Bella and Gigi Hadid are receiving a lot of criticism for their Versace shoot
The Hadid sisters shine in the new campaign by Donatella Versace, which was released yesterday. Miss Donatella herself was also featured in the picture alongside Bella and Gigi, and it probably won't surprise you that the two sisters look stunning again. When don't they, right? However, there is one photo in the campaign that has received quite a bit of criticism. Well, quite a bit... Let's just say a lot.
It's about the photo below, which Bella herself also shared on her Instagram account. I must honestly admit that I had to take a second look to see what exactly is happening here, because it is quite... A lot. Let's start with Bella: in all the other photos from this shoot, it is very clear to see what everyone has long known, namely that Bella is a white woman and therefore has a white skin color. But that is not entirely what is visible in this photo. Just look at those legs: I hope the person who edited this photo is currently working in a different industry?
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And then Gigi, who is being showered with compliments by friends and acquaintances because she resembles Beyoncé in this photo. Beyoncé, who is of course a black woman, with whom Gigi (like Bella a white woman) is now being compared. And honestly: I understand that comparison, because the photo is also very Beyoncé. Just like her skin color, which has been edited to be quite a few shades darker (just not as dark as Bella's).
And that is precisely the criticism: this is a typical case of blackfishing. What is blackfishing? Medical News Today describes it as ‘a form of interpersonal racism that can be harmful, even when a person has no discriminatory or harmful intentions. This form of racism depicts black people as stereotypes and portrays black culture as a product.’
In addition, there is a lot of criticism to be found on social media. Comments like: ‘how can Versace be so stupid, it's 2022’, ‘don't they know it's much easier to just hire a black model?’ and: ‘I wanted to see more women of color on covers, but this is not what I meant...’ are frequently seen.
Below are a few other photos from the shoot, where you can also clearly see that the actual skin color of the Hadids is slightly different.
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