The Upcoming
  • Culture
    • Art
    • Cinema
      • Movie reviews
      • Film festivals
    • Food & Drinks
      • News & Features
      • Restaurant & bar reviews
      • Interviews & Recipes
    • Literature
    • Music
      • Live music
    • Theatre
    • Shows & On demand
  • Fashion & Lifestyle
    • Accessories
    • Beauty
    • News & Features
    • Shopping & Trends
    • Tips & How-tos
    • Fashion weeks
  • What’s On
    • Art exhibitions
    • Theatre shows
  • Tickets
  • Join us
    • Editorial unit
    • Our writers
    • Join the team
    • Join the mailing list
    • Support us
    • Contact us
  • Interviews
  • Competitions
  • Special events
    • Film festivals
      • Berlin
      • Tribeca
      • Sundance London
      • Cannes
      • Locarno
      • Venice
      • London
      • Toronto
    • Fashion weeks
      • London Fashion Week
      • New York Fashion Week
      • Milan Fashion Week
      • Paris Fashion Week
      • Haute Couture
      • London Fashion Week Men’s
  • Facebook

  • Twitter

  • Instagram

  • YouTube

  • RSS

Archive

Some of fashion’s most controversial moments

Some of fashion’s most controversial moments
29 September 2013
Michelle McGill
Avatar
Michelle McGill
29 September 2013

Let’s be honest, we all love a bit of controversy.  Russell Brand, love him or hate him, never fails to deliver an impressive, controversial headline moment! At the recent GQ awards he took to the stage to disparage the award he had been presented, and then went on to taunt the event’s sponsor Hugo Boss: “If any of you know a little bit about history and fashion, you’ll know Hugo Boss made the uniforms for the Nazis,” the roguish comedian quipped before goose-stepping off the stage. This wasn’t Russell’s first-ever controversial moment and we hope it won’t be his last.

CONTROV 6The fashion industry in particular seems to generate a fascinating array of controversies. Let’s take a look at some of these scandalous incidents.

CONTRO 3First up is Vogue. The magazine has caused quite a stir over the years, but when the January 2011 French edition of Vogue hit the shelves, a worldwide outrage was unleashed. The issue featured a photo-spread with ten-year-old model Thylene Lena-Rose Blondeau striking provocative poses. The child was dressed in women’s clothing, high heels and adorned in expensive jewellery. Along with her heavily made-up face, the images were branded as “wrong” and “over-sexualised”. Vogue defended the images stating they were just portraying young girls’ fantasies of dressing like their mothers. Really?

CONTROVERSIAL 1Who could forget Mike Jefferies, CEO of Abercrombie and Fitch’s foolish statement from 2006 being revealed earlier this year. Jefferies was noted saying: “Candidly, we go after the cool kids. We go after the attractive all-American kid with a great attitude and a lot of friends. A lot of people don’t belong, and they can’t belong. Are we exclusionary? Absolutely.”  The remark, along with A&F’s refusal to offer larger sizes, induced incredible backlash. It may work as a very good marketing tactic to cater for an exclusive sector, but it certainly wasn’t clever to announce it with pride, was it Mike?

CONTROV 5Who knew Harvey Nichols had such a good sense of humour? Well clearly not its target audience as they were “disgusted” by HN’s sale campaign, which depicted a woman who wet her pants from sheer excitement. The slogan which read: “Try to contain your excitement” was definitely ballsy, brash, and eye-catching − albeit a controversial campaign. Still, we are sure the shocking campaign left some people wetting themselves.

CONTROV 2Next up is Urban Outfitters. The brand, which isn’t one to shy away from controversy, has been forced to pull an abundance of clothing from their line as they were deemed offensive. T-shirts stamped with slogans such as Eat Less, I Drink You’re Cute, Everybody loves a Jewish Girl (this one emblazoned with dollar signs and shopping bags), and Kiss me, I’m Drunk or Irish or Whatever stirred up a lot of anger.

These are just some of the fashion moments that have caused a great deal of controversy. But we are sure there are many more to come…watch this space.

Michelle McGill

Related Items

More in Archive

Achieve timeless elegance this S/S 2014 with S.I.L.K.

Ellie Owen
Read More

Bespoke jewellery by Charlotte Tamar

Niten Thakor
Read More

Enjoy designer luxury with Alexis Smith Lingerie’s A/W 2013 collection

Ellie Owen
Read More

Embrace vibrancy and colour with PPQ this winter

Ellie Owen
Read More

Kenzo Metallics adds the sparkle to you Christmas wardrobe

Niten Thakor
Read More

A Christmas alternative: Cranberry and Orange Jeweled Nut Bake

Bethany Stone
Read More

An Austique shopping guide: your one-stop shop for last minute gifts

Christianna Pugliese
Read More

A comforting twist to designer heels

Michelle McGill
Read More

Iain Duncan Smith condemned for refusing to meet with Trussell Trust

Abbie Cavendish
Read More
Scroll for more
Tap
  • Popular

  • Latest

  • TOP PICKS

  • You Me at Six – Suckapunch
    ★★★★★
    Album review
  • Outside the Wire
    ★★★★★
    Cinema
  • The Queen’s Gambit: A chess story that’s not about the moves but the motives
    ★★★★★
    Cinema
  • An interview with Ifrah Ismael: Tales from the Front Line and other stories
    Theatre
  • Sleaford Mods – Spare Ribs
    ★★★★★
    Album review
  • Female filmmakers lead nominees for the London Critics’ Circle Film Awards
    Cinema
  • Persian Lessons: Exclusive new clip
    Cinema
  • Jeremiah Fraites: Piano Piano
    ★★★★★
    Album review
  • Quo Vadis, Aida?
    ★★★★★
    Cinema
  • Lonely the Brave – The Hope List
    ★★★★★
    Album review
  • WandaVision: Marvel’s charming sitcom proves an astounding success
    ★★★★★
    Cinema
  • The Queen’s Gambit: A chess story that’s not about the moves but the motives
    ★★★★★
    Cinema
  • Undercover at Morpheus Show Online
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • Ten short literary collections to get you back into reading
    Literature
  • Mayor
    ★★★★★
    Cinema
The Upcoming
Pages
  • Contact us
  • Join mailing list
  • Join us
  • Our London food map
  • Our writers
  • Support us
  • What, when, why

Copyright © 2011-2020 FL Media

Charnos’ curvy hosiery: XeLence
M.I.A confirms Versace collaboration