Haute Torture?

It seems that John Galliano has gotten inspiration from the Abu Ghraib photos. Check out this National Public Radio podcast on fashion and politics. The story kicks off with the Galliano Fall 2008 collection, which featured male models in hoods and bloody body paint. The bulk of the 10-minute-or-so story isn't about Abu Ghraib, but is about the relationship between fashion, and class, politics and war. The commentator, a professor of design at RISD, says that Galliano is "using his pulpit in a responsible way...." NPR treats the whole thing rather ironically by opening and closing the story with dialogue from - you guessed it - Zoolander.

I'm not sure what I think of this. Maybe I need more coffee.

Inga Treitler, practicing anthropologist extraordinaire, found this. THANKS INGA!