There’s a VERY fine line between art and a totally tasteless portrayal of suicide, and Vice magazine definitely straddled it with a fashion spread called “Last Words” in the their Women in Fiction issue.
The spread features models reenacting the suicides of famous writers, including Virginia Woolf, Dorothy Parker (who attempted suicide several times but ultimately died of a heart attack at 73), Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Sylvia Plath, Taiwanese author Sanmao, historian Iris Chang, and poet Elise Cowen.
Like any typical fashion story, the models’ outfits were meticulously styled and credited, which seemed to glamorize the whole thing.
The clothes are meant to be sold after all!
After being called out for the unsavory mix of death and consumerism, the peeps at Vice pulled the spread from their site and issued this statement:
“├óΓé¼┬¿├óΓé¼┬¿The fashion spreads in VICE Magazine are always unconventional and approached with an art editorial point-of-view rather than a typical fashion photo-editorial one. Our main goal is to create artful images, with the fashion message following, rather than leading.
├óΓé¼┬¿├óΓé¼┬¿”Last Words” was created in this tradition and focused on the demise of a set of writers whose lives we very much wish weren├óΓé¼Γäót cut tragically short, especially at their own hands. We will no longer display “Last Words” on our website and apologize to anyone who was hurt or offended.”
Check out the spread for yourself in the gallery (below)!
What do U think — edgy or totally out of line???
[Image via Vice Magazine.]
