Is this a Joke?

Unfortunately, this is not a joke! Vogue Italia made the grave mistake of labeling this earring trend Slave Earrings.  The style story read:


"If the name brings to the mind the decorative traditions of the women of colour who were brought to the southern United States during the slave trade, the latest interpretation is pure freedom."


Upon realizing the offense caused to readers, the magazine's editor-in-chief Franca Sozzani released the following statement:


"We apologize for the inconvenience. It is a matter of really bad translation from Italian into English. The Italian word, which defines those kind of earrings, should instead be translated into 'ethnic style earrings'. Again, we are sorry about this mistake which we have just amended in the website."


The implication: slave and ethnic are interchangable terms -- not the right message, either.  I am an avid Vogue reader, and generally a big fan of the Vogue editors, as well.  So I am disappointed to see the magazine make such a blatantly inappropriate reference and even more so to hear this terrible, and less-than reparative statement.  


*source/image credit: The Huffington Post