Vice apologises for fashion spread depicting suicides of female authors
Vice magazine has scrapped its 'Last Words' feature which photographed models re-enacting suicides of female authors such as Sylvia Plath and Virginia Woolf and issued an apology on its website.Each photo in the feature was accompanied by a cause of death, date and details of what the model in the photograph was wearing.One image showed a model with bleeding wrists standing at a sink, while another featured a model holding a noose around her neck.Vice said in a statement: "The fashion spreads in Vice magazine are always unconventional and approached with an art-editorial point of view rather than a typical photo-editorial one. Our main goal is to create artful images, with the fashion message following, rather than leading."Last Words was created in this tradition and focused on the demise of a set of writers whose lives we very much wish weren't cut tragically short, especially at their own hands. We will no longer display Last Words on our website and apologise to anyone who was hurt or offended."Readers of the feature took to Twitter to let the magazine know what they thought.
Apology: Vice has removed the spread from its website
Why is Vice making suicide a fashion statement? Absolutely not cool. This is disgusting - http://t.co/g211jAIBty
— Dan Makwana (@DanMak89) June 18, 2013RTing this : What sort of people use suicide as the theme for a fashion shoot? This is offensive and outrageous. http://t.co/anpSzRHu4L
— aptronym ® (@aptronym) June 18, 2013Why would ANYONE think turning suicide into a fashion statement is okay?! Last Words | VICE http://t.co/GSbCvqqBbD via @VICE #irresponsible
— Vv (@v0lando_voy) June 18, 2013Vice stages female author suicides in its piece 'Last Words' Disgusting. I didn't realize suicide was fashionable. #vice #lastwords
— Molly Moreland (@MollyMoreland1) June 19, 2013@Vice Perhaps a donation to a suicide prevention org, or mental health inst would be better than a sad apology. http://t.co/SPAuw2ENjQ
— Alanna McKnight (@VetusVeste) June 18, 2013Vice withdraws suicide-themed photoshoot. But isn't this moral censorship? Oy, my liberal compass is spinning wildly http://t.co/uwCIrtXaYO
— Frank Swain (@SciencePunk) June 18, 2013Vice fashion spread based on suicide. Looking forward to the cancer fashion spread next. That's a fierce look. Idiots http://t.co/CcckFRQizl
— Mr T (@TheJazzDad) June 18, 2013Not too sure if I like the "Last Words" spread in Vice, suicide should never be made out to look fashionable. But then again, it's art so..
— persephone (@PersephoneD) June 18, 2013Unimpressed, @vice. In an edition about women writers, who thought it clever to have a fashion spread about suicide? http://t.co/1CU80UsmAj
— Laura Soderlind (@LauraSoderlind) June 18, 2013