Newly released images taken to celebrate the reopening of Dior's Shanghai boutique are being slammed for suggesting that 'all Chinese people look this same'. However, it was not actually creative giants at Dior that were behind these images - it was actually Chinese photographer Quentin Shih who took the pictures as part of a personal project. The images are not part of an official ad campaign but have caused outrage, which seems a little OTT to me. The images feature a Dior clad model standing out from rows of somewhat identically looking Chinese men and women. But I don't necessarily believe that it was any kind of racism directed towards anybody of Chinese origin, I think it's been a great artistic idea used to display the standalone nature of Dior couture.
I think attention should be directed to the fashion approach to the shoot and not the white model to chinese men and women ratio. I'm pretty certain Shih was not intending for the photographs to symbolise any kind of racism and it has been taken too far. Simplify it. It's an image which has most likely been under the influence of digital enhancing, it may even be that they are duplicated models. Isn't fashion about standing out from a crowd, regardless of what that crowd is - digitally manipulated or not?
Obviously I can understand where the outrage comes from and completely disagree with racism directed at any race, but can we not see a picture anymore without worrying about political correctness? It's fashion and art, which relies heavily on fantasy and creative fleur that one may understand and another may not. Approach it with an open mind - take things with a pinch of salt.
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