Carmen Kass Leads Her People in 'Madly Max' by Arthur Elgort for Vogue US 2000

The Vogue US September 2000 issue called this fashion story starring Carmen Kass ‘Madly Max’. Styled by Grace Coddington, the designer mix was called ‘barbarian chic’. Photographer legend Arthur Elgort [IG] captured the story, which was reissued digitally in Vogue during the COVID lockdown and then addressed again in 2024 in advance of the ‘Furiosa’ movie with Anya Taylor-Joy.

‘Scrappy’ Is a Perfect Descriptor

Much better than ‘barbarian chic’, in 2024 Vogue called the shoot “both fantastical and scrappy, the clothes a mix of torn and tattered pieces mashed up with sleek and refined ones”. Utilitarian runway looks from Ann Demeulemeester, Helmut Lang, and Martin Margiela perfectly set the 2000 mood.

In Vogue’s words: “The photographs are a little rough around the edges, balancing a darker, almost sinister vibe with an approachability and familial softness. It’s punk glamour in the middle of nowhere, in a world that no one has ever seen before.”

A Gender Reveal

AOC sees the fashion shoot in today’s eyes, remembering that this was a year before the 2001 New York City terrorist attack. That shattering event changed much more about the world and America as a nation, than we wish to examine. Anne was very much a part of the September 11 experience.

Gender relations are a huge issue in this 2000 photo shoot as the women and children appear as a nomadic, hunting and gathering society — save the big-tires vehicles and Carmen Kass in the crosshairs. With women and children everywhere, there’s a sinister feeling about the person in the vehicle.

Gender is an abstract concept in this fashion story. Because of the advancement of technology and the sharing of research and scientific information, we now know that it’s not the case that easily-identifiable men are absent from photos because they were off doing the hunting.

An Evolving Look at Early Human Gender Relations

Perhaps identifiable men were off hunting game, but we know now that women were successful hunters and butchers in prehistoric societies, doing as much as one-third of the hunting in pursuit of large mammals.

Every year now, there is greater evidence that labor and tasks were not assigned by gender but were shared among community members.

In pursuit of hunting big game, researchers now believe that women’s overall endurance, rather than strength, was a key factor in tracking prey over long distances. There is also no doubt that women also butchered the meat.

There is so much to be learned, especially now that in America, many leaders are trying to close the book on these new narratives around human history, denying they ever happened. ~ Anne