The judiciary may be blind, but the public is not. The unidentified brand suit and the Jacquemus bag, cast in pink, with which Shakira went to court to say the two yeses and the “thank you” with which she admitted having defrauded the Treasury of 14.5 million euros between 2012 and 2014, and accepted the consequent sentence of three years in prison and the 7.3 million euro fine (problems are always less of a problem when you have money to solve them), were the icing on the cake of a year in which we have seen so much pink that already produces embarrassment.
The Colombian singer chose baby pink for its association with ideals of tenderness and innocence in the manner of someone who admits a mistake with an apology followed by a “but” (don’t try to do it at home, “but” and “I’m sorry” will always be a bad combination).
2023 has been the year of pink for Greta Gerwig’s Barbie, a film that, like the color, you like or don’t like without ifs or buts. We have seen pink in the movies, on the red carpet, in magazines, in stores, all over the internet… everywhere but on the street, and that is a good reminder of the often forgotten power of the consumer, who always has the last word and expresses it through his portfolio.
Less has been said about another judicial process initiated on Wednesday by another protagonist in another city, that of Minerva Portillo against Terry Richardson in Manhattan. Under the legal framework of the Adult Survivors Act, a law passed in the state of New York as a consequence of the movement
She met Richardson in his studio in 2004, when she was 22 years old and he had a career of more than ten years in which he had worked for magazines such as Harper’s Bazaar or GQ, and signed campaigns for such relevant brands as Valentino or Gucci. After that first meeting in which the photographer was dressed in a bathrobe, Portillo informed the agency that represented her in the United States, Trump Model Management (yes, that Trump), that the situation had made her uncomfortable. Her agents, whom she is not named in the document, told her that “such behavior was common and that, given the prominence and influence of Mr. Richardson in the industry, Ms. Portillo had to ignore her behavior.
The story, of course, gets worse. The next time she set foot in his studio one of his employees gave her a drink that made her feel “dizzy, disoriented and without complete control of her body,” before Richardson asked her to remove her clothes and forced her to perform oral sex on him. She “she tried to push mr. Richardson and tried to back away. But she was closely surrounded by employees of Mr. Richardson, some of whom were cheering,” the lawsuit alleges. “Mr. Richardson had her hand on her head, holding her in place.” The photographer’s team immortalized the moment.
The next day they had another appointment that Portillo tried to avoid by telling what happened to his agency, but they insisted that he keep it. In the van that returned them to the city after the on-location photo shoot, Richardson “unbuttoned his pants, grabbed her head and forced it toward his penis without her consent,” while his team, again, took photos. Some Of those images were part of an exhibition and a book, and at least one of them was sold to a private collector. The Spanish woman’s is not the first lawsuit filed against the photographer, but it may become the first that is not be resolved with prior agreement.
If Karlie Kloss taking over i-D seemed to signal a resurgence of the press, this week it was confirmed with the announcement that Nylon and Saveur will once again have physical editions in 2024. The first stopped being published in 2017, the second – like so many other titles – during the pandemic. The relaunch of the first coincides with its 25th anniversary, that of the second with its 30th. With two celebrations in the same issue, both have guaranteed advertising pages.
Magazines are entertainment and so is fashion: Louis Vuitton will present the Pre-Fall 2024 men’s collection by its artistic director Pharrell Williams on November 30 in Hong Kong. The spectacle of a fashion show will always be one of the best marketing tools for the industry and Hong Kong one of the most important cities for the luxury market.
The appointment of a new CEO would not necessarily be news if it were not for the fact that this time the protagonist is a woman, and we live in a world in which a woman reaching a position of power is still newsworthy: Amandine Ohayon is the new CEO of Stella Mccartney after the departure of Gabriele Maggio, who, according to the firm’s statement, “will explore other opportunities.” There are no allegories like corporate ones. Ohayon’s solid career includes the same position at Pronovias between 2018 and 2023 and 18 years in different positions at L’Oréal.
