Negative Body Image and Weight: Anna Wintour Interview on 60 Minutes

Posted on | May 20, 2009

Negative comments on body image and weight from Anna Wintour’s interview on 60 Minutes have been making the rounds, showing that the fashion industry norm of equating beauty with being thin or skinny is still cemented in peoples’ minds. Given Wintour’s high-ranking position in the fashion world as the editor-in-chief of Vogue magazine, we can’t help but be disappointed — disgusted even — that she continues to perpetuate our culture’s obsession with weight and the negative body image that it fosters.

The Vogue editrix admits to having asked Oprah Winfrey to shed 20 pounds in order to be featured on the magazine’s cover in one of its 1998 issues, though this part of her interview was not aired. Anna Wintour is quoted saying that “it was a very gentle suggestion [...] I went to Chicago to visit Oprah, and I suggested that it might be an idea that she lose a little bit of weight [...] I said simply that you might feel more comfortable. She was a trooper!”

We highly doubt that it was as gentle a suggestion as Wintour claims. And the fact that she said Winfrey might be more comfortable if she slimmed down? It’s just another way of saying that she might not feel as bad about herself if she were thinner. Again, intimating that the more a person weighs the less they are able to accept and respect themselves, to feel comfortable in their own bodies.

As it turns out, Oprah complied with the request and lost weight. “[Oprah] totally welcomed the idea, and she went on a very stringent diet,” according to Wintour. “And it was one of our most successful covers ever.”

The tagline from Oprah Winfrey’s cover was about her “amazing makeover” — i.e., how losing weight and being skinnier made her more beautiful; how she improved by shedding the pounds. The whole reason for putting Winfrey on the cover was to point out her weight loss, to feature her as a person who was winning their struggle with their weight.

The Vogue issue in question is from over 10 years ago and clearly Anna Wintour’s position and views on weight and body image have not changed since then.

She further states in the 60 Minutes interview that she approves of and defends the use of Photoshop to alter images of people, thereby making them more “beautiful” than they are in real life. “That’s one of the things that makes me rather angry, that I don’t understand [...] That if you look wonderful, does that make you less important? Less powerful? Less serious?” She fails to grasp that it’s not a question of looking wonderful; the issue at hand is that photoshopping images presents artificial perceptions of and unattainable standards for beauty.

The cherry on the cake came in the form of Wintour’s comments on obesity: “I’d just been on a trip to Minnesota, where I can only kindly describe most of the people I saw as little houses [...] There’s such an epidemic of obesity in the United States, and for some reason, everybody focuses on anorexia.” Little houses? How deftly she turns the negative focus away from the obsession with weight loss by trying to spin the issue to look like obesity is the only true weight problem — and that losing weight is its logical cure and thus should be viewed in a positive light as promoting good health.

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Anna Wintour Wears Sunglasses for Protection

Posted on | May 14, 2009

Vogue Editor-in-Chief Anna Wintour admits she wears sunglasses indoors as protection. “They are seriously useful,” she tells Morley Safer — who shadowed her to Milan, Paris and the Costume Institute gala at the Met — on “60 Minutes” this Sunday. “I can sit in a show and if I am bored out of my mind, nobody will notice…. At this point, they have become, really, armor.”

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Anna Wintour’s Costume Institute Gala Tonight with Hosts Marc Jacobs, Kate Moss, and Justin Timberlake

Posted on | May 4, 2009

Anna Wintour’s annual Costume Institute Gala will be held tonight at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, with co-hosts Marc Jacobs, Kate Moss, and Justin Timberlake. This year’s gala theme is Model as Muse: Embodying Fashion. Supermodel Moss will be wearing a Marc Jacobs design.

As for other models expected in attendance at the model-themed Gala: it is reported that Heidi Klum will walk the stairs of the Met with fashion designer Gilles Mendel; the lovely Coco Rocha will be dressed by and attending with Isaac Mizrahi; recently married supermodel Gisele Bundchen will be John Galliano’s date to the event.

It has long been that Wintour’s Costume Institute Gala is seen as a rival to Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter’s annual Oscar party in Hollywood, both in terms of fashion and style, and also celebrity presence. Some even chastise Wintour, viewing that she purposefully ups the celebrity and social status quotient of the Gala so as to compete with Carter’s February Oscar party, to the detriment of the prestige and class of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and its reputation.

“The museum has struck a Faustian bargain with Vogue that diminishes the museum [...] The tail is wagging the dog,” Michael Gross said, author of the new unauthorized history of the Met to hit stores on May 5, 2009.

Missing out on tonight’s festivities are some fashion industry standards. “Karl Lagerfeld, a longtime friend of Anna Wintour who dines with her regularly at l’Espadon in Paris, will not share a meal with Wintour on Monday. His busy travel schedule, including upcoming stops in Venice, Moscow and London, doesn’t accommodate a transatlantic voyage for this gala, but Chanel will dress Diane Kruger and Kirsten Dunst,” according to Fashion Week Daily.

UPDATE: Supermodels Naomi Campbell, Christy Turlington, and Linda Evangelista will not be attending tonight’s Gala event. “There were two theories for their no-shows: They no longer like each other and don’t want to have to pose together for photos, or they’re upset they weren’t chosen to co-chair the event while younger Kate Moss (pictured, opposite page) was,” today’s PageSix reports.

However, concerns over waning attendance due to the economic crisis — with tables starting at $75,000 — is unwarranted; this year’s Costume Institute Gala is sold-out, with upward of 100 top models expected to participate this evening.

{ Filed Under Anna Wintour, Fashion News, Gisele Bundchen, Graydon Carter, Heidi Klum, John Galliano, Kate Moss, Marc Jacobs, Vanity Fair, Vogue | Leave a Comment }

Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Berlin Dates for Spring/Summer 2010 Collections

Posted on | April 26, 2009

Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Berlin and PREMIUM announce their July 2009 dates for Spring/Summer 2010 collections.

Joint dates for Berlin Fashion Week and PREMIUM trade shows will strengthen Berlin, Germany as a Fashion Capital.

Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Berlin and PREMIUM Exhibitions, with continued support by the Senate for Economics, Technology and Women’s Issues Berlin, are changing their previously announced dates as follows:

Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Berlin Spring/Summer 2010: July 1, 2009 – July 4, 2009
PREMIUM Tradeshow: July 1, 2009 – July 3, 2009
 

“In the interest of what is best for Berlin we have decided to change the dates of this season’s Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Berlin,” said Maia Guarnaccia, Vice President IMG Fashion Europe. While the new dates present certain challenges to many of the German and Berlin based designers that show with us, we have, in consultation with our partners and designers, agreed to move our dates so that Berlin may present a unified fashion platform to the international fashion industry in
July 2009.”

“It is important as Berlin grows as an international fashion capital, that it not lose site of the very exciting designers and brands that call the city and country home,” Mr. Guarnaccia continued. “Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Berlin is the internationally recognized platform for these businesses and it is our sincere hope that future dates for the events in Berlin can be adjusted so as to better suit their needs.”

Many designers are already showing interest in doing a runway show within the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Berlin Spring/Summer 2010. Along with the tradeshows new visitor records are being expected in the German capital and the media attention has already grown tremendously from season to season since Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Berlin premiered in July 2007.

“For us, it was very important right from the start to find a common date with all protagonists of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Berlin – everything else does not make sense. Especially in times of recession all event organizers should coordinate themselves in favour of the industry – exhibitors and buyers – and present a strong week. The entire discussion shows that Berlin is a strong internationally relevant fashion city,” said Anita Tillmann and Norbert Tillmann, PREMIUM Exhibitions GmbH.

The fifth edition of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Berlin will again take place at Bebelplatz in the historic centre of Berlin. Next to catwalk shows there will be a large number of other fashion events, such as the Showroom-Mile of the Berlin Senate, which is also open to the public. “By having a unified calendar of trade shows and Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Berlin the city will set the schedule of events for the industry. With all of the events together we are underlining the significance of Berlin both domestically and internationally. For Berlin, it is important to support dates that work for the entire industry and my office will lead the discussion on a common schedule for future seasons”, says Senator Harald Wolf.

The Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Berlin Spring/Summer 2009 is made possible by the following sponsors: Mercedes-Benz, DHL, Maybelline Jade, Peek & Cloppenburg KG Düsseldorf and Veltins and will again be endorsed by the Senate for Economics, Technology and Women’s Issues, Berlin.

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Project Runway 6th Season on Lifetime starting August 20, 2009

Posted on | April 23, 2009

The battle over Project Runway has finally been resolved, with the popular reality show hosted by supermodel Heidi Klum moving to the Lifetime network. After months of being in limbo, the 6th season of the popular fashion designer competition show will air starting August 20, 2009. It was recently announced that NBC Universal (Bravo’s parent company) and the Weinstein Co. had agreed to a settlement, allowing Harvey Weinstein to move the highly-watched and successful reality show.

The change of networks from Bravo to Lifetime isn’t the only one: the sixth season of Project Runway is the first to be filmed at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in Los Angeles, California, instead of at Parsons the New School for Design in New York City.

NY Daily News quotes Project Runway’s Tim Gunn as saying, “I just want to express my huge relief that ‘Project Runway’ has come out of the ether and landed at Lifetime. It’s thrilling for all of us associated with the show. [...] I’ve never worked with such extraordinary, thoughtful, compassionate and just plain smart people ever.”

Lindsay Lohan is slated to be one of the guest celebrity judges this season, with past celebrity runway judges including Sarah Jessica Parker, Today show host and former New York Giants player Tiki Barber, Jennifer Lopez, and Victoria Beckham.

Also returning to Project Runway for its sixth season are recurring judges Nina Garcia, fashion editor at Marie Claire (and formerly at Elle Magazine), and famous American fashion designer Michael Kors.

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