not appropriate when discussing domestic abuse.

I’m sure that May’s Steven Meisel-lensed cover story, dubbed “Horror Movie,” was conceived with the best intentions. In a statement, Sozzani explained, “Violence towards women has never been so hard-hitting as it is now, so reminiscent of a ‘real horror show’…The intent is in no way to shock, but rather to raise awareness of a horror that must be condemned!” However, “Horror Movie” takes away from the seriousness of the topic at hand.

The first problem is that, while it’s allegedly meant to raise awareness and provoke conversation, this spread is still selling clothes. It’s using violence to push product. The images—like the one of Natalie Westling laying bloodied and lifeless on the floor in a red Moschino dress, ruffled Melissa Levy garters, and Alexander Wang shoes, her lover slumped in a chair, staring at her while drenched in her blood—are underscored by clothing credits. How can a photograph like this be seen as respectful and empowering to domestic abuse victims, or even taken seriously, when it reads, “chiffon smock, Marc Jacobs” in the corner?

Furthermore, these images are glamorous. They star young women dressed to the nines in the hottest new wares. The models’ faces are elegantly painted, and the girls look pretty while cowering in the corner, hiding from a man with a knife, or grasping at a railing, pressed against a wall smeared with blood. Abuse is not glamorous, and the brutalization of women should never be portrayed as beautiful, especially in a fashion magazine. Additionally, these images are based off of classic horror films, and by design there’s an almost comic quality to them. In a different context, as a commentary on our addiction to the nasty thrills of the ever-popular horror genre, say, they might have worked. The problem arises when Sozzani claims the intent is specifically to raise awareness of domestic abuse. Abuse isn’t funny, period.

Of course, we’ve seen images like these before—in varying degrees of offensiveness and insensitivity. There’s Helmut Newton, whose sexualized photographs of naked women in heels or bonded with rope bordered on misogyny. There’s the particularly macabre Guy Bourdin, who often posed models as if they were dead—one of his snaps features a made-up woman lying in a pool of blood; another depicts two dead models, the first hanging from a noose, the second naked on a table. “Fear is something that we, despite ourselves, want to experience. And I think the violence does add glamour in a kind of perverse way,” Nick Knight told the Guardian while speaking about Bourdin’s photographs back in 2003. I don’t necessarily agree with these images. But in the cases of Newton and Bourdin, the male character isn’t pictured, there’s an air of mystery and ambiguity, and the women aren’t explicitly being abused. And—though again I wouldn’t necessarily concur as quickly as some male critics would—you can argue that these are two great artists walking the line in the way that great artists are driven to do.

Vogue Italia‘s latest outing also calls to mind last year’s Vice editorial, in which models were snapped while pretending to commit suicide. Unsurprisingly, the shoot sparked public outrage. Fashion photographs have an element of fantasy, and, as Knight mentioned, there is something unsettlingly sexy about death—this has been the case throughout history (Sir John Everett Millais’ 1852 painting Ophelia comes to mind). But suicide, and domestic abuse, don’t fall into a “fantasy” category. They’re tragedies that real people struggle with every day. “Photography is such a powerful medium, which we read as being a literal depiction of reality,” explained curator and fashion historian Dr. Valerie Steele when I asked her about this particular issue. “It can be very problematic when you have images of violence that have been staged for a photograph. The image of the fashion model being physically attacked and murdered is one that has considerable existence in pop culture, considering films like the Eyes of Laura Mars [1978],” she continued. “That further complicates the issue of trying to make a photograph have an ideological point against violence, since the exploitation of violence against beautiful young fashion models is something that has another fantasy existence, apparently.”

It seems strange to me that, judging by social media and editorial responses, people can’t seem to make up their minds about “Horror Movie.” Perhaps they’re afraid to take a stance because, as I mentioned before, it may have been created with the best intentions. But just because one’s intentions are good, doesn’t mean the results are, too.

During her twenty-six-year tenure at Vogue Italia, Sozzani has successfully confronted a bevy of heavy global concerns. For instance, her July 2008 issue, which featured only black models, was the magazine’s best-selling edition. She has proven to be one of the most progressive editors of the last thirty years, constantly championing young designers; driving Italian fashion forward conceptually, commercially, and creatively; and helping her readers to understand fashion in a broader cultural context. This misstep won’t change that.

Sozzani’s more tasteful attempts, as well as efforts by the likes of Vivienne Westwood (always fighting to save the environment), Iman (who frequently speaks out on behalf of models of color), and Riccardo Tisci (who’s aimed to rectify the lack of diversity in the biz with his multicultural runways and Spring ’14 ad campaign), prove that fashion can have an impact. Considering ours is one of the biggest industries on the planet, we can absolutely change the world through fashion. We can get important messages across in magazines, during runway shows, through garments, and in newspaper articles. We just can’t do it like this.

—Katharine K. Zarrella

style.com

 

[kokobombon]

if they're going to take a stance against a fashion editorial claiming abuse then they should do the same with every horror movie ever made in HW... I never heard anyone from any media outlet claim it. I feel like almost every month the media tries to create controversy with an editorial, it's not the public but the media who construes it. In order to gain what? more sells? more ad sells? this seems so fabricated.

 

[LylaScans]

I see Vogue Italia has always been a bit controversial: this, last month's blackface, cholas way back when, gulf spill ever more way back when

 

[Avogadro]

HQ cover

wearesodroee.com

 

[Zorka]

HORROR MOVIE
Photographer: Steven Meisel
Stylist: Karl Templer
Hair: Guido
Make-up: Pat McGrath
Models: Issa Lish, Natalie Westling & Bernd Sassmannhausen



Vogue Italia 05/2014 Digital Edition

 

[Zorka]

Without text and YouTube layout:



Vogue Italia 05/2014 Digital Edition

 

[anlabe32]

Definitely more impressed with Natalie. Wish she was on the cover.

 

[Zorka]

I'm sorry, guys, IMGBOX has some glitch again, above are all 11 pages/pictures from "Horror Story" spread!

 

[Nepenthes]

^^Totally agree. Had I not seen the cover, I would think that Natalie was the cover star based on the ed. It's not that Issa is not good, because she's great. I just think that Natalie is giving more character.

 

[Zorka]

TABITHA SEEN BY CRAIG MCDEAN
Photographer: Craig McDean
Stylist & Model: Tabitha Simmons
Hair: Esther Langham
Make-up: Hannah Murray



Vogue Italia 05/2014 Digital Edition

 

[Zorka]

FRAMES OF FASHION
Photographer: Francesco Carrozzini
Stylist: Enrica Ponzellini
Hair: Brent Lawler
Make-up: Kabuki
Models: Kirsten Owen, Katie Goodling, Sadie Pinn & Michael Houghton



Vogue Italia 04/2014 Digital Edition