Indian American community leader Rajan Zed has criticised Vanity Fair magazine's just released prestigious '2009 International Best-Dressed List', claiming the list was 'biased and uneven'.
In a statement issued in Nevada, Zed, who is president of the Universal Society of Hinduism, said that although the list claimed to be 'international', its 53 listed best-dressed people belonged to only ten countries, representing only about ten percent of the world population.
"So this 'best dressed list' appeared to be telling us that we in about 185 countries, representing about 90 percent of the world population, including the continents of Asia and Africa and most populated countries like China and India, did not know how to comb our hair or how to tie a half Windsor knot with a dimple on the necktie or our wardrobes were not chic or we lacked a sense of style," Zed argued.
Zed further said that although Vanity Fair claimed of 'in-depth reportage' and its publisher Condé Nast Publications Inc professed 'journalistic integrity', except Colombia and Qatar, the rest of the best dressed people in this list were from US and seven European countries.
"Even in the US of A, the majority of the listed people were from New York City or somehow linked to it, again indicating that we in USA, who were not associated with Manhattan in some capacity, lacked culture and style," he pointed out.
According to this list, 29 of the world's best dressed people were from US, followed by five each from France and Spain, four each from Italy and United Kingdom, two from Greece, and one each from Ireland, Russia, Colombia and Qatar.
Vanity Fair's 70th annual International Best-Dressed List, published in its September issue, hit the newsstands on Wednesday. It includes politicians, wives of politicians, movie stars, writers, royalty, fashion professionals, jewelry designers, bankers, artists, financiers, singers, professional bullfighters etc.
According to its mission statement, Vanity Fair is a cultural catalyst -- a magazine that provokes and drives the popular dialogue.
Graydon Carter is editor-in-chief, while Edward Menicheschi is its publisher. Launched in 1913 and published from New York, it claims a readership of 6,107,000.
Image: Manhattan-based Indian-American designer Rachel Roy made it to Vanity Fair's 70th Best Dressed List.
Text: ANI | Photograph: Reuters
