15 September to 22 September

Beauty in the stark reality of India?

Flick through last month's India Vogue and you'll find a 16-page spread depicting some of the nation's poorest people modelling clothes that they could never dare dream to own. Identified only as 'man' or 'woman', they resemble images on a charity calendar, except for one detail: they are incongruously accessorised. A Fendi designer bib hangs from the neck of a bemused child, a mother clutches a Hermès Birkin bag close to her sari. Leading social commentators in India have denounced the fashion shoot by British designers Alexander McQueen and Burberry as 'distasteful' and 'callous'.  The editor of Vogue says they should 'lighten up'.  Perhaps they should?  The 'models' were, after all, paid a significant amount of money.

This is reminiscent of the moral ambiguity stirred up in the 90s by the controversial Benetton advertising campaigns. It's OK for cadaverous models to flaunt ethnic 'Third World' chic on a Milan catwalk, but not for poor Indian villagers to parade the same goods down the street as if they were really part of their world. If idealised images of health, wealth and beauty are permissible, is it so wrong to confront the consumer with luxury items in juxtaposition with India's stark reality? 

Mark Helyar is a writer, theatre director and musician.  His first book, Rising from the Dust ~ India's Hidden Voices, was published in July 2008.  For more information, visit www.emptycanvas.co.uk