Supermodel Karlie Kloss Apologises After Backlash From Vogue Geisha Shoot

 

US Vogue decided to make their current issue of the magazine ‘The Diversity Issue’, citing that they wanted to embrace women of all races, sizes, genders and sexualities. 

Unfortunately for them, they decided to make some pretty crucial errors: one of which being photoshopping Gigi Hadid‘s hand on the cover to make “plus-size” (but not really) model Ashley Graham look slimmer. 

Another massively crucial error was posting an editorial in which supermodel Karlie Kloss impersonated a geisha. UH HUH. IN THE DIVERSITY ISSUE.

She’s dressed in traditional hair and makeup. In one image, she stands in front of a traditional tea house wearing a kimono, and in another, is standing next to a sumo wrestler. 

You can see some of the images below, and the rest are still available to see on the blog ‘Angry Asian Man‘:

The backlash was swift:

SHE DID YELLOW FACE IN THE DIVERSITY ISSUE ?????? https://t.co/E5J1isp4GF

— Ainee Athar (@AineeWrites) February 14, 2017

This is why Vogue is cancelled. Their idea of “edgy” is hiring white people to imitate other races instead of just hiring diverse models. https://t.co/29lUkHfjLn

— The Glossier (@theglossier) February 14, 2017

Apparently nobody sent the “yellow face is in fact racism” memo to Vogue. https://t.co/mPK8mDoNYu

— Amelia Brahan (@frglmasculinity) February 14, 2017

Emma Stone, Scarlett Johansson, and Tilda Swinton turn to Karlie Kloss. “Your turn, girl.”

Karlie on phone: “Hello, Vogue? Make me Asian.” pic.twitter.com/zgUWIB022Q

— Ira Madison III (@ira) February 14, 2017

Vogue could haveTao Okamoto for their Japan spread. But no. The leggy blonde chick Karlie Kloss surely makes more sense. ???????? #yellowface pic.twitter.com/QnEmzXzsWd

— Trust No1 (@DieQualDerWahl) February 15, 2017

Overnight, it appears as thought Vogue has pulled the editorial from online editions and their website, and Karlie Kloss has issued a sincere apology:

pic.twitter.com/Xem3dkaDZZ

— Karlie Kloss (@karliekloss) February 15, 2017

Look, it’s a decent apology. No bollocks fauxpology rubbish like ‘oh, sorry if I offended anyone’; she owned up to what she did, acknowledged it was a mistake and why, and said her future shoots won’t be culturally appropriative.

So, while it’s entirely goddamn ridiculous that this kind of thing continues to happen (like, how has a magazine as big as Vogue not been educated on cultural appropriation in 2017? Honestly, it’s dumbfounding.) it does appear that Kloss has learned from the grievous error (we hope). 

There’s nothing of the same ilk promised from Vogue, but we’ll soon see. 

‘The Diversity Issue’, my butt.