The wrong kind of high-low mix



The papers are up in arms about a recent Indian Vogue fashion shoot. Said shoot depicts ultra luxury accessories including a Birkin bag, a Burberry umbrella and a Fendi bib on everyday (read: poor) people. I get the point of the people complaining but really, what’s new? From Vogue and umpteen other magazines jetting to ‘exotic’ developing countries to shoot their fashion stories, to John Galliano famously being inspired by the Parisian homeless for his boho-meets-hobo couture collection, to those now-cliched trailer park fashion shoots, magazines have been doing these ‘let’s shoot high fashion on poor people to create an edgy contrast!’ editorials for aeons. I doubt the subjects of the Vogue shoot feel the same affront as the critics – unless they were forced in front of the camera – although of course I could be wrong. I think we’d all agree however, that the Fendi bib is tacky – whether on a poor child or a rich one.