Fashion Brand Causes Furore With White Models Against Tribal Kenyan Backdrop

Fashion Brand Causes Furore With White Models Against Tribal Kenyan Backdrop

Because the new trend seems to be brands embarrassingly appropriating other cultures into their campaigns without seeming to understand how dumb it is, we now have another beauty to add to the pile.

Valentino’s latest advertising gem features a string of mostly white models with cornrows and dreadlocks wrapped into buns, posing against a backdrop of Kenyan tribes and landscapes.

It comes just days after a Hungarian journo dressed herself up in blackface to raise awareness of secluded African tribes, and a Thai cosmetic company pushed the message of “you need to be white to win”.

According to creative directors Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pierpaolo Piccioli, “wild Africa” was the inspiration for the collection, with images shot in Amboseli National Park in Kenya.

You can see the snaps for yourself:Valentino Spring 2016 Campaign shot in Amboseli Park in Kenya. 1452541385243 Valentino Spring 2016 Campaign shot in Amboseli Park in Kenya. Valentino Spring 2016 Campaign shot in Amboseli Park in Kenya.

But this isn’t exactly Valentino’s first foray into African style, with the pre-fall 2015 lookbook featuring models sporting cornrows, while the spring 2016 runway show was heavily inspired by the same African ‘theme’, featuring bone necklaces, Masai beading, Kikuyu textiles, and feathers and fringed jackets hand-painted with geometric designs made to look “primitive, tribal, spiritual, yet regal” – their words, not ours.

And the response wasn’t exactly enthusiastic:

As for this latest campaign, Piccioli said, “We wanted to shoot not a fashion vision [of Africa], but more of a cultural vision — and not in a studio with an elephant”.

And according to Daily Life, this sentiment isn’t exactly uncommon. Editor Shiona Turini commented, “Black culture is often the inspiration, but black people aren’t part of the conversation. When we’re included, we’re able to help make a more well-rounded product — runway show, beauty story, hair tutorial, or editorial.”

As for us, we think we’ll leave the cornrows and tribal beads alone…




Latest News

The Mars Agency Announces Latest Findings Of Retail Media Report Card
  • Advertising

The Mars Agency Announces Latest Findings Of Retail Media Report Card

The Mars Agency has developed a scorecard that assesses the capabilities of leading platforms across key criteria required to optimally plan, execute, and measure effective retail media programs. The scorecard aims To help brands efficiently evaluate their spending options across retail media networks in Australia (and New Zealand). With spending on retail media advertising in […]

TV Ratings (27/03/2024): Jungle Members At War Over Concealed Lipstick
  • TV Ratings

TV Ratings (27/03/2024): Jungle Members At War Over Concealed Lipstick

A heated argument between two jungle members did the numbers for Ten last night, with I’m A Celeb obtaining a total national reach of 1,282,000. Fans were delighted as Candice Warner and influencer Skye Wheatley got into it over a stick of lipstick, leading Warner to dub the Instagram star “selfish.” Wheatley, best known for […]