I found myself clueless reading comments about Sylvie Malfray’s fabulous editorial of Anais Pouliot for All Magazine’s spring issue.  My own interpretation of the visuals was so totally opposed to these comments, that I sought help on Sylvie Malfray’s website, where she was astute enough to post her own thoughts on ‘Rebirth As Seen By … ‘

All I can say is incroyable! Sorry to sound like the school marm, but when an editorial has the word ‘rebirth’ in the title, it’s probably trying to convey meaning of some kind and not merely style fodder for fashionistas. When the model is wearing braids — and definitely in the b&w image below— there’s a good chance that the editorial has something to do with Africa or the Caribbean — places where people of color live, even though the model is white.

When the model’s clothes are practically rags; when her ankles are bound; when she is ripping said ‘bandaged looks styled by Ornelia Jong’ from her body, Anais Pouliot is probably not promoting Azzedine Alaia’s Fall 2011 collection.

As a woman with the weight of the French Foreign Legion or Rome nipping at her heels — as signified by epaulets and extravagant helmuts with red fathers, she could be a woman in peril. It’s a more likely reality than her being the white wife of the colonial general, a fair damsel suffering from too much tropical heat, while fanning herself on the veranda. 

In fact, Anais Pouliot stars in a culture clash — the reality that in the 21st century few of us are pure, even though the nationalists would have it be declared the new truth. As Malfray writes, we are ‘a mixture of cultures’ and this can be a good thing.

As humans, we are the intersections of historical clashes, war, slavery, blood, the intoxication of the East, Egyptian bandages and gladiator shoes.

Our souls are no longer pure identities but composities of multiple cultures. When Gwyneth Paltrow posed with the Alicia Keys AIDS philanthropy tagline ‘We Are All African’, she took a lot of heat from blacks. Except that it is true. 

Just today the NYTimes announced that an ancient paint workshop 100,000 years old was found 200 miles from Cape Town, knocking out the European cave paintings presently believed to signal the beginning of human ‘civilization’ by 50,000 years.

Many of us cheered, because we believe that human civilization emanated from Africa in a more advanced form than our post-colonial world believes.  All of these complex issues drive the essence of Sylvie Malfray’s editorial ‘Rebirth as seen by … ‘  And I must emphasize the obvious … the womanly, Phoenix Rising aspect of this editorial.

This cultural rebirth is one of female principles, which are shared by women and men. These principles challenge us to see the destructive nature of war, conquest, and religious/cultural retribution with unbridled eyes. We are left now with our historical legacies. And yet we can look forward … we must look forward for our young people.

As a woman, Anais Pouliet is demanding to be heard in these images. And yes, she is wearing the uniform as a sign of leadership, because Miss Muffet women will not save the world.

Donning the uniform of cultural power leadership doesn’t necessitate that women fully embrace historical masculine principles. With wisdom comes an admission of past mistakes, without denying the context of historical realities.

‘Rebirth as seen by’ is a profound intellectual, style statement. I’m astonished that these images didn’t prompt people to did deeper into their meaning — prompted by the hunch that a quick Google of Sylvie Malfray was worth 60 seconds of their precious time.

This is the essence of learning, for heavens sake, the glory of the Internet. To see Malfray’s editorial wasted all through cyberspace is cause for chagrin. Sorry, sorry, my colleagues, but this is a headshaker. As I said, call me clueless.  Anne