French Vogue in Blackface: Too Much?

Article written by: Andre Sanchez
Posted on: October 30, 2009

There’s an uproar in the fashion community going on right now because of the images below. The pictures are of the same model, au naturel and in blackface:

The model, named Lara Stone, probably woke up the morning of the shoot and went to work like any other day… thought nothing of what she would be wearing or the makeup that was applied, then went home.

French Vogue, already known for pushing the envelope when it comes to the definition of beauty, published the pictures in a 14-page spread. Cue drama.

 

I remember a blackface incident happening at my old college. It was a talent show, and a group of 4 girls performed Spice Girls’ “If You Wanna Be My Lover”. Guess who dressed up as Scary Spice? Yep, a white girl, which resulted in a very angry black audience that night.

Recently in a similar event, the Jackson 5 were being imitated in blackface, check it out here.

Blackface is nothing new though. According to Wikipedia, the 1830’s is when it became a popular stage act for whites (and later blacks) in what was called minstrel shows. As years passed, it became so popular that stars such as Bing Crosby, Judy Garland, and even Bugs Bunny have performed in blackface, as you will see below (starts at around the 2:50 mark:)

As far as modeling goes, Lara Stone will go on to get many more gigs as a model I’m sure…

Do you see a problem with this whole incident reader, or is this just another thing people are trippin’ about? Let’s hear it in the comments!