Edie Campbell Shoots Zara 'Keep It Uptown Campaign', While Accepting Fast Fashion Complicity

Edie Campbell Shoots Zara 'Keep It Uptown Campaign', While Accepting Fast Fashion Complicity

Manly or not? Top model Edie Campbell suits up in Zara’s latest fall 2019 trend campaign, heading to Manhattan’s Upper East Side in faux fur jackets, bourgeois plaid skirts, printed dresses and pussy-cat bow blouses — with lace collars, no less. Miss Manners is on the move.

AOC has spent time recently reflecting on the hypocrisy of writing about the critical need for sustainability in fashion — while simultaneously promoting it through blog posts. I’ve concluded that silence — or stopping the posting of fast fashion — it not the answer. But we will use each fast fashion post to search for and report on any sustainability-related updates by the brand — in this case Zara.

We will also use the same post to share any new industry info or essays around fast fashion. This compromise allows us to give readers what they see in terms of fashion trends and photography, while using the post to remind us that all of us fashionistas, and the insatiable lust for something new — are part of a very serious problem for our planet. Together, we must also be part of the solution.

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Edie concludes her essay — after citing glimmers of hope around sustainability in the fashion industry — with choice words, and not ones that will always get her more work.

“I would be proud to work with brands that shoot on a Norfolk beach, rather than flying a European crew to Mexico. I would love there to be more transparency on clothing labels. I would love the fashion industry to produce less and invest in more sustainable manufacturing methods and materials. Mostly, I would love people to buy less. Even if that would put me out of a job.”

Eye | Edie Campbell Joins Tim Blanks, Talks 'Creative Genius' Sex Demands and New Age For Female Photographers

Edie Campbell Joins Tim Banks, Talks 'Creative Genius' Sex Demands and New Age For Female Photographers

Edie Campbell sits down with Tim Blanks at London's Dover Street Market, for a frank conversation on enabling behavior in the fashion industry. The convo is a follow-up to her open letter published on WWD in November 2017. 

First and foremost, Edie challenges the entire industry -- agents, publishers, designers -- about their protection of the 'creative geniuses' at the expense of young models. Campbell is so articulate in her observations and critical thinking that this interview is well worth the listen. 

In a closing statement that is music to my ears, Edie Campbell is asked by Tim Blanks if we are entering a golden age for female photographers in the fashion industry. Edie is very comfortable agreeing that this is a likely possibility and a clear way of ending the abuse, especially with so many talented women available without the sexual expectations and demands of male photographers. 

Eye: Edie Campbell Is Fashion Industry Oracle, Joining Cameron Russell In Fight Against Model Exploitation

Eye: Edie Campbell Is Fashion Industry Oracle, Joining Cameron Russell In Fight Against Model Exploitation

Top model Edie Campbell graces the December 2017 issue of Vogue China, lensed by Patrick Demarchelier with styling by Daniela Paudice./ Makeup by Romy Soleimani; hair by Ward

Ironically, Campbell is styled as a possible muse from an ancient Greek temple like the famous one at Delphi. Occupation of the site at Delphi can be traced to the Neolithic period with extensive use beginning in the Mycenaean period (1600-1100 BC), a time we associate with the fall of the goddesses in cultural worship and the rise of patriarchy, which established deep roots in ancient Greece. The name 'Delphoi' comes from the same root as δελφύς delphys, "womb" and may indicate archaic veneration of Gaia at the site, writes Wiki. An oracle was a priest or priestess -- originally we believe it was primarily women as priestesses -- acting as a medium through whom advice or prophecy was sought from the gods in classical antiquity.

Enough with ancient history of the goddesses. Edie Campbell became a fashion industry muse and oracle this week, writing an open letter published by Women's Wear Daily, in which she highlights the abuse of all models, including men.  In a maverick twist, Campbell suggests that in the fashion industry, the abuse of male models is every bit as serious as among the women. 

“We have a problem: we operate within a culture that is too accepting of abuse, in all of its manifestations. This can be the ritual humiliation of models, belittling of assistants, power plays and screaming fits. We have come to see this as simply a part of the job.”

Campbell’s letter is in response to the Instagram campaign to raise awareness of sexual exploitation of models started in October by the US model Cameron Russell.

Here is Edie Campbell's letter in full: