Karlie Kloss appeared in a photoshoot dressed as a geisha for Vogue's March diversity issue, which came out yesterday.
Karlie for Vogue US - March 2017
The spread – titled "Spirited Away" – was shot in Japan by frequent Vogue photographer Mikael Jansson and styled by Phyllis Posnick. Jansson posted a photo of Kloss on his Instagram yesterday with the caption "Karlie Kloss in Japan, 2017. Vogue Magazine, unpublished."
People immediately took issue with Kloss being dressed as a geisha.
@bestkkpics @karliekloss Why is the model white? Are there a shortage of Japanese Models in the world...Or if it ai… https://t.co/Xg3q8JH4Lk
They called both her and Vogue out for cultural appropriation and whitewashing, citing other examples of white women being cast as Asians.
Ummmmmm @bestkkpics @karliekloss did Vogue not get the "culture is not a costume" memo that's been going around for the past few...decades
@TheCut scarjo wasn’t available?
Emma Stone, Scarlett Johansson, and Tilda Swinton turn to Karlie Kloss. "Your turn, girl." Karlie on phone: "Hello… https://t.co/jbinRMTJxy
A lot of people were annoyed that Vogue chose a white model to appear as a Japanese geisha instead of an actual Japanese model.
There is a whole country called Japan with Japanese women and they picked a white girl. Wow. https://t.co/9xedXXLQBJ
@bestkkpics IF YOU WANT SOMETHING ASIAN THEMED HIRE AN ASIAN
@bestkkpics @karliekloss were all these actual japanese models busy or something?
They also pointed out the added irony of Kloss's six-page spread appearing in the diversity issue, while the two models of color were given only one picture each.
Karlie Kloss gets a 6-page spread in yellowface for Vogue's DIVERSITY ISSUE... while Imaan Hammam & Liu Wen get one… https://t.co/U7DyfKmqZk
SHE DID YELLOW FACE IN THE DIVERSITY ISSUE 🙃🙃🙃 https://t.co/E5J1isp4GF
