The fashion world is stirred up this Paris Fashion Week, and it isn’t solely about the Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson bravura catwalk. There’s something about finding amazement in the triumph of taste and the desire for beauty amid squalor that makes people rag on those who do. In this case, German princess and Vogue editor Elisabeth von Thurn and Taxis took a picture of a homeless woman reading Vogue magazine. She posted the pic on Instagram saying: “Paris is full of surprises . . . and @voguemagazine readers even in unexpected corners!” Innocent, if mildly oblivious comment. The criticism came at full-bore, becoming a morality tale about the conspicuous consumption of the fashion world vs. the hard banality of poverty. Especially poignant in this line was the criticism of the homeless woman (Maryse Dumas, 56) herself: “It’s no joke being destitute, living on the street….Look at me surrounded by all this rubbish, it’s ugly. It’s hard living on the street. It’s cold at night and if you can’t sleep you get ill. My legs hurt and I’m losing my teeth.”
Thurn and Taxis has since apologized: “I want to extend my sincerest apologies for the offense my post has caused.”
