Kitsch in art, decoration and fashion

[Loppan Torkel]

Is it viable to use old and now perhaps controversial or outright colonial/racist ideas and imagery in art, decoration or fashion if it's to be viewed as kitsch?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/fashion/fashion-blog/2012/sep/26/dolce-gabbana-racist-earrings

Spoiler :

The earrings are reminiscent of Blackamoor statues that can be found in Italy, but more recognisably to non-Italians, Aunt Jemima dolls. That's the same Aunt Jemima that, initially conceived as part of a minstrel show, became an image that romanticised slavery and plantation life. There's no denying they're offensive. But what's perhaps even more shocking is that no one highlighted this before the show. From the production to the fitting, was there really no one to point this out before they hit the catwalk?

Some might argue that they're harmless, even cute, but there's nothing cute about two white men selling minstrel earrings to a majority non-black audience. There wasn't a single black model in Dolce & Gabbana's show, and it's hard not to be appalled by the transparent exoticism in sending the only black faces down the runway in the form of earrings. Pandering to a long-gone era is hardly surprising in 2012, when people can't even take a photo of a baby without sticking a "vintage" sepia filter on top. Bygone eras and cultures are constantly drawn on by fashion designers to re-appropriate on a whim. But when you're explicitly pandering to such a shameful era of western racism and colonialism, it's time to move on to the future.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/26/dolce-and-gabbana-racist-earrings-_n_1914455.html

 

[AlpsStranger]

 

[Borachio]

The whole fashion industry is so up itself and so awful, this doesn't surprise me one little bit.

I would say ignore them, they're irrelevant. But it just goes to show that big money and morality make uneasy bedfellows.

Just bleh!

 

[AlpsStranger]

Link to video.

 

[Borachio]

Ahhhh! He's too much is old Sasha, isn't he?

How he keeps a straight face I don't know.