Vogue Was Accused Of Cultural Appropriation After Putting Kendall Jenner In What Looked Like An Afro

What we have here is a match made in “What the hell are you doing” heaven. We’ve got Vogue, a magazine that probably has a cultural appropriation apology statement prepared before they send anything to the publisher. We’ve also got the Kardashian-Jenners, a family that maybe should start asking their black friends “Is this okay?” before they do their hair or makeup. Put them together, and we’ve got Vogue issuing an apology to anyone who thought it was wrong that they put Kendall Jenner in some very curly gravity-defying hair and painted freckles on her face.

There are two pictures in question that pissed people off. The pictures were posted to Instagram over the weekend and were taken to honor the 150 finalists of the Council of Fashion Designers of America/Vogue Fashion Fund prize. The first featured Kendall, posing alongside model Imaan Hammam.

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15 years ago, the @CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund was created to make the American fashion community more caring, more creative, more conscionable. Tap the link in our bio for a look back at the prize that changed American style. Photographed by @mikaeljansson, styled by @tonnegood, Vogue, November 2018

A post shared by Vogue (@voguemagazine) on Oct 17, 2018 at 2:36pm PDT

The next, and what might be the picture that had most people upset, featured Kendall with a caption about how the Fashion Fund prize benefits designers of all “backgrounds.”

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Fifteen years and 150 finalists later, the @CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund prize has created global stars, local heroes, a must-watch New York Fashion Week, and, most important, a true sense of community among designers of all ages and backgrounds—all with differing aesthetic and commercial aspirations—who communicate, collaborate, and essentially care for one another through the fun and not-so-fun times. Laura Vassar Brock—one of the founders of 2016 #CVFF winner Brock Collection—says, “We spoke to a few friends who had gone through it, and they all said the same thing: that the Fashion Fund is a life-changing experience. And indeed it was!” Tap the link in our bio to learn more. Photographed by @mikaeljansson, styled by @tonnegood, Vogue, November 2018

A post shared by Vogue (@voguemagazine) on Oct 19, 2018 at 1:29pm PDT

Both photos were shot by Mikael Jansson, who was also responsible for shooting Karlie Kloss as a geisha for Vogue last year.  E! News says that Vogue has issued a statement on the pictures, in which they attempt to explain the aesthetic they were going for while also apologizing to anyone who thought they were guilty of cultural appropriation.

“The image is meant to be an update of the romantic Edwardian/Gibson Girl hair which suits the period feel of the Brock Collection [designer of the dress worn by Kendall], and also the big hair of the ’60s and the early ’70s, that puffed-out, teased-out look of those eras. We apologize if it came across differently than intended, and we certainly did not mean to offend anyone by it.”

I’m not really seeing Gibson Girl hair, but that might be because I associate that style with Hetty King and polygamy compounds. Meanwhile, Kendall’s family probably didn’t even focus on the hair, because they were too offended by that dress. “A dress whose biggest design element is a giant open hole around the tits, and not a hint of nipple or cleavage to be seen?? Do better Vogue.”

Pic: Wenn.com