Tom Ford | 'Jeune Fille Innocente' | Vogue Paris December 2010
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Tom Ford’s December 2010 Vogue Paris guest editorship has created more than a few waves, with a series of provocative statements about fashion and global culture. Ford probably confirmed to French readers that Americans just have no taste.
The rumours are flying that Bernard Arnault was so disgusted by the ‘Jeune Fille Innocente’ editorial above, that he threatened to pull an entire month of advertising for Vogue Paris. Was Carine Roitfeld actually fired over this issue? We doubt it. Read onCarine Roitfeld | Whispering ‘Insiders’ Fuel Rumour Mill | NSFW
Of all the Vogue Paris December 2010 Tom Ford editorials, ‘Jeune Fille Innocente’ could be the most offensive to the French, and I can understand why.
France isn’t known for dressing its children in rouge lipstick, before sending them off for a bikini wax. Unlike America, which considers women over the hill at 30, France celebrates older woman and the totality of a woman’s life cycle.
These images are an absolute reflection of youth culture in America. Tom Ford is a visionary and never one to ignore an opportunity for provocation. Is he false? I think not.
Nor do I believe that his transgression is the equivalent of Richard Prince’s infamous ‘Spiritual America’.
It is fair to ask if the editorial ‘Jeune Fille Innocente’ is an accurate statement about French kid culture or global kid culture, versus America’s kid culture. Because my specialty is grown women, I can’t speak to whether girls dress up like this in Argentina or Hong Kong. Anne
