.planet terror. August 23, 2008

.ethics in peril.

.authored by something.of.substance.

Natalie Imbruglia drowns wearing Chanel and KJ’s Laundry. Elle Macpherson’s curling iron and Max Factor make-up collection survive downfall of civilization. Naomie Harris pleads for water to save her from dehydration in her pressed, white Alberta Ferretti draped gown. Doomsday is beautiful!!

The June 2008 UK issue of Marie Claire magazine was dubbed the “Special Green Issue” demonstrating what happens when “eco-chic goes glam”. The emphasis throughout the issue was continually on saving the planet by concentrating on “fashion with heart”. To promote said ideas, Marie Claire introduced into their reviews the terms “eco-friendly”, “fair-trade”, “organic”, and “ethical”, which were consequently over-used to describe everything from chocolate to Gwyneth Platrow and from the entire country of Madagascar to designer Stella McCartney (bonus points should be given to anyone who counted the number of times Stella McCartney’s name appeared in this one issue; I lost count somewhere in the thirties).

Some of the eco-fashions presented by the magazine, such as the Brighton-based line Ciel, are truly revolutioning fashion by making chic and affordable (if not quite couture) clothes from recycled fabrics and natural, organic materials. And, articles promoting A-list celebrities and their Green causes as well as eco interior design definitely spot-light fashionable, Earth-friendly ways of living without damaging the magazine’s reputation for lauding luxury.

The issue strays from “eco-chic” to tip the scale on the side of “glam”, however, with its photo spread “Six Degrees of Devastation”. Dubbed the “Planet in Peril” headed-article, the opening caption reads as follows:

“The smallest increase in the earth’s temperature could spark a climactic chain of events with the potential to alter the world forever. We enlist the help of a band of eco-conscious celebrities to act out the worst nightmare scenarios that could become a reality if change doesn’t happen soon”.

From these words alone, you’d expect to see a disaster-movie montage of images depicting flooded houses, crumbling cities and obliterated woodlands. And, the pictorial doesn’t fail to impress! If the global climate rose by just 3˚C, polar ice would melt, sea levels would rise and London would flood. An increase of 4-5˚C from the current climate would result in long periods of drought followed by winters of torrential rain which would dry clean drinking sources and breed malaria. If our core temperature rose 6˚C, the weather would resemble that of a tropical jungle with hurricanes hitting routinely and tropical vegetation overwhelming urban life. As global warming is currently swiftly raising the yearly base temperature, these concerns are all very timely- and frightening.

With such wide-readership (I procured this UK-edition from a Barnes and Noble in Ohio) and by devoting 200+ pages to a serious discussion of eco-trends, I expected Marie Claire to have taken their own message about fashion to “heart”. But, the staged photography accompanying the “Planet in Peril” article contradicts the written message while sending one of its own: no matter how bad everyone says it could get, life will still be glamorous!

Indeed! Natalie Imbruglia watches vacantly from a glass pod above the city- hair expertly coiffed and dressed in the latest stiletto heals- as London sinks. Naomie Harris dispassionately dons an all-white gown, frizz-less hair, newly manicured nails, and flawlessly maintained skin to beg for water in a drought. Elle Macpherson rides forlornly through the remains of Trafalgar Square bare-back on a white horse wearing a toe ring over her fresh pedicure, but no shoes under her evening gown and voluminous, subtly highlighted waves.

Presenting a confusing dualism which masquerades for a serious stance seems simply to be the Marie Claire way. On their official website, they pose the question “Do You Worry About the Way You Look?” alongside the August 2008 cover headline: “Get Your Perfect Beach Body: The ‘No Wait’ Weight Loss Plan”. If they can’t maintain a clear stance concerning a topic as popularly-discussed as body image, how do they expect us to believe that their “Special Green Issue” is anything more meaningful than passing fancy or anything more lasting than last spring’s color palette?

Instead, the “real” eco-impact the issue made was negative. Rather than promote true ethical consciousness through fashion, they utilized the concept of “Green” as a marketing gimmick. Instead of packaging their issue in plastic (as they have in the past), the magazines and associated samples were swathed in brown package paper. The very real reaction of Marie Claire readers could be summed up by the following comment left on the magazine’s website:

“Dear Marie Claire,

I really must complain about your eco-chic issue, there really wasn’t much thought put into the brown packaging which contained the magazine and coconut body butter. I have still to find an issue which actually still has the body butter in it, all the brown packaging is torn!”

Apparently, global warming is less frightening than lost body butter- or lost readership due to missing samples. Eco-chic, which was “in” (and in that brown paper packaging) just two months ago is all but forgotten as the newest issue, back to being sealed in clear plastic, features Anne Hathaway swathed in (most likely not eco-conscious) couture and cover articles on quick weight loss, the sunny side of adultery and catwalk trends for fall.

It is understandable that the main mission of the editorial board is to sell Marie Claire and not to save the planet, but the true crisis comes-not from having a Green extravaganza- but from passing off a tongue-in-cheek puff piece of global devastation as true testament of eco concern. When skimming the six-page spread, one inevitably thinks: “Climate change would really destroy the… Wow! That dress is amazing! Is that Elle Macpherson barefoot on a white horse? I wonder where she got that dress…” with any legitimate focus on the “planet in peril” distressingly absent.

Like every other issue of other fashion magazines, Marie Claire UK once again presented to us a trend: Eco-chic goes Glam! The problem with categorizing ethical living as trendy, however, is that next month you must promote a new trend as the old one fades into obscurity. Global warming and environmental concerns are not something that can be taken as “trendy” if we honestly hope to survive as a species, let alone as a fashionable-culture. Overly hyping the climate crisis while simultaneously mocking it leaves the reader, at the least, ambivalent towards change and, at the most, fiercely against the thought of sporting something “so last month”. For such a major magazine to promote a lifestyle overhaul as the new seasonal color is not only fatuous, it’s irresponsible. Hopefully they are profiting enough off the sale of watered-down activism to buy themselves a bio-dome to move into once Doomsday arrives!