Vogue Italia blames “bad translation” for their “slave jewellery” gaffe | Hollywood yohana
More than 150 years after the American Civil War and 50 years after the civil rights movement, we’re pretty sure that using the term “slave” to denote a style of dress still ain’t kosher. Apparently Vogue Italia didn’t get the message. An article for the magazine’s website headlined “slave earrings” has caused a major outcry, resulting in editor-in-chief Franca Sozzani apologizing and citing “really bad translation.”
The article stated, “Jewellery has always flirted with circular shapes, especially for use in making earrings. The most classic models are the slave and creole styles in gold hoops.” The piece then goes on to explain that the word “slave” should inspire thoughts of “women of colour” during the slave trade—an image of “pure freedom.” Umm, what?
After twenty pages of (mostly) furious comments and a barrage of negative tweets, the article has since been removed from the website.
WHAT THEY SAID…
Iman: “I’m a huge fan of Franca Sozzani and Vogue Italia’s website because they have a whole section on black models. Is it controversial? Yes. The naming of it, I don’t get it. I didn’t like it. Slave does not make it ethnic. Mind you, it’s not lost in translation—the word slave, we know what it is. They might as well have called them “n***** earrings.” For somebody like Franca Sozzani, who did that whole black issue for Vogue, somebody should have said something.
Vogue Italia: “We’ve decided to remove the article from the site to prove our good faith and to show it wasn’t our intention to insult anyone.”
WHAT WE SAID…
Caitlan Moneta, Assistant Fashion Editor: I think a “translation error” is a weak excuse for a vocabulary choice that was both insensitive and inflammatory, and hiding the term under the guise of freedom makes matters worse. But given Franca Sozzani’s efforts to advocate for inclusivity in the past, I can’t imagine she had a malicious agenda. There’s no doubt Vogue Italia won’t make the same mistake twice.
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