AND RED ALL OVER

Well this surprised me. It’s Pantone’s new shade of red, Period, accompanied by the line diagram of a woman’s ovaries, fallopian tubes and uterus. The new new hue was developed in partnership with Swish feminine hygiene company Intimina. Pantone explains: “An active and adventurous red hue, courageous Period emboldens people who menstruate to feel proud of who they are.”

Except that this red is not the real color of blood (menstrual or otherwise), period is a euphemism for menstruation, and the diagram depicts a uterus that has no entrance – no vagina. This anatomical cartoon sanitizes the female body’s unique powers of sex, pregnancy and childbirth. Intimina peddles feminine products like rubber cups, pelvic exercise tools, and an “intimate moisturizer.” While the company is body positive and honors women including Alexandria Ocasio Ortiz, Malala Yousef and Vivienne Leigh in a blog called #whilebleeding, its branding reinforces every retrograde stereotype about femininity. Its website is an orgy of bubble gum pink, as are its rubber products.

Right now binary gender and its iconographies are under assault. Liberal parents are trying to raise gender-free children, empowered teenagers select their own gender, and adults freely switch genders. So why is a corporation celebrating biological femininity? Will we honor male bodily functions similarly? Other than to shock, what’s it for?

October 26, 2020 by Nalina Moses

DECORATIVE ARTS

I recently spent a day hiding out inside the Pierre Hotel, at the Splendid Indian Closet, a trunk show where twelve celebrated Indian-based designers showed their current collections. As I watched the presentations I was struck by the persistence of tradition. Virtually all of the clothes shown that day were traditional garment types (sari, lengha, kurta, salwar kameez), executed in traditional palettes (fuschia with red, saffron with burgundy, sea foam with navy) and with traditional embellishments (embroidery, lace, zari, beads). The one designer who succeeded in taking these conventions and elevating them to dazzling, supernatural effect was Suneet Varma.

This designer’s work has a sense of refinement that’s not always evident in Indian fashion, which can be over-embellished without being purposefully so. In many of the garments from this recent show, the ornament is so lavish that not much fabric is left bare. But each ensemble remains monochromatic, built from layers of gauzy chiffons and slithering silks in a single glowing hue (pale peach, bright lime, berry red, sky blue). And the ornament, while over-the-top, is carefully structured, repetitive, rhyming, pulling the entire garment together.

Varma worked as in intern in Paris, with a stint at Yves Saint Laurent, and there is a very French sense of exoticism (India!) and theatricality to his work. The models moved down the runway slowly, self-consciously and regally. They held enormous jewel-trimmed veils over their heads, rolled their hips like Jessica Rabbit, and took dramatic pauses in the middle of the runway. They were styled with elaborate knights-of-arabia turbans, hooker-high gold heels, and glittering, shoulder-grazing chandelier earrings. Like John Galliano’s gowns, Varma’s lenghas and saris are costume-like, magically transformative. They turn the women wearing them into courtesans and movie stars, vamps and queens.

Photograph courtesy of Suneet Varma.

July 15, 2014 by Nalina Moses