Three years ago Karl Lagerfeld took shots of supermodel Claudia Schiffer for a campaign for the champagne company Dom Perignon. The shots he took have only surfaced now in a book celebrating the 60th anniversary of Stern Fotografie and are causing a bit of a ruckus, as Claudia was given a makover in which she was covered in dark foundation and was wearing an afro wig.
There is also a shot where she portrays an Asian woman, there have already been complaints about the pictures. The shots of Claudia are supposed to represent mens different fantasies, apparently her reps say people are taking the shots too seriously but how out of context but are they?
I'm not going to rant on about ethnicity or be so typical cliche: "I'm from black decent so this picture really offends me." Yes it's tasteless and not a particularly nice shot but its not vulgar or offensive, theres not really any hidden agenda with this picture.
I do think that if these shots are supposed to represent different male fantasies why not just use an Asian and a Black model?? Apart from the fact that she looks like an awful version of Ru-Paul (Maybe a little more Ru-Paul hooks up with Grace Jones and they have a not so attractive love child.) or someone who's just ransaked a wig from the Louis Vuitton S/S 2010 collection.
There are models from both ethnic minorities that would have been able to do the job to a high standard and are equally attractive in my opinion. But in a way I think I almost get it...she is representing all these different cultures and backgrounds for this campaign, yet because of her superstardom and distinct features you instantly recognise her through this facade which is kind of what you want, someone who people already know and admire, who can be associated with other things (her Chanel campaigns etc.) Although the editor of black lifestyle magazine Pride Shevelle Rhule comented:
"There are not enough women of colour featured in mainstream
magazines. This just suggests you can counteract the problem by using white
models."
magazines. This just suggests you can counteract the problem by using white
models."
This is a valid point as there is not a lot of ethnic models in ratio with caucasean and some editors and creative directors might be in favour of using that idea, but I think it would only be to evoke a reaction. There might not be as many ethnic models but with Chinese model Liu Wen as one of the new faces for Estee Lauder, Chanel Iman who was dubbed as one of the next top models in 2007 and is still strutting her stuff down the catwalk and seen in editorials, along with the likes of Joan Smalls and Jeneil Williams causing a stir, it proves that ethnic models make an impact.
