We were outraged by the Lara Stone’s black-face for French Vogue’s 2009 October issue. L’Officiel didn’t add salt, but added acid to our wounds with a painted Beyoncé for their idea of an “African Queen” editorial in their March 2011 issue and now Numéro has followed in the same footsteps with their editorial ‘African Queen‘ by photographer Sebastian Kim. featuring a dark Ondria Hardin – a 16 year old non-African model.
Like come on! Ondria Hardin, is not an African Queen! If she really was African – black or white, you wouldn’t have to ‘force Africa’ upon her!
Some people have declared that they have been offended by the publication in Numéro magazine n°141 of March 2013, of an editorial realized by the photographer Sebastian Kim called “African Queen”, featuring the American model Ondria Hardin posing as an “African queen”, her skin painted in black. The artistic statement of the photographer Sebastian Kim, author of this editorial, is in line with his previous photographic creations, which insist on the melting pot and the mix of cultures, the exact opposite of any skin color based discrimination. Numéro has always supported the artistic freedom of the talented photographers who work with the magazine to illustrate its pages, and has not took part in the creation process of this editorial. For its part, Numéro Magazine, which has the utmost respect for this photographer’s creative work, firmly excludes that the latest may have had, at any moment, the intention to hurt readers’ sensitivity, whatever their origin. Numéro Magazine considers that it has regularly demonstrated its deep attachment to the promotion of different skin-colored models. For instance, the next issue of Numéro for Man on sale on 15th march has the black model Fernando Cabral on the cover page, and the current Russian edition’s cover of our magazine features the black model Naomi Campbell on its cover. This demonstrates the completely inappropriate nature of the accusations made against our magazine, deeply committed to the respect for differences, tolerance and more generally to non-discrimination. Considering the turmoil caused by this publication, the Management of Numéro Magazine would like to apologize to anyone who may have been offended by this editorial.
Apology not accepted! Don’t try to cover your tracks with a black person on next month’s cover. That is not going to work Numero! SHAME!
In all my frustration, I couldn’t help but laugh at a comment on Jezebel.com‘s post on the editorial written by an African-American model known as fashionlady:
Can I see a black girl do SCANDINAVIAN PRINCESS please?
Just imagine the storm which would erupt if this actually happened. Just imagine!