You know, this latest Vogue shoot in India, where, for example, “an old woman missing her upper front teeth holds a child in rumpled clothes - who is wearing a Fendi bib (retail price, about $100)” is just the tip of the iceberg called the “fashion” industry. The shoot is basically the logical continuation of a philosophy (big word for something so measly, I know) that will do just about anything to push clothes that basically nobody needs (and the photography is usually as disposable as the “fashion” product, because once it’s shown it already loses its luster, and something new has to be found).

Needless to say, that’s not how Vogue sees it. Vogue India editor Priya Tanna is quoted as saying “fashion is no longer a rich man’s privilege. Anyone can carry it off and make it look beautiful.” Never mind that not everyone can actually afford it, especially not in a country like India, and that putting expensive clothes on extremely poor people is unbelievably bad taste (assuming, of course, that you have just a tiny bit of decency left - it’s very questionable whether that’s the case for the people responsible for the shoot).

Note that this is true regardless of whether or not there are people in India who want to buy a “Fendi bib” for 100 bucks: It’s just like in the case of (in)famous Benetton ads from a few years back.