Allesandro Dell’Acqua & More Wear Blackface To African Party *Update* Another Party

[Melancholybaby]

Literally sick to my stomach

Last night, for a Halloween party with a ‘Disco Africa’ theme, several Italian fashion insiders, including designer Allesandro Dell’Acqua, came in blackface. Here he is, posing below with Stefano Gabbana (of Dolce & Gabbana) and Juan Fran Sierra.

The fête was documented by Russian photographer Zhanna Romashka, who put a slew of party pictures on her blog OnlyStylishPeople.it.
See a few more ‘artistic’ interpretations of Africa below:

Blackface is antiquated, has been deemed controversial across the board, and is racially insensitive. It is steeped in a negative history, pointing back to a time in American history when blacks were considered 3/5th of a human being–unfit to represent themselves, so white actors took the lead (at first), painting their skin brown and propagating some of the most pernicious and dehumanizing stereotypes of black people at the time (minstrel shows characterized blacks as lazy, superstitious, and buffoonish).

Do fashionable Italians live in a bubble? It would seem so. The uproar over Blackface in fashion has been constant and consistent ever since Carine Roitfeld painted Lara Stone brown for Paris Vogue. The enduring message: this is not ok!

fashionbombdaily.com

 

[Jacque Marcel]

SMDH. So many tacky and ignorant people out there. Dell'Acqua should really be ashamed.

 

[leblue15]

Gross. Now I understand so well when many black models say Milan is the most racist in terms of fashion week, with things like this.

 

[Urban Stylin]

i usually think that people over react with the usual bronzed eds but this is a clear indication of blackface and the fact that a mainstream designer finds it fit to do is worrying

 

[Urban Stylin]

wow just noticed that the last guy is supposed to be a slave...SMDH

 

[dsamg]

Plus Giampaolo Sgura

instagram/anna_dello_russo

 

[Marc10]

A Blackface costume? Are you f*cking kidding me?

 

[StoneSkipper]

wow just noticed that the last guy is supposed to be a slave...SMDH

I hadn't even noticed that! Urgh...

 

[ad31214]

This is truly disgusting, you have an industry that is supposedly so accepting, especially when it comes to sexuality, but here you have powerful people in the fashion industry participating in blackface. In 2013 of all years. This was supposed to be the year of diversity, of celebrating ethnicities and trying to prove to the world that the fashion industry is not as horrible and stuck-in-the-past as it is made out to be. Everyone who participated in this should be ashamed, nothing about this is art or comedy, and no justifications can be made to prove these people are just having a good time. I will have none of it, and no one else in this community, or in the world for that matter, should either.

 

[Littleathquakes]

I'm waiting for the voice of discordance to chime in and say something to the effect that it's an African-themed party (ignoring the whole why is it an African themed party to begin with) so it makes it OK

 

[LagerfeldBoy]

OMG I saw this all over Instagram and wanted to call out Allesandro and Stefano being involved doesn't surprise me since he did those black women earrings that caused an uproar like 2 seasons ago. This is disgusting. I find it interesting that black models have such a hard time breaking into the Milan shows. I remember reading somewhere how Italians don't really see black women and therefore don't really think about it when it comes to casting. With that in mind, this just seems interesting and absolutely disgusting. For any italians on here, is there a certain perception about black people? It's just interesting seeing this coming from some of the top italian designers who don't really cast black women and then doing this insensitive bullsh**.

 

[Not Plain Jane]

Jeez! I thought we'd left minstrelsy behind at least 100 years ago!

 

[Morphe]

ohnotheydidn't lj


Fashion people are racist and/or ignorant? How shocking!

 

[leblue15]

He was not the only one...

more slaves...

africasacountry.com

 

[lelaid]

What a bunch of f**king idiots. Not funny, not cute, not appropriate, only ignorant and bigoted.

 

[GERGIN]

At least anyone who's showed up in the photos looks tribal/African themed. But regardless, it doesn't bug me at all...it's actually never bugged me. A costume does not make these people racist, I strongly believe that. I wonder if people were offended when grace jones goes white face/albino? Because apparently that was classified as artistic.

One thing I will admit though, the gentleman dressed up as slaves was just way too much IMO...

 

[mellowdrama]

Bad taste and racist. It's not something you do unless you want to get called out on it. They might not be terrible, hateful people, but it's still not acceptable. If the story of history were reversed, and it was Africans who had enslaved Europeans instead, then "whiteface" would be unacceptable, too. It's about power-dynamics and centuries of oppression.

However, very rich folks of all colors don't live by the same rules as the rest of us do. They can get away with it because they're in a VIP bubble where no one will give them the righteous thumping they deserve. Keep that in mind when viewing the antics of the jet set.

 

[Wolkfolk]

What makes this borderline racist and so offensive is their extreme ignorance. How can you turn up at Tribal party dresssed as slave ? Blackface is one trashy-ridiculous thing but those slaves costumes are a real shame. Even though they put "blackface" on a whole other level with this stereotypical make-up. They look like colonial caricature of black people. And to see them posing and indulging with pride in those costume is even more offensive and sad.

 

[MulletProof]

^^ welcome back mellowdrama!


I usually don't even bother with this type of discussions because anyone with a basic notion of history, or just the right amount of education to have taken a few levels of history and social sciences, will find this retrograde and see how the insult goes past something as dumb as a skin color and strikes directly in the endless amount of efforts made by people [from all colors] to put this behind us, however, the antagonist stance becomes so appealing because it's lonely and easier to stand out there that it's such a waste of time sometimes. But anyway, yeah, this has got to be one of the most archaic and offensive ideas for entertainment from a collectivity, which is what's interesting, that it's not carried out by some sad clueless character out of the same need I mentioned (attention through antagonism for the sake of antagonism) but people that portray so graphically how hungry they are to confirm their status (not even attention in this case) even if it takes disrespecting others and even themselves.

What's sad is that there are people in the same industry that have solid social and political awareness, and are active about it and have the ability to project such thoughtfulness and sensitivity through their work, but you see circuses like this, present them to the general viewer... or critics/researchers, and this is exactly what's expected from the fashion industry, this just reaffirms all the notions that being intellectually challenged and strangled by status-oriented goals is a prerequisite, and I still don't think it's accurate..

 

[LagerfeldBoy]

At least anyone who's showed up in the photos looks tribal/African themed. But regardless, it doesn't bug me at all...it's actually never bugged me. A costume does not make these people racist, I strongly believe that. I wonder if people were offended when grace jones goes white face/albino? Because apparently that was classified as artistic.

One thing I will admit though, the gentleman dressed up as slaves was just way too much IMO...

Are you American? Do you know the history behind blackface? If not, I'd recommend you to actually do some research before comparing both things.
And it shouldn't be a matter of is it "way too much". Either it's wrong or right. In this case, everything is the former.