Miroslava’s (Very) Fast Fall from Fashion’s A-List
In the midst of the couture shows in Paris, Russian fashion fixture and founder of the site Buro 24/7, Miroslava Duma went from A-list to NO-list with a single Instagram Story. Duma posted a card from her pal, designer Ulyanna Sergeenko that read: “To my Ni**as in Paris,” taken from a Jay-Z/Kanye West song. A firestorm soon erupted, which only burned Duma more when she posted what many thought was more an attempt at damage control rather than a heartfelt apology.
Things swiftly got worse when blogger BryanBoy posted a video clip from 2012 in which Duma tells an audience that she dislikes female fashion worn by men and that a “certain kind of censorship is needed.” She singled out BryanBoy and trans model Andreja Pejić and said: “Thank God there aren’t that many of them! We’re very concerned about the beauty and purity of the images we publish on Buro 24/7.” Duma apologized, again. But it seems, for now, the damage is done. Naomi Campbell slammed Duma on Instagram and Marc Goehring of 032c posted a photo of Duma with the words: “Hi my name is Miroslava Duma. I am a racist. I am a homophobe. I am a transphobe.” The Tot, a children’s company Duma started with Nasiba Adilova, removed her from the board, effective immediately. Pejić, the target of Duma’s transphobic comments was the most forgiving, posting on Instagram. “I do think people should be given the chance to grow, change, overcome their ignorance. To my sisters, bros and non binary siblings who don’t have the resources to fight back, to change schools, pay for medical care and the support of thousands of followers and who experience cruelty directed at them only because they have the guts to follow their hearts and minds in the hope of an honest, happy life please remember, chin up ALWAYS!”
Biz Bites: Kering and Stella Mccartney, Net-a-Porter and Richemont
Stella McCartney
Kering is in talks to sell its 50 percent share of Stella McCartney back to the designer. McCartney’s animal-free fashion has made the brand a success with estimated global sales of 200+ million pounds a year. McCartney also has profitable partnerships with Adidas, Proctor & Gamble (beauty and fragrance), Bendon (lingerie) and she recently launched menswear. The rumored split between Kering and McCartney is said to pertain to Kering focusing on it’s bigger brands like Gucci, Saint Laurent and Balenciaga.
Three years after Richemont merged Net-a-Porter with Yoox to form YNAP (Yoox Net-a-Porter Group), the Swiss luxury powerhouse wants to buy the remaining 51% of Net-a-Porter that it doesn’t already own. Richemont is offering a sweet price: 38 pounds per share, which would mean a 2.7 billion pound investment. Stay tuned.
Vanity Fair’s Photoshop Fiascos
Graydon Carter’s final swan song as editor in chief of Vanity Fair – the infamous gatefold “Hollywood Issue” – might be remembered for all the wrong reasons. The cover, shot by Annie Leibovitz, features a slew of stars (and Carter himself, natch) like Nicole Kidman, Robert DeNiro and Claire Foy. But Vanity Fair became Vanity Fail when people noticed that it looked like Reese Witherspoon had three legs, due to what a VF spokesperson said was actually the lining of her dress. Witherspoon even tweeted: “Well…I guess everybody knows now…I have 3 legs. I hope you can still accept me for who I am.” And on a photo inside the issue, Oprah Winfrey definitely has three hands as she and Witherspoon get cozy on a chair. Meanwhile, one retouching that did work for VF: the magazine decided to digitally remove embattled actor James Franco from the cover altogether. A spokesperson for Vanity Fair said: “We made a decision not to include James Franco on the Hollywood cover once we learned of the misconduct allegations against him.”
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