Courtesy of Ganni.
At Copenhagen Fashion Week, all eyes were on Ganni last weekend, but not because of the clothes. The runway looks were overshadowed by what was in the background: photos of poor brown girls — predominantly of South Asian heritage — projected against a parade of mostly white models in the name of “sustainability”. I didn’t just roll my eyes. I am bored and tired of the overplayed and uncreative exoticising of poor brown faces for the sake of luxury brand aesthetics.
Blue school uniforms, women working in green fields, indigenous beading and colours that conjure ideas of heritage and home for me were employed to cynical effect, a way to enhance and dramatise the fashion show as the words “Life On Earth” flashed on screen. (White) photojournalist Ami Vitale’s photography was another jab at othering women who will neither see this show — let alone wear these clothes — nor will they benefit from Ganni’s white saviour campaign aimed at sustainability in the industry.
When I asked South Asian athleisure blogger and creative Anaa Saber — who brought Ganni’s tone-deaf attempt at inclusivity to attention on Instagram — what she thought, she aptly noted: “These women were painted in the same broad brushstroke of ‘nature’ and ‘diversity’ as pictures of rhinos and pandas.” The immediate media reaction was also disappointingly ignorant as Saber points out: “Even in all of the post-event coverage of the show, such as on Vogue or Hypebae, little to no attention was paid to these stories. In fact, these publications used vocabulary that evokes images of nature and wildlife, rather than treating the humans in these pictures as equals who have agency”.
Initially, Ganni tried to excuse their colonialist vision as “bettering” those in poorer climates by claiming that the show represents “the global girl” and the “connectivity” we have as humans. However, Saber disagrees. “They purposely tried to contrast the pictures with the models. The creative director’s own words said, ‘I love the contrast of Ami’s images with our designs — it’s super interesting to have her perspective and bring together the nature photography and fashion world’.”
Saber wasn’t the only person feeling uncomfortable about the Ganni show. With diversity at the forefront of everyone’s minds — especially for white fashion brands that haven’t previously been as inclusive as they could have been — many influencers who happen to be women of colour and from a South Asian background also took a seat at the fashion show only to ask what is this? Was Ganni aware that these women in the photographs were not actually miles away but connected to those attending their show? Not only was the concept of the show othering South Asian women and girls, and their livelihoods but it was greenwashing their actions as Ganni itself is currently not exactly a sustainable fashion brand.
Ganni has responded to the controversy by stating, “though well-intentioned, we now understand the sensitivities we’ve broached by showing our collection within the context of these images … We will learn from this mistake and we promise to turn your invaluable insight into action so that we can do better in the future”, but frankly, that doesn’t sound good enough. Why has Ganni not taken down the voyeuristic photos across their social media? Why didn’t they hire a South Asian woman to take these photographs in the first place and why not have South Asian models wear their designs, if it’s about connectivity instead of old fashioned elitism?
After calling Ganni out, the brand messaged Saber only to fail to schedule a call with her and respond to her criticisms. Ganni cannot say that they are willing to learn if they cannot listen in the first place as “simply brushing criticism under the rug and resuming posting on Instagram with business, as usual, is not the right strategy”, confirms Saber.
Yet, Ganni was not the only brand to use brown faces as marketing props recently. Artist and designer Babbu The Painter has also been called out for her latest editorial in India where she poses in front of dark skinned Indian men and women in traditional garments for no purpose other than for it to look “cool”. When the images went viral, Babbu advised those who don’t get it and don’t know that “I’m all about my pplz” to “hit that blue button” and unfollow her as she also made a point to say “I’m not explaining myself”.
What’s imperative is that we ask what fashion brands like Ganni ,or creatives such as Babbu The Painter, are doing for those who are in the photographs? Are we empowering those who are already in power and curbing our feminism so it reach those beyond the narrow perimeters of the already privileged? Are we elevating their living conditions like British Bangladeshi debut designer Rahemur Rahman has recently been praised for? Or is it all just for Instagram? To Ganni, Babbu and anyone else who is about to other and make a certain type of beauty “exotic” — you can’t take our rhythm but ignore our blues.