Vogue’s Hurricane Sandy inspired fashion shoot comes under fire
It has been labeled as “inappropriate,” “idiotic,” and in “poor taste” and Vogue has come under fire for its new fashion spread in the February issue titled, “Storm Troupers” which was meant to pay tribute to New York’s best but has come under a barrage of criticism instead.
The editorial shot by Anne Leibowitz which features models Karlie Kloss, Chanel Iman, Arizona Muse, Lui Wen and Joan Smalls who pose alongside some of New York’s best has triggered a lot of criticism including these. Kottke.org wrote: “I guess they were going for inappropriate & provocative but hit inappropriate & idiotic instead?” Another criticism came from The Fashion Spot which added, “This editorial is cheesy and in poor taste. The glossy couldn’t help itself, making its favourite models the real stars of this editorial and treating the very people it was ostensibly celebrating as “heroes” as little more than set pieces.”
The spread shows men in uniforms marching beside models in high-end dresses from top designers such as Rag & Bone, Alexander Wang, Oscar de la Renta, just to name a few. Very eye-catching, the models we mean, but the men take a backseat as far as we can see. The spread, however, features members from the NYC Fire Department, Coast Guard, National Guard, Con Ed and NY’s Bellevue Hospital. All parts of the rescue effort teams were represented.
In its defense, it has been rumored, Vogue contributed a huge amount to aid in the Sandy relief efforts, to the tune of almost $1.7 million but even that has not helped to sway the critics. New York Magazine put it more succinctly: “Bravo to Vogue for raising all that Sandy relief money; maybe they should’ve left it at that. This story still feels wrong at a time when Sandy’s aftermath continues to be felt.”
However, it seems that the rescue workers took a different stance on the photoshoot. Con Ed issued this statement, “This photo is a great tribute to all of Con Edison employees who worked to restore power to our customers after Sandy devastated New York. We were extremely proud to be a part of it.”
There you have it folks. The last word or words from the people who matter, the rescue workers themselves and they seemed to have enjoyed being a part of the editorial spread and that’s all that matters. Afterall, IT was a tribute to them and a little beauty and glamour never hurt anyone especially in their world of death and devastation.
By
T. J. Mueller
