FASHION Magazine

Dolce & Gabbana’s “The Great Show” was a mega-runway occasion slated to include 360+ looks and feature high profile models such as Lucky Blue Smith and Estelle Chen. But instead of creating good will with Chinese customers, the event was cancelled, and one of the brand’s founders was labeled a racist along the way. View […]

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Montreal designer Andy Nguyen’s Fall 2012 fashion show may have stood apart, but for all the wrong reasons. Shown last week in Ottawa as part of the local fashion week, the 22-year-old designer sent white models with painted blackface down the runway.

Originally intended to intensify the use of black light at the show, rather than make any racial or political statement, Nguyen tells the Ottawa Citizen: “it was nothing against any race. […] I’m sorry if it caused people to think that.”

With designers constantly pushing the boundaries of fashion, where should the line be drawn before art becomes offensive? Liberal party member Rachel Décoste seems to think Nguyen has stumbled across this boundary: “Would the swastika be less offensive because it was pink? These are symbols that represent oppression that people have suffered through for centuries,” she said. “There’s no way to turn them into a cutesy, artsy-fartsy fashion statement.”

Fashion week spokesperson Gabrielle Raina Plouffe says no complaints were made about the show, and given that the Ottawa audience gave Nguyen a standing ovation, perhaps not everyone thinks the painted faces were meant to be offensive.

Décoste is appalled that “Nobody said anything. And that disturbs me even more. […] It’s disappointing to see that this is still going on.”

Should artists have a greater responsibility to understand how the public interprets their work? We can’t help but wonder if he learned nothing from that scandalous “blackface” shoot featuring Lara Stone in French Vogue?