Carine Roitfeld: Corps & Lames
samedi 16 avril 2011 
I present with glee the witty words of our lovely editor-at-large, Kate Ringo Suzuki, in which she sharply dissects the dangerous beauty of Carine Roitfeld's legendary editorial, "Corps & Lames," originally published in the February 2005 issue of Vogue Paris:
In 2005 Carine Roitfeld teamed up with legendary photographer Mario Testino to produce the now famous Vogue Paris editorial, "Corps & Lames" (which translates as "Body & Blades"), in which she cast the doll-faced Gemma Ward in a mischievious romp through fashion fantasy. I can just picture the two of them giggling, “Let’s piss off zee stupid Americans who watch Fox News!”
At first blush, Gemma is all childlike innocence with her doe eyes, polka dots, ruffled bloomers (a present from Granny?), and white tights. Slowly we come to realize that the tights are in fact thigh-highs and you can see right through the wisps of polka dot chiffon. Then it hits us: Gemma is a dirty little nymphet. The cheeky wench has removed one of her black dominatrix gloves as to better wield her golden scissors. We watch her cut her Barbie’s hair to match her own hairstyle. I guess Carine and Mario were just getting warmed up because I can think of much kinkier things my friends and I did with our Barbies, and it usually involved a Ken doll.
Where is Humbert Humbert? I think he flew the coop and had the nymphet committed. The scene is set on a cold, sterile stainless steel table in the clinical white madhouse bathroom. One minute she is murderously wielding her scissors at an innocent fish swimming in its bowl, the next minute she is cutting her own eyelashes while simultaneously strangling herself with her single dominatrix-gloved hand. Sista is a psycho — she can’t decide if she’s top or bottom.
The kink doesn’t stop here. Carine and Mario go all out. Gemma is their pretty pawn, whom they maninipulate as easily as a delicate puppet on strings. Sweet Gemma, donning a pure white apron front top juxtaposed with black pantyhose with a back seam, performs some kind of ritualistic surgery on a slab of meat. We watch her bending over that now familiar sterile stainless steel table in the clinical madhouse bathroom. I imagine Mario instructing Gemma, “Bend over… a little more… .a little more. Ahhh, yes! Beautiful!” Click. “Beautiful!! Beautiful!!” Click. Click.
Yes, beautiful! And brilliant.
Vogue Paris editorial images © 2005 Condé Nast. All Rights Reserved.
Carine Roitfeld in Editorial, Fashion, Kate Ringo Suzuki, Vogue Paris
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