Karl Lagerfeld, fashion designer and photographer, recently collaborated with one of his favorite models, Claudia Schiffer for the German magazine, Stern Fotografie 60th anniversary issue. The shoot produced six different covers of the magazine featuring Claudia re-imagined as different versions of herself. Seems like a nice gesture, right? Well, it didn’t sit well with some people. Why? Because one cover had Claudia dressed as an Asian woman and the other placed her in an afro with blackface make-up. This of course caused a stir of controversy.

Fashion websites such as Fashionista.com called the shoot racist and declared most of the photos as unimaginative. Shevelle Rhule, the fashion editor of a black London lifestyle magazine, Pride was quoted in an article by Catherine Dagger of Associated Content saying, “It shows poor taste and it’s offensive. There are not enough women of colour featured in mainstream magazines. This just suggests you can counteract the problem by using white models. I don’t believe they deliberately set out to offend. They obviously see it as being arty and feel that they are pushing boundaries. But clearly no thought has been given to the history behind what they have done and the comparisons it draws with minstrel shows.”

After quoting Shevelle Rhule, Catherine Dagger of Associated Content went on to argue that the shoot was not racist. In fact, she counteracted the racist accusation by exploring black men portraying white men, and men portraying children as a way to say that others have explored characterizing themselves as a different race or group, so, why should Karl’s shoot with Claudia be singled out? She argued that to not allow people to imagine themselves as someone else would mean censorship therefore stifling creative freedom.

However, other websites like The Frisky simply discussed the shoot and then left it open for discussion amongst their readers. When browsing through the comment section, I found that the shoot did indeed spark some intense debate. One reader stated the Germany doesn’t have the same history with blackface that America does and so the shoot did not offend them. This point was counteracted by another reader who argued that the shoot was racist because the image of Claudia in an afro wig only represented one image of a black woman. Another reader went on to say that black women and asian women are real life beings not images to be fantasized about.
As an African-American woman, I must state that I was not offended by the photos. They were tastefully done and Claudia did look stunning. In a conversation with a good friend of mine, I realized why the pictures sparked so much debate and controversy. It was yet another instance of Europeans using minority culture and style but not the actual minority. If these photos were to pay homage to the various cultures featured, why didn’t they just use someone who is actually of the culture? Why is a white woman dressed as a black or asian woman so fascinating? What is it about minority culture that Europeans find so amazing that they must imitate but not include?

A few months ago, I attended an event through the Learning Annex that featured fashion designer Narciso Rodriguez and Joanna Coles, Editor-in-Chief of Marie Claire. After their presentation, the Q & A portion was opened and an associate of mine posed the question to Narciso Rodriguez, “Why is minority culture in style but not minorities?” Narciso stated that he did not find this to be the case as he is a Latin man with a successful fashion company.

Nevertheless, if one were to watch a fashion show of Narciso’s you would find that minority models are rarely used. And interestingly enough, one of Narciso’s most famous designs was worn by Michelle Obama the night Barack Obama was announced the first Black President of the United States. So where does this leave us? It leaves us with race, racism, and discrimination and the question of what it is, who it affects, and why.

If you simply “Google it”, race is defined by Wikipedia as a classification of human beings. Pretty simple, right? This question gets another “well not really” answer. Why? Because, who decides who classifies whom and why? Also, when it comes to racism, who is racist and what does it mean to discriminate? These are all questions that must be answered prior to determining if Karl Lagerfeld’s photos of Claudia were racist.

Racism is defined by Dictionary.com as “a belief or doctrine that inherent differences among the various human races determine cultural or individual achievement, usually involving the idea that one’s own race is superior and has the right to rule others.” Discrimination is essentially the after affect of racism because it involves excluding a group based on racist beliefs. In essence, one could deem Karl Lagerfeld’s photos of Claudia Schiffer as racist and be justified in that belief based on the definitions from above. If Lagerfeld had simply used a black or asian model, he would have been celebrating minority culture in all aspects because, one, he used an actual minority, and two, he would be representing minority culture as a reality and not a fantasy.

Nonetheless, we must return to the earlier question posed: who determines race and why? This question makes us ponder the very idea of what race is and therefore makes us question why we are sensitive about the topic. Race seems to be this thing that we all think we know but do we really know? And why are we so quick to call things racist and discriminatory? As I said earlier, the pictures of Claudia were beautiful. And Narciso may not always use minority models but he is a successful Latin male designer. These are two things that I find to be true. However, my truth may not be yours and vice versa. To me, there is no answer for whether or not the pictures of Claudia were racist, that is something to be determined from every person that views them. In essence, Claudia and Karl did take on the “race” card but not in the way that you think.

Article Written by Loudpen