Anja Rubik (in) Met Ball 2012
When it was released this past weekend that Anja would be wearing an Anthony Vaccarello dress, I was expecting controversy, a lot of skin showing, and a good photo opportunity. Last night, all my expectations were met. Personally, I am obsessed with that dress! How can one not be?!!
While several celebrities and models have showed off slits on the red carpet, no one has flashed this much leg and hip until now. In less than 12 hours, Anja’s dress has made headline news around the world from ABC News to International Business Times to Huff Post to The Telegraph to Daily Mail to TMZ to NY Daily News to Celebuzz. It is the most talked about dress of the evening. Much of the rhetoric have mocked and criticized Anja’s hipbone. In my opinion, press is press, good or bad. In a world where the current generation of models will never have the chance to become supermodels and celebrities are fronting covers of fashion magazines, models are nowhere as important as actresses because they do not get an enormous kind of reaching press.
But furthermore, here’s my personal takes and things I have never said on this blog until now…
I love how daring the dress was. It takes a woman with a lot of confidence and presence to wear it publicly for 6 hours or so. I feel Anja gave the dress justice in her own way and carried herself well. While she may not be one of my top personal favorites because I personally feel her body type is wrong for Victoria’s Secret and is not what women and young girls should aspire for, I always have had a pleasure photographing Anja whether it is fashion week or not because she is very genuinely gracious. While many models would run away from photographers and paparazzi, Anja always would make some time. She is also one of those models I am sure is great to work with because she isn’t afraid of anything, including standing outside for the camera in the cold rain in the presence lightning and thunder. For that, she wins me over. There is something about fearless models/women that is so attractive to me.
I also agree with commentaries on how scary thin and bony Anja looked, but she did looked healthier last night compare to some other previous points in her life as a model. In interviews, she has mentioned many time that she leads a healthy life and does eat but her body chemistry does not work like the average person. I never thought I would defend Anja, but I guess I am doing it right now.
However, I am never shortsighted… I have had conversation with many younger and newer models in the industry who feel intimidated and scared of Anja’s body because they feel they will always be compared to such a standard while their bodies are evolving and growing as women.
