Vogue magazine’s odd Hurricane Sandy fashion spread is the object of major backlash, with readers calling it tasteless, awful and done so soon after the storm (which hit the city Oct. 29) that it resembles something out of “Zoolander.”
The 12-page spread is jarring to flip through, with models Chanel Iman, Kasia Struss and Karlie Kloss inappropriately posing on a U.S. Coast Guard boat in billowing white Ralph Lauren, Vera Wang and Donna Karan gowns, standing inside Con Ed’s East River Generating Station in Oscar de la Renta, mingling with nurses in Bellevue while clad in Michael Kors and Marc Jacobs, and strutting with the NYPD and the FDNY in Far Rockaway in Narciso Rodriguez and Carolina Herrera dresses.
The supermodels seem so out of place it’s as if they’ve been photoshopped in by famed photog Annie Leibovitz.
“‘When Hurricane Sandy hit, the city’s bravest and brightest punched back,” the intro to the piece reads. “With the area now on the mend, we paid these stalwart souls a visit, dressed up in the best of the New York collections. Call them New York’s other finest.”
A Vogue insider tells Confidenti@l that they’re not apologizing and that the goal of the shoot was to honor the first responders. The fashion bible also raised $1.7 million for Sandy relief immediately after of the disaster.
“This shoot was done well after the emergency situation in the city was over. We shot in December,” the source told us. “Every person and organization who participated had made it clear that if they were needed elsewhere, duty took precedent over our shoot, and all were happy to participate and are happy with the results.”
Our source adds that most of the shoots took place in an hour or two, and that there was a misconception that the assignments were day-long endeavors.
Vogue senior editor Corey Seymour is standing behind the effort, saying it was done with the best interests of New York City residents in mind.
“Like others in the city, Vogue responded to Hurricane Sandy by showing our support for those affected and our gratitude to the rescue workers,” Seymour said.
“In addition to spearheading a Charitybuzz auction and a designer sale, which jointly raised over $1.7 million in relief funds, we dedicated our February issue to New York City,” he said. “We chose to celebrate the hard work of the teams who responded to the crisis in a way appropriate to the context of a fashion magazine,” Seymour said.
LAWRENCE WILL BE FOOLING AROUND
Jennifer Lawrence will host “Saturday Night Live” this evening, and says she’s not afraid to act like a fool. The “Silver Linings Playbook” star, who won a Golden Globe for her role, saying “I beat Meryl” in her speech, told “Access Hollywood” she is ready to bring it. “They’ve just said it’s going to be the most amazing experience of my life, which they were right about.” She promised fans can get excited about watching her be “an idiot.”
MAYER’S GOT GOOD RANGE
After John Mayer‘s Montana ranch was almost burned to the ground due to a wildfire, the singer performed live for the first time in two years to raise money for the firefighters who came to the rescue. Mayer, who also organized the concert, appeared in Bozeman, Mont., Wednesday with the Zac Brown Band, and raised over $100,000 for his local firefighters. The blaze occurred in August, while Mayer was in Los Angeles undergoing surgery for a growth near his vocal cords.
SIMMONS STILL ON THE BAWL
Richard Simmons — still working out, still an emotional mess. The 64-year-old fitness guru was on hand to teach the Old Navy Active Cardio Class Thursday at Aerospace, where he had “emotional crying fits” three times during the class, one guest tells Confidenti@l. “He is much weirder than even anticipated,” says our spy. “30 Rock” star Katrina Bowden attended the 5 p.m. class and got way into it.
PUPPY LOVE FOR J.LO AND CASPER
Jennifer Lopez and her boytoy Casper Smart are playing house. The duo have adopted a puppy together, a Boxer they have named Bear. On Thursday, J.Lo retweeted a picture of the pup that Smart had posted earlier that day. “Introducing the new addition to the family. “BEAR” So Happy! LilBabyBear.” She even brought Bear to her taping of the “Jimmy Kimmel Live” show on Thursday.
ROUGH DANZA FLIGHT
When Tony Danza got sick on a flight from L.A. to New York last weekend, IMG agent Lisa Benson tweeted that her seatmate, the 61-year-old “Who’s the Boss” star, was unwell. This prompted model Kate Upton to tweet “I don’t want to laugh but it is kind of funny the guy next to [Benson] is hung over.” Sources close to Danza say it was a 24-hour bug — not booze — that had him yacking. Danza seems to be feeling better now. Our spies spotted him downing absinthe shots with “Sex and the City” actor Mario Cantone at Cafe Tallulah.
