Uh-oh, our fairly new Dutch version of Vogue continues a controversy within the depiction of models in fashion editorials; the black faced model. Meaning a Caucasian model made to look, reference or resemble the African-American race through make-up and styling – by for example painting the face black. Now this has been a reoccurring thing to do in the past by photographers and stylists – and each time it of course creates some ‘negative’ attention. Numero Magazine has done it, L’Officiel, as well as Vogue Paris. You would almost think it is just another marketing trick to create some attention. But is it fair to do this over the back of discrimination and racism – when all we just want is equality? Should we really consider this an act of racism? Do we really take fashion that serious while it has showcased, referenced or even celebrated between the lines many topics that could be considered very controversial i.e. violence, prostitution, anorexia, death, drug-abuse, pedophilia, etc… If you look close enough at fashion editorials there can always be some kind of reference that perhaps could be interpreted the wrong way (depending on your twisted associative capacity). Fashion editorials commonly depict an illusion, a dreamscape (or nightmare) and certainly not a reality. And why? Because the reality won’t sell the product! Why does a photographer choose to paint a Caucasian model black? Simply because it just looks odd and extreme. When fashion designers Viktor & Rolf had their models walk the catwalk with faces painted red for autumn/winter 2011, nobody spoke of discrimination towards the Native Americans. Oh wait, but the Native Americans are of course not that blood red. And if so, was it really a discrimination or was it celebrating a race? Or it was just meant to look powerful like warriors paint. Or maybe the models were supposed to look embarrassed. Who knows? Yes, and of course there is the Dutch national holiday discussion ‘Sinterklaas’ and the promotion of discriminative ideologies – you can read all about it here. All I am hoping is that soon enough a few fashion editorials will depict African-American models with painted white faces, so we can put this discussion to bed. Or would that imply the same thing then?

At the end of the day the problem does not lie in the depiction itself but the dominating context topics are presented in. When you think about the world of cinema, every year there is hundreds of blockbuster movies released that could be considered in reality socially unacceptable and controversial. Still we read and understand it as fiction and enjoy the entertainment of for example a good thriller. Even if one of the characters in a movie is made out for ‘nigger’, no one really seemed to be bothered with that as it is just part of the narrative and there to depict a scene. Cinema is diverse in that way – presenting all the narratives you could possibly think off, never leaning more to one thing or the other. Fashion within magazine editorials is fiction as well, but it is also there to sell a product and therefore presents a framed idealization of how one should behave or act in order to acquire (or fit) the product – however subtle or surreal this might be. So when fashion leans too much towards very skinny models this of course is criticized. Or when fashion editorials have been pre dominantly showcasing Caucasian models for decades now, a painted black face will rally up discussion on racism even when it was not intended that way. A fashion magazine of such stature in 2013 depicting visually certain ‘topics’ that are socially sensitive are in need of a solid thought through motivation and context.

So, it would’ve perhaps been a prolific move for the Dutch Vogue to showcase the multi-racial diversity the Netherlands is so rich off as a back-story – and reference some additional racial variations in the countries biggest historical freshly renovated State Museum where the shoot was taken. Addressing the urge for racial diversity and equality instead of the far-fetched comparison of the 15-year anniversary of Marc Jacobs at Louis Vuitton. A missed opportunity of honorable marketing.

See the rest of the editorial below;