Vogue isn’t exactly known for its sensitivity to, um, sensitive issues, and that’s fine. It is, after all, a fashion and society magazine, not The Atlantic. But every once in a while the international publication comes at us with something controversial, something so tone-deaf (see: longtime contributor Joan Juliet Buck’s complimentary portrait of Syrian first lady Asma al-Assad just prior to the Arab Spring) that the public at large just can’t help but take note. As for this Hurricane Sandy-inspired editorial, which was just released today, I can’t decide where I stand: am I cool with it because they’re honoring the first responders and other such “heroes,” or am I outraged because a) they’ve juxtaposed top models in designer dresses with members from the neonatal ICU at Bellevue Hospital who were forced to evacuate their patients when a backup generator gave out or b) people are still suffering from the impact of the storm? Well, I’m not easily offended (I don’t think), and Vogue and the CFDA did in fact raise close to $2 million for relief efforts… So I don’t know. It’s not glaringly irresponsible, it’s just, as one commenter put it, “kinda tasteless.” What do you think? [Fashionista]
