Malala Yousafzai's British Vogue Interview Causes Hateful Controversy in Pakistan

Malala Yousafzai has created a storm in Pakistan with her recent British Vogue cover story and interview. As much as Malala — like Obama and Oprah, she is known by her first name — is beloved by western liberals for her true grit spirit, the founding of her foundation dedicated to educating girls worldwide, and her sensitivity generally to embracing progressive issues like climate change and suffering in Syria and Pakistan.

The vast majority of people in Pakistan shed no tears and felt no horror when a Taliban insurgent shot Malala in the face and part of her brain, after boarding a school bus looking for the 15-year-old in 2012. Already — and with her parents’ permission — she was blogging about girls issues for the BBC.

The back lash against Malala’s British Vogue interview was severe, when Malala said: “I still don’t understand why people have to get married.”

"If you want to have a person in your life, why do you have to sign marriage papers, why can't it just be a partnership?" she queries to the world towards the end of her interview.

Pakistan has a lot in common with Trump supporters these days. In the same way that significant numbers of Trump supporters do not believe the Biden won the presidential election, Pakistanis are horrified that Malala is a stooge for the global liberal elite and has brought great dishonor to her home country.

The Washington Post details the outrage sparked in Pakistan over the British Vogue interview. Reality is that the divorce rate is rising in Pakistan, along with women’s bargaining power. Both the nation and large numbers of Pakistani men are not amused.

The TED Talk above is from 2020 one, post Malala’s graduation from Oxford. I’m surprised that British Vogue has no follow up piece on all the controversy around Malala’s interview. You can read it here.

“I Know the Power A Young Girl Carries In Her Heart”: The Extraordinary Life of Malala”

World Oceans Day: We Cannot Meet Sustainable Development Goals with a Sick Ocean

World Oceans Day: We Cannot Meet Sustainable Development Goals with a Sick Ocean

Jute Rugs and Biophilic Design: Why Natural Fibers May Create Brain Bliss

Jute Rugs and Biophilic Design: Why Natural Fibers May Create Brain Bliss

6 Reasons Why Interior Designers Vouch For Jute Rugs | AOC Agrees

Almost every interior decorator is raving about jute rugs, and there must be a reason behind it. It’s as if something ancestral — almost primal — happens when we talk on jute rugs, and especially in bare feet.

Working on a recent AOC post Raffia: AOC Launches Earth-Friendly Fibers Sustainable Inquiry in Fashion and Design, we came across the same concept twice in a couple hours: “biophilic design”. Fast Company summed up the concept this way:

Biophilic design dates back to the early 1980s, when the biologist Edward O. Wilson outlined his philosophy of biophilia, hypothesizing that humans have an innate, biological affinity for the natural world. Biophilic design takes this idea one step further: Because humans today spend 90% of our time indoors, according to the 2001 National Human Activity Pattern Survey, it’s necessary to bring the outdoors in and create indoor environments that reference nature in both obvious and subtle ways.

As a reminder, modern humans may be awash in a sea of plastic, but 99% of human life has been lived in concert with nature. Biophilic design assumes that core aspects of nature have contributed to our health and wellbeing, and this connection can be scientifically measured.

Inaugural Poet Amanda Gorman Lensed Spectacularly by Annie Leibovitz for Vogue May

Inaugural Poet Amanda Gorman Lensed Spectacularly by Annie Leibovitz for Vogue May

America’s real-life young poet goddess Amanda Gorman covers the May 2021 issue of Vogue US. Gorman is photographed in spectacular images by one of America’s finest photographers Annie Leibovitz, with styling by Gabriella Karefa-Johnson.

We are grateful that Anna Wintour sought to elevate Amanda Gorman in a way that she did not elevate US Vice President Kamala Harris. Seeing these images brought copious tears to AOC eyes.

No tears were inspired by the Vogue US Kamala Harris images — which remain unposted on AOC. To say I was personally disturbed is an understatement — but I’ve never commented until now. Gorman would want us to fix the Kamala Harris omission, and we will.

Vogue might want to consider interviewing Harris on her first anniversary as vice president of America and put Annie Leibovitz behind the lens. It gives me the opportunity to create a collage of both women hanging over my sofa.

Gabriela Hearst Joins Stella McCartney At Front of Luxury's Sustainability Pack

Gabriela Hearst Joins Stella McCartney At Front of Luxury's Sustainability Pack AOC Sustainability

“In every piece, a sense of purpose,” noted designer Gabriela Hearst, in the introduction of her first 2021 Chloé collection for fall/winter 2021. There was no live invite for what would have been the hottest ticket at Paris Fashion Week.

Hearst, who put herself forward for the Chloé job by submitting a 92-page proposal outlining a purpose-driven vision for the house, represents a significant change in mood at Chloé, which has long been a breezy, carefree sort of brand.

In her many interviews upon her arrival at Chloe, Gabriela Hearst describes her own brand as Athena, while Chloe is Aphrodite. The designer shares this view and explains the essentials of this philosophy to Good Morning Vogue.

Bottom line, what Vogue calls hearst’s “earthy puritanism” is the primary point of view in both collections, and AOC begs to differ with the suggestion that Chloé is “girlie and kickie”.

With Stella McCartney also a longtime fixture on the Paris fashion week schedule, the new Chloé places Paris fashion week in a key position to join Stella in leading the industry at a time when values are surging in importance.

To be as blunt as possible, consider that a little friendly, womanly competition might inspire Dior’s Maria Grazia Chiuri to pull out all the stops at Dior on the eco-friendly front, making the three women the center of the sustainability fashion world and finally putting the message “the future is female” on the map.

DAME's 'Bleed Red. Think Green' Tampon String Showing Campaign Hits London Buses

Image via DAME

Britain’s DAME eco-friendly tampons have generated plenty of holiday spirit on London buses with the message ‘Bleed Red. Think Green.’ Perfect! There’s nothing better than a Dame who knows what she’s doing. Note that this DAME ships to the US and throughout Europe.

“Tampons and period products have been hidden in the shadows for too long,” DAME co-founder Celia Pool tells Dazed. “Still today, major brands boast on their boxes about silent wrappers. Why? There's no shame in rustling a tampon wrapper in the next door cubicle. Periods are not shameful.”

Image via DAME

Even though DAME has an excellent reputation in Britain with strong sustainability and product integrity credentials, launching the campaign was not easy. Veterinary nurse, law student and vegan beauty blogger Demi Colleen photographed herself standing in her underwear with a visible tampon string hanging down. Scandalous!

“We faced many roadblocks,” explains co-founder Alec Mills who says he was told that the ad was too ‘racy’ and would encounter problems broadcasting it on breakfast shows. “Many iterations of our advert got rejected. This clearly demonstrates the vast cultural chasm between what is happening with women’s bodies and how they are portrayed in reality.”

“This tampon string on the side of the bus is momentous, in that it hasn't happened before, but it's also utterly boring and normal. No one bats an eyelid when they see a tissue on the side of the bus, and it should be the same for a tampon string,” says Pool. “If every parent and carer were this cool about periods, period shame would be eradicated in one generation.”

DAME in the News

Award-Winning Brand DAME Is Changing The Face Of The Femcare Industry - One Tampon At A Time Forbes

The Founders of Dame on How They’ve Shaken Up the Feminine Care Industry Pop Sugar UK

Elizabeth Cabral: SustainChain UN Assembly Fashion Sustainability Dialogues Sept 16-18

Elizabeth Cabral: SustainChain UN Assembly Fashion Sustainability Dialogues Sept 16-18 AOC Sustainability

Joan Smalls by Zoey Grossman for Victoria's Secret Bombshell Passion Fragrance

Joan Smalls by Zoey Grossman for Victoria's Secret Bombshell Passion Fragrance AOC Body

Top model and racial justice activist Joan Smalls returns to the Victoria’s Secret spotlight, lensed by Zoey Grosssman in this Victoria’s Secret’s Bombshell Passion campaign. AOC shares the luscious images of key ingredients creating the Bombshell Passion fragrance, including notes of queen peony, Sparkling cassis and fuchsia rose. Read more Bombshell Passion news at Victoria’s Secret.

Joan Smalls activist shared a new essay throughout the Conde Nast network, as part of Vogue’s Hope campaign. Read on at British Vogue: “Are You Ready To Be That Force For Change?” Joan Smalls On How Fashion Can Truly Become Diverse

A Racial Equity Tools Glossary for People Seeking Racial Justice

Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash.

Reading ‘How one woman pulled off the first consumer boycott — and helped inspire the British to abolish slavery’, on The Conversation, I became fixated on a comment that read:

thanks for the interesting article and for not using subjective racial terms. the story reads rationally and perfectly well without them, and avoids validating the mythology of race.

Thinking that I knew the meaning of his words, I Googled anyway and discovered this Racial Equity Tools Glossary. You can download a pdf version of this glossary from this link.

Words and phrases defined and discussed with the “context of racial equality” include: accountability, ally, anti-black, anti-racist, colonization, critical race theory, cultural misappropriation, cultural racism, decolonization, ethnicity, implicit bias, individual racism, institutional racism, internalized racism, intersectionality, microaggression, racial justice, racial reconciliation, racist, restorative justice.

Victoria's Secret Body Collection 2020 Takes Flight With Expanding VS Army of New Beauty

Victoria's Secret Body Collection 2020 Takes Flight With Expanding VS Army of New Beauty

The new campaign for Victoria’s Secret Body Collection — the very guts of the VS brand — is out, and we celebrate the return of “not too old under new VS ownership”, VS original Helena Christensen. Helena appears in several shots and is also the photographer of the campaign. Nice move!

Something akin to Balmain Army may be in the making, based on other new VS imagery. The concept is much more inclusive vs Angels, which is NOT inclusive and never was. Angels was a creation of the male minds suddenly running all of Victoria’s Secret — and yours truly was vehemently against it.

Helena joins Barbara Palvin, Candice Huffine, Daniela Pestova, Jasmine Tookes, Joan Smalls, Lais Ribeiro, Romee Strijd, Solange Van Doorn and Valentina Sampaio.

Gisele Bundchen Shares News of 'Kiss the Ground' Documentary in Marie Claire April 2020

Gisele Bundchen Shares News of 'Kiss the Ground' Documentary in Marie Claire April 2020

Gisele Bundchen covers the April 2020 issue of Marie Claire US, styled by J. Errico in Celine, Chloe, Dior, Dolce & Gabbana, Fendi, Gabriela Hearst and more. Nino Muñoz captures Gisele in grounded images that anchor the message of her new documentary ‘Kiss the Ground’.

The interview is very comprehensive but the only new info is the new film. Otherwise, Sally Holmes’ questions are very repetitive — but excellent if you don’t know about Gisele’s background, family and strong ties to the environment. Also, Gisele is celebrating her 40th birthday. and also celebrating her 11th anniversary as a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) this year

Beyoncé by Close Friend Melina Matsoukas in ELLE US January 2020 'Ask Me Anything'

Beyonce by Melina Matsoukas in ELLE US January 2020 ‘Ask Me Anything’

American music video, film, commercial and television director Melina Matsoukas, two-time Grammy Award winner and four-time MTV Video Music Awards winner for her "We Found Love" and "Formation" music videos, shoots her close friend Beyoncé in ELLE Magazine’s January 2020 cover story and interview ‘For Beyoncé, Creativity Is the Ultimate Power’.

Karen Langley styles the superstar in a mix heavy on selects from her IVY Park line. In a candid ‘Ask Me Anything’ narrative, Beyoncé responds to fan queries via email, Facebook and Instagram.

Taylor Swift Launches British Vogue 's 2020s Decade in Archive Chanel

Superstar Taylor Swift welcomes a new decade, wearing archive Chanel tweed for the January 2020 cover of British Vogue, lensed by Craig McDean. The jacket from Chanel’s Métiers d’art Paris-New York 2005/2006 collection expresses a keen desire from editor-in-chief Edward Enninful put sustainability front and center in fashion dialogue. Simply stated, we cannot add another decade of limitless, shop-until-you-drop consumption on Mother Earth’s wounded self.

Taylor Swift is fresh off winning six awards at last Sunday’s AMAs, bringing her total to 29. Swift won both artist of the year and artist of the decade.

“Buying better and buying less is what I believe in: investing in clothes that will last a lifetime, pieces that can be passed down from generation to generation. Fashion shouldn’t feel disposable: the best clothes can be worn time and time again and have the quality of both design and craftsmanship to ensure their staying power – that’s how I’ve always dressed, it’s just that, because I only wear black, you can never tell. In that spirit, it was important to me to choose a classic item for Taylor, one that is everlasting – and that’s why I used a Chanel jacket from the Métiers d’art 2005/2006 collection. It’s the ultimate sign of luxury, it has never gone out of fashion, and it never will.”

Taylor Swift is fresh off winning six awards at last Sunday’s AMAs, bringing her total to 29. Swift won both artist of the year and artist of the decade.

In her British Vogue interview, Taylor joins musical theater kindpin Andrew Lloyd Weber, to discuss their collaboration on the movie adaptation of ‘Cats’ Webber’s 1981 extravaganza that set records in London’s West End and also on Broadway, running for a combined shy of 40 years. The duo has created a new song ‘Beautiful Ghosts’, with lyrics written by Taylor the afternoon she first heard Webber’s “hauntingly beautiful melody”.

Returning to fashion and Swift’s Craig McDean photo shoot ‘Waste Not’, contributing fashion director Kate Phelan pairs vintage pieces dating back 35 years with looks from the autumn/winter 2019 and Resort 2020 collections and specially commissioned garments crafted from deadstock (merchandise never sold to or worn by consumers) . Katharine Hamnett’s much-publicised “Pershing” T-shirt is styled alongside inspiring pieces from Amsterdam-based designer Duran Lantink, who upcycles items from resale sites into new exquisite garments. “We are looking at the longevity of what designers make and sell,” Phelan explains of her process. “They don’t have to start from scratch every time they make a collection. I still have clothes from years ago that I mix in with more recent looks – an old Chanel jacket that can stand the test of time, say. Things you never get bored of.”