High Fashion Over Oil Spill: Stylish or Tasteless?

A model wearing black feathered dress lying on rocks covered in with dirty, black mud like a lifeless creature. This is just one of the images which graced the pages of Vogue Italia’s August 2010 issue. Undeniably beautiful, these 24-page photo spread was captured by Steven Miesel.

Clearly, the Gulf oil spill was the inspiration behind this fashion shoot. Though it was done for art’s sake, it left the readers questioning whether the concept was vulgar and insensitive.

But editor-in-chief Franca Sozzani understand the fuss over the issue. “The message is to be careful about nature, just to take care more about nature. … I understand that it could be shocking to see and to look in this way these images.”

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