UPDATE: M.A.C. Rodarte Collection Controversy

Eerie campaign shot for Rodarte's M.A.C. Collection
Photo courtesy of Stylelist.com

UPDATE: M.A.C. will be donating $100 000 to a non-profit organization in Juarez and will be changing the product names. It's clear the beauty blogging community has a voice. We love beauty but we will never stand for exploitation or discrimination all in the name to be edgy or to make a fast buck.

Has M.A.C. done enough? If the Rodarte collection was made to bring awareness of Juarez and to donate proceeds to Juarez charities from the get-go there would be no controversy. The apologies and efforts seem too after-the-fact. As someone commented on this post, the upside is that we are all aware of the help that Juarez needs. Has Rodarte done enough? I don't think so. Why aren't they offering to give a portion of their clothing sales to a Juarez charity?

What I do commend M.A.C. for is that they are not too big of a company to listen to their consumers. If you do plan to buy from the Rodarte collection, at least you'll know part of the proceeds are going to help the women of Juarez. Another reader left a comment saying she'd rather donate her money directly to a charity. I agree. If you're looking to donate visit this site for a list of charities in Juarez:
http://www.charity-charities.org/Mexico-charities/Juarez.html

Original Post: 

There has been much buzz over the controversy of M.A.C.'s  Rodarte collection and the designer's questionable inspiration of a little town in Mexico called Juarez. The history of Juarez was news to me and  I was unfamiliar with the background of the town until I read it on Vex in The City. I had heard about the collaboration between M.A.C. and the Rodarte sister designers, Laura and Kate Mullevy, launching this Fall but didn't clue into the controversy that surrounds it. 

Juarez, known as a factory town in Mexico, is notorious for the disappearance of hundreds of women between the ages of 12 and 22 who have been raped and murdered on their way to work, with little help from the police leaving most cases unsolved. It's disturbing and horrific, leaving me more sad than inspired. 

It's difficult to look at this campaign shot of a ghostly model who is rail thin, and with eyes that stare back at you with nothing but emptiness. I can't look at her without getting goose bumps and not in the good way. Seeing this picture does not make me want to run out and buy the collection. And after reading some of the names of the products, all I could think was "Really??". No, I will not be swiping on my shadow called "Sleepwalker" only to be reminded of the women and children who were raped and murdered for this "inspiration".

Either M.A.C. and the Rodarte designers are absolutely insensitive or this is all apart of a brilliant marketing plan to make M.A.C. look like heroes, making this a sell-out collection. Style List almost seems to sugar coat the situation praising M.A.C. for issuing a statement saying a portion of the proceeds from the collection will go to those in need in Juarez. Fabulous, now that sh*t has hit the fan. Was the real purpose of the collection to recognize the hardships of these women and to be inspire us M.A.C. addicts to help? Really. I think these women have been exploited enough. Sometimes bad publicity is just bad publicity.

For all you die-hard M.A.C. fans, how do you feel about the Rodarte collection? Will the Juarez controversy deter you from buying this collection? Or do you love M.A.C. so much you've just got to have it? To read Vex in The City's insightful post click here. To read more from Style List click here.