Kendall Jenner recently appeared in a ballet-themed photoshoot for Vogue España, and people are not happy about it. Though it’s debateable that this reality television star turned supermodel has been seriously overexposed (the Vogue España cover is her fifth Vogue cover this fall), that’s not what people are griping about…or it’s at least not the entirety of it. Instead, ballet dancers and others supportive of the art have taken to Twitter to express their disatisfaction towards the shoot, even making claims of cultural appropriation.
Other tweets were downright mean.
First thing is first. Is ballet a truly incredible, difficult to master art? Undoubtedly. And can Kendall Jenner claim that she is a true ballerina? Nope. But here’s what’s crucial:
Just because Kendall Jenner portrays a ballerina in a photoshoot doesn’t make her one…and it also doesn’t imply that she, or anyone else, believes that she is.
Just like actors, a model’s career can sometimes involve representing people or situations whether or not connection to these situations exists. Love it or hate it, that’s the job. There have been plenty of photoshoots out there that utilize different art forms or sports to formulate a creative expression of high fashion. One might argue that fashion publications should only cast individuals who actually practice art forms or sports in these types of photoshoots, but that’s a different story. The real question is, why blame Kendall Jenner?
People love to hate the Kardashians. There’s also many who hate to love them, or even love to love them. However, whatever your own feelings may be toward the Kardashian/Jenner clan, let’s direct this dispute over cultural appropriation in fashion photoshoots to the publications themselves. Because how much say did Kendall Jenner really have in this photoshoot? Sure, she could have declined to participate, but there’s no pretending that there weren’t a handful, if not dozens of creatives behind this photoshoot.
It’s also worth noting (yes, a second time) that there have been countless spreads similar to this Vogue España shoot. As an avid equestrian, I’ve seen dozens of fashion photoshoots that have included horses…with the insinuation that the models have some connection to the sport (because simply having a horse in a photoshoot definitely does not count as appropriating and/or degrading equestrian culture). There’s never been a question in my mind as to validity and appropriateness of these spreads, because I’m well aware that they’re for the purpose of creative fashionable expression. Would it be spectacular if they pictured a real equestrian in one of these photoshoots? Of course! But I’m not holding my breath. We all know how the fashion/modeling world works, whether we support it or not.
Also, have we all forgotten about Kylie Jenner’s wheelchair photoshoot? The rules of the fashion empire can seem unshakeable, and sometimes it’s important to pick our battles. For me, I’ll always chose to fight a fashion statement that glamorizes medical conditions and other political/sensitive situations rather than one that simply portrays an art or sport using a model, as the fashion industry has always done.