Vogue India Strikes a Vexing Pose

While the U.S. edition of Vogue magazine is not one of the must-read glossies on my list every month, I must say I was excited to hear that Conde Nast International was launching Vogue India this month. A glance at the cover of the inaugural issue, however, was less than thrilling. Desi beauties Bipasha Basu, Priyanka Chopra, Monikangana Dutta, Preity Zinta and Laxmi Menon grace the special fold-out cover...with blonde-haired, blue-eyed, fair-skinned Aussie model Gemma Ward smack dab in the middle of the main cover in between Bips and Priyanka.

My first thought was "Why in the world?!" What is Gemma's significance in India and Indian culture? Are the desi models and actresses not sufficiently beautiful and glamorous to hold their own? Couldn't the very first cover of Vogue India be a celebration of only Indian beauty, something that is rarely celebrated in the west with the exception of Miss World and Miss Universe pageants?

At its best, the cover is an attempt to display the rise of India and Indian culture in the international world of fashion with Gemma representing the traditionally western dominance over the fashion world. Priya Tanna, the Managing Editor of Vogue India, says, "Vogue's launch in India symbolizes India's arrival onto the global fashion scene. India is ready for a magazine that is intelligent, sophisticated, and that understands the stylish, modern woman." Still, if this was the rationale behind the cover, it could have been been accomplished in a different way...I would have preferred two Caucasian models flanking Bipasha or Priyanka in the center rather than a Caucasian model as the clear focus of the cover.

At its worst, Gemma on the cover is not particularly original (Gemma was centered in between two Asian models in Vogue China's inaugural issue) nor, in my opinion, appeals to the Indian woman, even if that woman is the worldly, sophisticated individual that is Vogue India's target. Sure, she is a beautiful international model, but Gemma Ward is not exactly a household name in India. If a desi woman living in the west doesn't even use Gemma as a beauty role model where she is more recognized, what woman in India will?

Even further, Tanna states that the magazine's target woman "has come into her own, is more exposed to the world, has a great job and spending power, so consumption patterns have changed." If Vogue India believes in embracing Indian women that have "come into their own," then why did they decide to stick blue colored contacts on Bipasha and Priyanka? Sorry, but my vision of the modern Indian woman coming into her own involves her acceptance of her God-given features without scary accroutrements.

I hesitate to make this an issue of race, ethnicity and the residue of colonization in India and would like to believe that the magazine's editorial staff simply has skewed ideas of what appeals to their audience. Though I am ecstatic that Vogue India decided not to be boring and put Aishwarya Rai on the inaugural cover, this cover is just tired in itself. Here's hoping the contents of Vogue India are not as disappointing.*

*Despite my head shaking and eye rolling, I am making every effort to get my hands on this issue...not only to write the editor a scathing letter but also to discover the makeup magic behind our desi cover girls.

photos via mediaguardian.co.uk and www.indiafm.com