Vogue Italia March 2012 : Joan Smalls by Steven Meisel

[TREVOFASHIONISTO]

woah!!! this editorial is quite appalling. From the previews I thought it would be more just having fun but this is completely mocking the poor communities of America. Not just black or hispanic, but there are white women who do this as well. I see nothing artistic about this nor anything appealing, and I am trying to figure out why Joan agreed to do this, especially growing up around this as a New Yorker. Im black and from the upper middle class suburbs but even I find this offensive.


I can only imagine the direction they were given during the shoot. I have lost some respect for Joan and Patt. I am also not understanding grocery shopping in a diner

 

[scratchBOOK]

http://rubyshimmer.tumblr.com/post/18936190497
its obvious, really obvious

then again it's from italia, where they casted only 1 token colored girl for each show

 

[retailqueen]

This "haute mess " editorial is stupid and I resent anyone who is a part of it. i will never again support anything Joan Small related cause she is an idiot for being involved with this. No wonder she got the cover.

Vogue Italia thinks because they did the "Black issue" it gives them a pass? please

 

[cottonmouth13]

i will never again support anything Joan Small related cause she is an idiot for being involved with this. No wonder she got the cover.

Too harsh, don't you think?

 

[retailqueen]

Too harsh, don't you think?

Nope. Integrity is priceless. I know working with Miesel is a privilege, blah blah but this is disappointing

Then again maybe she sees no problem with the editorial, good for her. Its her career/life.

 

[danielwarhol]

My sentiments were expressed already.....He could've did something so great with this, but it turned out to be quite tasteless.....I'm quite appalled to be honest.


And the IRONY in it being JOAN on the front cover (her first at that)...

 

[MON]

The editorial turned out to be so cheap! This looks cheaper than some of Terry's tasteless mess! What a mess? The styling is horrendous, snas the layout!

Im disappointed because it's not at par with the beautiful! I love the concet but meisel went overboard wth the idea

 

[Darling_Myy]

The main editorial kind of reminds me of 'Live on the Web' (January 2007). I'm not from the US and don't know / get all the stereotypes portrayed in the editorial so I can't really understand how shocking it feels to some members.

Meisel in american, but maybe we should remember this is Italian Vogue, and the target audience is, after all, italian readers. I don't know how much Vogue Italia sells outside of Italy, but I don't think many people who are not very interested in fashion would buy it. After all, all the articles are in italian. Maybe in Italy an editorial portraying something like mafia would be considered shocking (though I don't know since I'm not italian), but I don't think it would cause any kind of conversation of is it 'right' or 'suitable'.

All in all, I think it's kind of appalling how people are accusing Joan of participating in this editorial. She's an adult and should be able to do any kind of editorials she wants without having to think 'are my fans going to think this is offensive'.

 

[Flashbang]

A Lady In Spring - 16p
Marie Piovesan & ? by Paolo Roversi
Editor: Panos Yiapanis

Facebook/Intrepid London

 

[Flashbang]

....



Facebook/Intrepid London

 

[2ou3choses]

^I could be wrong, but it looks like Marie is the only model, no?

 

[Kanna]

That's such a fantastic HC portfolio. Sheerly beautiful.

 

[mikel]

Regarding the main editorial: is it really mocking certain subcultures? Couldn't it be a hommage? Perhaps Meisel is celebrating their style.

 

[pellucid]

Lost In Details - 10p
Arizona Muse by Paolo Roversi
Editor: Jacob K

blog.nextmodels

 

[rubyshimmer]

Regarding the main editorial: is it really mocking certain subcultures? Couldn't it be a hommage? Perhaps Meisel is celebrating their style.

Its pretty obvious this is supposed to be a mocking and not celebration of style. Meisel is a master photographer and if he wanted to do an homage or celebrate the artistry of a subculture's style, he could do it plainly where no one would even question it. The editorial was probably just supposed to be a light hearted attempt at humor.It's pretty obvious he thinks the style is funny, trashy, and distateful with the references to Joan in the urinal with her legs spread, tuna, the baby changing station in the fast food restaurant. (Also so many references to babies, and they made the one model appear pregnant.)

Anyway, I'm not sure of TFS's rules or else I would post it here myself, but celebrity seaborn, one of the hairstylists that Meisel mocked in the shoot, recently did a shoot for a magazine. You can see that even with the crazy and out there hair styles the models are portrayed with dignity.

 

[alonsoJonathan]

i dont know how he is making fun of black people?
i mean yeah some Pictures do look related to the black community,but not all of them.
some of them are sooo Cholas.

but i dont see what is that he is making fun of black people?
i mean he is not lol of them,he is just showing the way they do their hair.+++ way more over the top.

 

[Pradable]

The couture ed is fantastic and fascinating. I'm not going to talk about the main editorial 'cuz my opinion was expressed already...

BTW happy women's day

 

[FemmeFatale]

nvm....

 

[alonsoJonathan]

mockery? really.

i will said is more like imitating the way some people dress. i really dont see at what point he is imitating or making fun of it. like i said b4 to me he is imitating

 

[thankyouhon]

I also realized something else about the main editorial that bothered me.

Putting all the race/class issues aside, it doesn't even seem as if Meisel did any research for this. It's like he googled the most outlandish pics of black hair styles (as we can see by the side by side comparisons), threw in stereotypes about malt liquor, weaves and single mothers and called it a day. That's just lazy. He didn't treat the style with any respect whatsoever.

Also, I would not blame Joan for working on this. It would be career suicide to say no to one of the top photographers in the industry. Models of color get very few opportunities and I don't blame her for taking it. Also the fact that she is not American, she may have been somewhat ignorant of what the implications were.