A not-so-glamorous cover for Kate Moss

Debates and controversies surrounding fashion icons and the campaigns of design houses are nothing new; one need only look towards the colourful histories of Kate Moss, Naomi Campbell, Dolce & Gabbana and Calvin Klein to recognise a correlation between fashion and the headlines. The industry may be explicit in fighting for its right to creative freedom, using campaigns as a vehicle for raising important issues and a creative, and important, nudging of boundaries. However, it also creates and capitalises on controversy to create a buzz, often for the sole purpose of attracting revenue.

Controversial Clothes Horses

Who could forget the controversies surrounding Kate Moss in 2005 and Naomi Campbell in 2000, 2004 and each succeeding year until 2010? Following the Daily Mirror’s breaking of the story with the publication of grainy photographs purporting to show Moss snorting cocaine on a night out with Pete Doherty, she quickly lost deals with Burberry, H & M and Chanel.

Similarly, after infamous altercations involving cabin crews, drivers, policemen, housekeepers and assistants Naomi Campbell was dropped from her ‘honorary grandfather’ Nelson Mandela’s 90th birthday and was forced to mop floors and scrub toilets as part of her community service order. Yet neither suffered in the long-term from these damaging allegations. Indeed, Moss quickly regained her repute as the world’s greatest supermodel as the short memory of fashion houses saw the launch of her Topshop range and the continuation of her contracts with the likes of Rimmel, Calvin Klein and Versace. Any knock to Campbell’s reputation was simply a fleeting phenomenon at most and she lost none of her lucrative modelling contracts.

Both grew in stature and infamy, remaining household names and with this rise in prominence they attracted an increasingly strong spotlight. And a revenue-boosting one at that, which shone on the brands associated with the pair, be it those who terminated or continued contracts with the (fleetingly) disgraced stars. Indeed, following its termination of Kate Moss’ contract, H & M saw its profit increase from 2.45 billion kronor to 3.32 billion kronor. Rimmel, who chose not to terminate its contract with Moss, saw the scandal as a chance to capitalise, using her as the face of their ‘party girl’ line and increasing their profits well into the millions as a result. And of course Topshop, whose face-lift following its Kate Moss clothing line launch netted the brand a 10% rise in profit in only 12 months.

Battling With Black

Vogue Italia’s July ’08 issue which featured only black models called into question the hotly debated topic of race within the fashion industry. Intended to draw attention to the lack of black models, it featured the likes of Tyra Banks, Jourdan Dunn and Naomi Cambell and created an unprecedented demand for the one-off publication all around the world, leading to the words ‘the most wanted issue ever’ being emblazoned on its shrink wrap. And true to its catchphrase, the issue sold out completely, with Conde Nast rushing to reprint a further 40,000 copies.

Covers from Vogue Italia's Black Issue

The controversy surrounding the issue proved immeasurably beneficial to race debates and was deemed a ‘cultural watershed in fashion’. Vogue itself and the eighteen new, established and former black stars within its pages also profited greatly from the buzz surrounding the issue. Relative up-and-comers at the time Jourdan Dunn and Tocarra Jones were thrust into the limelight, whilst Vogue recruited an entirely new reader bracket. The fashion magazine industry, which was facing a significant slump at the time, was boosted with new-found interest and enthusiasm.

Controversies surrounding the ‘insensitive’ photos featuring Claudia Schiffer made up as a black woman for a Dom Perignon ad campaign which were featured in Stern Fotografie magazine and those in US Vogue featuring LeBron James and Gisele Bundchen in a ‘King Kong and white heroine’ stance, though attracting negative attention, created a buzz nonetheless.

Divisive Designers

Mark Fast sparked huge controversy last year as he sent models of sizes 12 and 14 – Hayley, Laura and Gwyneth – down his S/S 2010 catwalk. In a bold personal attempt to challenge the size zero trend, Fast’s showcasing of curvier models in his knitted bodycon dresses led to his stylist and creative director deserting the designer only days before his show. The issue gained ground, being featured in the headlines in both fashion and news publications and re-ignited once again the ubiquitous issue of the health of catwalk models.

Some commentators welcomed the move, such as Alexandra Schulmann, editor in chief of British Vogue who, only months previously, had spoken out against the worrying trend of sending unhealthily thin models down the catwalks but others were outspoken in criticising the move, such as Garance Doré, who saw the move as ‘gimmicky’ and trivialising an important issue.

The catwalk show was followed by the opening of Fast’s photographic exhibition featuring models aged eighteen to sixty-five and sized eight to sixteen, All Walks Beyond the Catwalk. The result of such controversy and media furore? A lucrative contract with Topshop. In the same month, basking in the wake of the controversy, plus-sized model Crystal Renn released her autobiography at a glamorous New York launch.

Sex Sells

The banning of fashion campaigns on the grounds of their sexual inappropriateness sees the exclusion of countless advertising campaigns from British broadcasting. But the effect is rarely detrimental as the fashion industry thrives upon the storm created by the controversy to attract business.

The banning of Yves Saint Laurent’s Opium perfume advert, which showed a nude 23-year old Sophie Dahl in a seductive pose on a fur rug, saw it skyrocket to infamy, becoming one of the most complained about adverts ever. Whilst campaign chief Tom Ford saw it as a nod to the powerhouse’s provocative side and female liberation, the ASA saw it as decidedly anti-women and offensive and, thanks to 730 complaints from the public, it was withdrawn.

The same fate awaited Calvin Klein’s S/S 2009 campaign and numerous Dolce and Gabbana adverts: one in which gang rape was supposedly insinuated and another in which male models brandished knives whilst surrounded by female models with a gunshot victim on the floor.

In a world where any press is good press, the publicity brought about by debate-provoking adverts, public figures or other ventures almost exclusively proves beneficial to the fashion industry. One need only look to the once disgraced Kate Moss whose so very public fall from grace netted her an estimated double what she earned the earn before the ‘cocaine Kate’ scandal. Controversy in turn brings publicity, infamy and staying power and you can bet your bottom dollar the fashion industry would be nothing without it; controversy makes the (fashion) world go round.

Mark Fast’s controversial Spring/Summer 2010 catwalk show