If you Google the phrase âmigrant crisisâ today youâll see various distressing headlines: âSicily Flooded by 2,000 Migrants Every Day From Libya After Balkans Route Shut,â âPope Francis to Visit Greek Camp Holding Migrants in âInhumaneâ Conditions,â and, though not anywhere near as perturbing as the former, ones to the effect of âAnna Wintour Calls Kanyeâs Yeezy Season 3 âMigrant Chic,â Stuns Us All With Her Lack of Insight.â (Insert *rubbing our temples* emoji here.)
The fashion matriarchâs faux pas came during her recent TV interview with Late Night with Seth Meyers. In the midst of an otherwise smirk-inducing, down-to-Earth description of her experience getting lost and subsequently brought to tears by the labyrinth that is Madison Square Garden, the CondĂ© Nast creative director unwittingly revealed her capacity for human error.
âI got there very early, as I tend to do. They put me in this huge VIP section and I was the only person sitting there for about half an hour,â Wintour shared with Seth. âEventually they did turn up and the Life of Pablo concert started and the migrant chic fashion show started and they were both wonderful. But on the way out I was lost there for half an hour, asking various people to let me out [âŠ] I was really in tears.â If you think finding your way out of a sports stadium is hard, try uprooting your family to flee political persecution.
Image: Imaxtree
True, the muted, minimal, village-like set of Yeezy 3 was clearly a nod to those in poverty or meant to evoke visions of a post-apocalyptic community (not that the custom Balmain clad Kardashians supported any kind of larger political message, but we digress). However, a woman whose made her name in the fashion editorial industry could surely have picked a better choice of words. To pair the terms âmigrantâ and âchicâ makes light of a tragic, pressing global issue. Itâs as if Zoolanderâs Mugatu was playing ventriloquist with the renowned businesswoman.
Needless to say, the Twittersphere is up in arms, calling Wintour callous, clueless, vapid and the like.
Migrant chic? And then she wonders why fashion makes people nervous. Underestimate the people? Stupidity makes people nervous, rightly so.
â O.O. (@ndakogboya) April 15, 2016
when u find out the yeezy line was called âmigrant chicâ as if thats something to joke about pic.twitter.com/zMM573IkFI
â mads (@madschurchill) April 14, 2016
Migrant chic? wait what?!
â Jonathan mthsn (@JMTHSN) April 14, 2016
(Kanye Twitter rant to follow.)
Hereâs hoping Anna removes her Manolo-clad foot from her mouth in the very near future â we canât bring ourselves to pick up an issue of Vogue until sheâs made it clear sheâs picked up a newspaper.Â
UPDATE: Anna Wintour has responded with the following apology:Â âI apologize if my remark was offensive in any way. The migrant crisis is real, and I didnât intend to trivialize that issue.â
[ via The Telegraph ]