Back in April Vogue Portugal caught the wrath of our forum members following two “tacky and tasteless” covers. Now the mag does it again. As part of its combined July/August edition, the title serves up four covers for “The Madness Issue” with one already pulled from newsstands over its portrayal of mental illness. The controversial cover photographed by Branislav Simoncik depicts a model in a bathtub with two nurses. The second, less offensive cover from Debora Brune shows model Robina Sommer on a makeshift beach on the streets of Berlin. Marjan Jonkman appears on the third cover shot by Alex Blonde, while Ricardo Santos captured the fourth and final cover featuring a portrait of a heart.
A fierce debate erupted on our forums. “Oh, this makes me uncomfortable,” said MON the moment the first cover (above left) dropped.
“Steven Meisel made it fashion. This just looks uncomfortable,” echoed mikel.
SRank shared the same sentiment: “Why on earth would you put a cover like this on a fashion magazine without even trying to make it fashionable? It would still be open to backlash, but it would come across as something way more logical and in touch with reality than just trying to make such subject ‘cool’.”
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“First cover sucks — that is not a great representation of mental health to be honest. And it definitely should not be on a Vogue cover of all things,” proclaimed lauralynn025.
“Cover one and four prove just how backward the people are who made them. The last one looks like they’ve borrowed the heart prop from a biology classroom. It’s all so literal and contrived and clearly shows a lack of understanding when it comes to mental health,” critiqued Benn98.
“Do these editors nowadays know what Vogue is about?” wondered MDNA.
Have your say on Vogue Portugal’s latest by joining the debate here.
