Fashion's Elite in Blackface at party in Milan

[aa_2001]

Milan's annual Halloweek masquerade party took place last night, and the theme was Disco Africa. While many attendees kept it neutrally jungle-themed — like Dolce & Gabbana's Steffano Gabbana (pictured on the left, and in other photos on Vogue Japan editor-at-large Anna Dello Russo's Instagram) — others took it to a pretty racially offensive place.

The man in the middle, who apparently took "Disco Africa" to mean "Minstrel Show," is purportedly designer Alessandro Dell'Acqua.

Halloweek is an elaborate costumed event that draws Milan's fashion elite and inspires some pretty over-the-top getups (see photos from two years ago and the year before that).

But while 2009's party was full of Liza Minelli impersonators, this year's event had multiple attendees dressed in blackface [more photos here and here and here and here], and at least two men with artificially darkened skin dressed as slaves in chains.

And while the idea of blackface on Halloween is complicated — the line between "tribute" and mockery is a dicey one — the blackface costume here, a white man dressed as the kind of white men who made a living mocking black men, falls resoundingly in the offensive box.

http://gawker.com/fashions-elite-go..._source=gawker_facebook&utm_medium=socialflow

 

[Chelsea Bridge]

What is going on this Halloween? Was it the slave movies that triggered this ignorance?

 

[WheresWallace]

cacs caccing. I don't understand how cacs can claim to be superior yet still try to imitate the very people that they claim are inferior to them.

crazy caccling cacs are always caccing.

 

[Insensitive]

You know what's funny ? Have you ever noticed
that there is rarely a single black person
at these sorts of parties ?

I think I can safely say black people DO NOT throw
parties of this nature.
I've never seen a "white" party get thrown
where everyone dresses up as a stereotypical "White" person,
with some going out of their way to put together the most offensive
costume possible.

 

[BlackBieber]

The thing I dont understand in all deze recent racist costume pics is why are other ppl keepin them in the party and even takin pics with them

Ud think at least a cpl ppl would speak up and kick them the fukk out of there. Like rly, a slave costume? Where in the fkn world is that cool

 

[Diondon]

Told yall bout supporting all these fukking slave and butler/maid movies

anyway,

 

[ryshy]

yall need to read this spiritual stuff, hit up a library for 2 hours you will learn a lot

the farther we progress the more chaotic shyts gettin, weve reached the threshold where no one gives a fukk, shyts gettin real shiesty to survive you gotta join the spiritual healing side, find true happiness not the material things which only drive us towards insanity. Go into the woods for a few hours, alone, fight the temptation to leave. by the end you probably wont want to leave, build yourself a house an learn to fish with a stick. Lot more fun than you'd think

 

[Dwolf]

The thing I dont understand in all deze recent racist costume pics is why are other ppl keepin them in the party and even takin pics with them

Ud think at least a cpl ppl would speak up and kick them the fukk out of there. Like rly, a slave costume? Where in the fkn world is that cool

Because a racist threw the party. Why would they kick out their own

 

[Action Jackson]

What the fukk is wrong with people

 

[DrX]

white people are fascinated with blacks....

 

[*L*E*G*A*C*Y*]

You know what's funny ? if you ever notice
that there is rarely a single black person
at these sorts of parties ?

I think I can safely say black people DO NOT throw
parties of this nature.
I've never seen a "white" party get thrown
where everyone dresses up as a stereotypical "White" person,
with some going out of their way to put together the most offensive
costume possible.

*sigh* I have to agree. I never see people of other races trying to do anything like this EXCEPT white people.

Ghetto parties. Pimp/player balls. Blackface parties. Wearing indian headdresses. Trying to mock mexican mariachi bands. Or any party/costume demeaning any non-white racial/minority group that plays on stereotypes. Asians, hispanics, blacks, indians, etc are always the ones pointing out this insensitivity to white people en masse and never vice versa or to any other race. And then when anybody gets offended they're told to "stop being so sensitive", to "calm down", and try to tell people why and how THEY should personally feel about something THEY find offensive. Some of it I blame on ignorance (cause like racism, learning why something is racist has to be taught/learned), but I think alot of it is just straight up racism that's going to be written off/deflected with some sort of "irony" or excuse using pseudo-intellectual psychobabble or something that will be seen as "too smart for black folk" and that can only be "understood" by white people who practice the same warped mental gymnastics to justify ignorance. Frankly, I'm so sick and disgusted by this..but not surprised.

 

[Poh SIti Dawn]

To be fair, it seems to be mainly Italian fashion and if yves was alive then these dudes wouldn't even have jobs anymore.

 

[Anti-Anime]

I've never seen a "white" party get thrown
where everyone dresses up as a stereotypical "White" person,
with some going out of their way to put together the most offensive
costume possible.

shyt, we might as well start. All those people claiming black face isn't offensive will start back peddling and catch feelings when they see white face at parties. I know these dudes are hypocrites.

 

[Azul]

To be fair, it seems to be mainly Italian fashion and if yves was alive then these dudes wouldn't even have jobs anymore.

Who cares? What difference does that make?

 

[Turbulent]

lol, keep repping/bragging about brands you wear brehs