Fashion is one industry that is famous for pushing boundaries, but freedom of expression comes with freedom of interpretation. Some companies lately have been finding out the hard way that that may or may not be a good thing…
Miu Miu, the Italian women’s fashion brand that was established by their mother label, Prada in 1993 has been receiving backlash for an advertisement that they recently put out – another brand in a string of similar complaints.
The advertisement, which appeared in Vogue UK was banned to the public according to the requirements set by Britain’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), because they deemed it to be overly sexualizing a young (…looking) girl.
The woman in the advertisement is British model Mia Goth, who was 21 at the time of the shoot. The ASA claims that due to the combination of the surroundings, her clothing and her youthful appearance, she looked under 16 years of age and thus the images were found to be too inappropriate for the public.
Another issue the ASA found with the ad was that the lens of the camera taking the picture appears to be peeking through a slightly cracked door that is looking in at Goth, implying a sense of vulnerability and voyuerism. Despite all of this, the Italian brand wholeheartedly disagrees with the verdict and stands by their claim that there are absolutely no sexual notes attributed to the images in any way.
The magazine claims that unlike what the ASA is suggesting – that they would be receiving many complaints over the image – there has been nothing in regards to its circulation. Vogue defended their content, claiming it to be “sophisticated” and that their readers were “educated to appreciate top photography and great fashion models.”
As far as we sit on the issue? The model is 22 (now) and just because she appears to be young, that doesn’t mean that she actually is. Much like the case with Dakota Fanning when she fronted the Marc Jacobs ‘Oh, Lola!’ fragrance campaign, which was a campaign banned for similar reasons, we have to acknowledge that this is not actually child pornography.
So where do we draw the line between high fashion and inappropriateness? Why is such an extreme level of youth so desirable in this business? Although it is up to the discretion if the ASA, it might be worth revisiting the requirements that they adhere by, because banning ads left and right doesn’t seem to be solving the issue they are trying to regulate.