Have you noticed that when someone does something intrinsically good, many people are ready to slam the action as being motivated by greed, or as being a publicity stunt, and the usual "it is not enough?" is pronounced, implying that they should not have bothered to do it.
I am talking about Vogue Italia and its January 2020 issue without photoshoots, featuring instead covers and fashion features by fashion illustrators and artists, for whom models have posed (all the models are named). The money saved from photoshoots will be donated to Fondazione Querini Stampalia Onlus in Venice, recently damaged by the severe floods that have hit the city (onlus in Italy denotes a charitable organization).
There has been a flurry of articles pointing out that this is a one-off initiative, it does not mean much in terms of supporting sustainability, a single charitable act is not a commitment on behalf of Condé Nast, it does not help photographers and so on and so forth.
I support the photoshoot-free issue for a number of reasons. Let's review them:
1. The magazine issue is beautifully illustrated. Fashion illustration is an art and is not a mainstream one, these days. I would like to see more of it and would like a greater appreciation to be given to illustrators. I have often modelled for illustrators - I will be modelling for a class tonight, as a matter of fact. I have found it most enjoyable. I love photography and I love fashion illustration, it is not an either /or matter, there is definitely room for both.
2. Fashion editorials are expensive and involve much waste and damage to the environment. Farneti has highlighted how much they have managed to save. The saved money will go to support a worthy cause. Farneti has also said that there are no plans for another issue like this. What's wrong with it? It is not solely a Condé Nast's responsibility to give to charities, we need a more concerted effort, the damage caused by flooding will need governmental measures that are more wide-ranging but I am not prepared to say that it is wrong to give money as a one-off. It is certainly not enough, but not wrong. To give an example closer home. I see every day in London homeless people begging, sometimes on the tube. When I can, I give them a few pennies. It is only a drop in the ocean and you need more than that to combat the problem, I wholly agree. But my giving to them is not wrong. I often think - what if it were me having to beg like that?
3. Vogue Italia and Vogue, in general, is a very high profile fashion publication, seen by millions and widely imitated. Even if Vogue never again has a photoshoot-free issue, it has nevertheless set a precedent. Other magazines might decide to follow suit. This alone would be a welcome development and it could be incorporated in an ongoing plan promoting sustainability at all levels.
4. Vogue Italia has always been ahead of its time in promoting initiatives that, when they appeared, caused an uproar. This became the norm under the leadership of the late Franca Sozzani who was the first to put models of colour on a cover, as well as being the first to promote curvy models. Sozzani also did a photoshoot in 2010 with Steven Meisel, modelled by Kristen Mcmenamy as a commentary on the ecological disaster that hit the Gulf of Mexico at the time. Typically, it was slammed as a publicity stunt. But it left a mark and it began a conversation about such issues. The rest is history. It is encouraging to see Farneti continuing Sozzani's legacy and inaugurating a new decade of intense discussion on those issues that currently matter to our quality of life.
So people, let's give Emanuele Farneti a break, please. Let's think instead of ways in which this unique issue of Vogue Italia can pave the way to change.
With Australia burning, America and Iran on a warpath, Brexit, which many of us never wanted, looming large, the mass displacement of people across the globe, we have much to ponder concerning our environment and the political decisions that affect our life. Let's celebrate whatever positivity there is around us.
Comments
Post a Comment