Love It or Hate It: Claudia Schiffer Pics Raise Racial Controversy

Karl Lagerfeld recently complied a collection of photos, ’20 years of Claudia Schiffer’ to be published in a German quarterly called Stern Fotographie. The photos are getting mixed reactions from the public as to whether or not they evoke racism.

Looking through the photos it is clear that she is transformed to look like many different ethnicities, but some people have gone as far to say the photo of Claudia in dark makeup and an afro is considered “blackface”. {Fashion Bomb Daily} There’s also the bob and eye makeup which are meant to transform her into an Asian version of herself.

We think that it is an artistic representation of the beauty and individuality of the things that make us different, ironically being portrayed all by one iconic supermodel. Considering that she poses as an Asian woman, an 18th century aristocrat and seemingly as a man, it seems to be more of a testament to Claudia’s malleable style than anything else.

Beyond that though, are we alone in thinking the photos are a bit… unoriginal? Sure, they’re bound to stir a bit of controversy, but how many times has fashion attempted to sum up Black women with an afro wig, or  Asian women with a dark bob and Chinese brocade top?

What do you think about Karl Lagerfeld’s fashion-inspired tribute to the German icon?