The Advertising Standards Authority in the UK has banned an ad from Miu Miu’s spring/summer 15 campaign for “inappropriately sexualizing a model.” The ad, photographed by Steven Meisel, features a fresh-faced Mia Goth loungin’ on a bed in a ruffled crop top, capris and a pair of bow-fronted red high heels.
Despite Goth’s age — she’s 22 —the ASA believed the ad “could give the impression that [it] presented a child in a sexualized way.” WWD reported this morning that the ASA passed its decision at a hearing today after receiving a single complaint from an unnamed source. The organization argued that Goth’s minimal makeup and slightly oversized clothing could lead people to believe she was under 16, and that her pose and the setting were “sexually suggestive.” It ruled the ad “irresponsible and…likely to cause offence.”
British Vogue, which published the ad as a double-page spread, has defended the image, arguing that the magazine’s audience is sophisticated enough “to appreciate top photography and great fashion models.” Prada, Miu Miu’s parent company, also emphasized Goth’s age, and denied that the image has a sexual tone.
This isn’t the first time Miu Miu has been ticked off by ASA. A Bruce Weber photograph of Hailee Steinfeld, sitting on some railroad tracks clad in Miu Miu fall/winter 11, was banned by the organization because it showed a child in an “unsafe location.”
Credits
Text Alice Newell-Hanson