A new Dior ad campaign featuring actress Jennifer Lawrence is facing backlash for its lack of Mexican women, despite featuring clothing inspired by Mexican women, USA Today reported.
The advertisement shows the Academy Award-winning actress modeling beautifully elaborate dresses and ornately designed handbags that are part of the Dior Cruise 2019 collection. The line gives a “modern edge” to the traditional clothing worn by the all-female escaramuza equestrian team that competes in the charreria, a traditional Mexican rodeo.
“One of the main inspirations for this collection is the traditional women riders of Mexico. So I’m really excited that this collection is looking at and celebrating these women’s heritage through such a modern lens,” the Hunger Games actress said in an Instagram advertisement for the collection which was posted to Dior’s Instagram account. “We’ve been shooting in a beautiful ranch in California with rolling hills, and I can’t think of a better landscape to highlight this collection.”
But while Lawrence sees the collection as a celebration of the heritage, others view it as the complete opposite. Phoebe Robinson, co-star of the popular podcast 2 Dope Queens — which features female comedians, comedians of color and LGBT comedians — called the advertisements “ignorant and gross” in a post to her own Instagram account on Tuesday.
“Lol. Wut?!” Robinson started the caption, which criticized the company for celebrating the Mexican equestrian tradition “by having a rich white woman named Jennifer be the face of this campaign.” Robinson also criticized the choice of having California serve as the location for the shoot.
“Hmm, I dunno, maybe…like…shoot…in…Mexico…with…a…Mexican…actress,” she wrote, followed by a list of a number of other potential choices such as Eva Longoria or Selena Gomez.
“The audacity to call this sh*t modern because it’s worn by a white woman is ignorant and gross, but unfortunately, not surprising,” she wrote in the caption of her post.
In less than 24 hours, the post had amassed almost 10,000 likes as well as hundreds of comments siding with the podcast host. Many users were in agreement that the ad is a form of cultural appropriation.
Broad City star Ilana Glazer was behind one of these supportive comments, thanking Robinson for her post.
Others took to the comment sections of the six advertisements posted on Dior’s Instagram page to express their criticism.
“Ah, yes, the rolling hills of Cali……a perfect place to model this. Wouldn’t want to get too close to Mexico for this Mexican collection, would we now?” one user wrote.
“I’m extremely disappointed that yet again, major brands are using a rich WHITE WOMAN, to promote other cultures. This is cultural appropriation not appreciation. Do better,” another said.
The line was created by Italian designer Maria Grazia Chiuri — Dior’s first female creative director — and hit the runway in their May fashion show “Diorodeo.”
