French Vogue sparks race row

A 'blacked up' Lara Stone has critics hot under the collar.

Carine Roitfeld has always known how to keep her publication in the limelight, but the October edition of French Vogue is hitting the headlines for all the wrong reasons as it faces down accusations of racism.

The debate centres on a shoot by Steven Klein, which features Dutch supermodel Lara Stone caked in brown make-up. While there is no overt explanation as to why she has been 'blacked up', the accompanying feature describes Stone as "a real woman in body and in character for whom the pleasure - like the sense - of metamorphosis is not the least of qualities".

The shoot has various factions up in arms. French anti-racism group SOS Racisme has decried it as "tactless", while US website Jezebel condemned it for being "culturally insensitive".

"What Klein and Roitfeld should know is that painting white people black for the entertainment of other white people is offensive in ways that stand entirely apart from cultural context," Jezebel wrote.

Referring to the recent furore surrounding an act that blacked up to take part in an Australian TV talent show, it added, "France and Australia may not have the United States' particular history of minstrel shows but something about the act of portraying a white woman as black ought to sound an alarm, somewhere."

French Vogue, meanwhile, is standing its ground. According to the Daily Mail, a spokesperson said that it was "unaware it had caused offence" and declined to make any further comment.

Picture: Lara Stone with Carine Roitfeld at the 90 Years of Vogue Covers party during Paris Fashion Week.

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