The Cult of Celebrity comes to Cuba

[El Presidente]

Reading this.....I didn't know wheter to laugh or cry

.....I understand Ken was invited but but it clashed with his Giorgio Armani contract.

http://themuse.jezebel.com/chanels-runway-show-in-cuba-was-complicated-1774678016

[GasGuy82]

Am I the only one who thinks Karl Lagerfeld is creepy looking? I mean, I've always thought so, but the picture with the young girl...yuck

[TheMonk]

All just a little bit too ridiculous, IMO.

[MIKA27]

I am I the only one who thinks Karl Lagerfield is creepy looking? I mean, I've always thought so, but the picture with the young girl...yuck

I'm with you on that one bud

[luv2fly]

I feel sure Ken could've pulled it off. And I would expect he would blame any issue on the "wombat". Bless you Ken!

[luv2fly]

I am I the only one who thinks Karl Lagerfield is creepy looking? I mean, I've always thought so, but the picture with the young girl...yuck

Creepy in the first order!

[Orion21]

Sorry to offend, but in my experience people in fashion are some of the most vapid and clueless people alive. I'm sure the big houses are eyeing some factory space to produce some $1,000 blouses on $1 a day labor!

[Ken Gargett]

georgio couldn't afford me.

i see the reference to dirty dancing havana. aside from being a toxic heap of crap, there is a moment, if one looks closely, where someone is smoking a Limited Edition. in 1958?

far more to the point - what the hell are you doing reading this site? very sus.

[LLC]

At the top of the article it says the average Cuban has to live off $20 a day, they only wish. Obviously they meant $20 a month.

I wouldn't be surprised if our friend Jose was there, when I saw him in Havana last September he had been to something for Channel in preparation for this if I recall properly. He had been at an exclusive party to be the photographer. Maybe he do a write up if he was there this time.

[Bill Hayes]

I reckon this might sum it up!

[Colt45]

Oh no, they'll destroy Cuba - the sky is falling, the sky is falling.......

[CanuckSARTech]

Absolutely pathetic.

These vapid people have no idea what Havana / Cuba truly was / is / can be.

Oh no, they'll destroy Cuba - the sky is falling, the sky is falling.......

Exactly. Cubans are more resilient than these effers.

The problem is, these are the kinds that will swarm in, ***** and moan about everything not being like it is in Mexico or Puerto Rico or Dominican Republic, then try what they can to change it that way, and when Cubans batten-down-the-hatches and punt the retarded masses out, it will leave a general bad taste in the mouths of all affected perhaps.

THAT'S what I fear. Not that the "tourist masses" and business ventures will un-Cuba Cuba, but that it will change attitudes inside and outside of that island of the overall impressions that genuine tourists and lovers of that island do indeed have.

[Blazer]

Ya know who would make a cute coupe? Karl Lagerfeld and Donatello Versace!

[Orion21]

Want to know what these types of celebrities are saying about Cuba? That it's nasty and they won't be back. Anthony Bourdain may think it's one of the most beautiful cities in the world, but he appreciates the uniqueness of the disrepair etc. The feedback I have gotten from people I know who have been to Havana in the past year is that it's ramshackle appearance is going to scare of a lot of people off. Yes, Cuba will eventually repair and rebuild when the money comes flowing in, but these leaches are there because it's cool and now. By next week it will be another location and they won't be back to Cuba. Havana is not the glamour spot of the 50's anymore, not even close.

Personally, I can't think of a more interesting place to visit and I am jealous of those who have been regularly. Someday soon I hope!

[Colt45]

Absolutely pathetic.

These vapid people have no idea what Havana / Cuba truly was / is / can be.

Exactly. Cubans are more resilient than these effers.

The problem is, these are the kinds that will swarm in, ***** and moan about everything not being like it is in Mexico or Puerto Rico or Dominican Republic, then try what they can to change it that way, and when Cubans batten-down-the-hatches and punt the retarded masses out, it will leave a general bad taste in the mouths of all affected perhaps.

THAT'S what I fear. Not that the "tourist masses" and business ventures will un-Cuba Cuba, but that it will change attitudes inside and outside of that island of the overall impressions that genuine tourists and lovers of that island do indeed have.

If the government allows it and the people want it, Cuba will change regardless of what outsiders want. I sometimes get the feeling that regular tourists to Cuba don't want it to change for their own selfish / romanticized reasons. But without first hand knowledge, I couldn't possibly know what motivates any tourist to travel there.

Why worry about what other tourists think about their time spent in Cuba? If one enjoys it, they'll go back if they can. If they don't enjoy it, they probably won't - just like any other tourist destination. Chanel went there for a photo shoot - big whoop. Why is it any different than a photo shoot anywhere else?

"Those people, this is my Cuba!"

[JerseyG]

Reading this.....I didn't know wheter to laugh or cry

.....I understand Ken was invited but but it clashed with his Giorgio Armani contract.

http://themuse.jezebel.com/chanels-runway-show-in-cuba-was-complicated-1774678016

Cry...

[CanuckSARTech]

If the government allows it and the people want it, Cuba will change regardless of what outsiders want. I sometimes get the feeling that regular tourists to Cuba don't want it to change for their own selfish / romanticized reasons. But without first hand knowledge, I couldn't possibly know what motivates any tourist to travel there.

Why worry about what other tourists think about their time spent in Cuba? If one enjoys it, they'll go back if they can. If they don't enjoy it, they probably won't - just like any other tourist destination. Chanel went there for a photo shoot - big whoop. Why is it any different than a photo shoot anywhere else?

"Those people, this is my Cuba!"

I get ya. And it's not that I don't want Cuba to change - they need some change for the better, for sure. Similar to Hamlet moving to the U.S. - you gotta look at the long-term positives / gains.

And I don't really care about what other tourists think.

I worry about the mass impact of some of these close-minded people in visiting, and what the mass impact (of the negative sort) will be on the Cuban people themselves. I worry for a changing of the attitudes. Where a Cuban will see a white dude, visiting from wherever, and casting them off as another self-centered tourist, rather than being as welcoming as they've always seemed to be to me in the past decade or so.

And, I'm REALLY hoping that these are unfounded fears. And yes, a bit self-centered in my own a bit, in that I don't want their welcoming attitudes to change, for MY benefit. I get that.

I just worry about how perceptions might be changed to the negative.

[Colt45]

I just worry about how perceptions might be changed to the negative.

K, don't get me wrong -

though I've never been, I think I understand how many members might feel about how things are changing, and that you are probably correct on many points. I think what might be a bit unusual in this case is that it's happening so quickly - right before our eyes, and that might make it a bit more painful than something more gradual.

Money changes everything - only time will tell how it all works itself out.....

[CanuckSARTech]

K, don't get me wrong -

though I've never been, I think I understand how many members might feel about how things are changing, and that you are probably correct on many points. I think what might be a bit unusual in this case is that it's happening so quickly - right before our eyes, and that might make it a bit more painful than something more gradual.

Money changes everything - only time will tell how it all works itself out.....

Very good point, Ross. Well said, and agreed.

[luv2fly]

I know that I have said that I want to see Cuba before it changes. That was not fair to the Cuban people. Yes, I would like to see what all of you see now. It is like stepping into a time machine. That is selfish and one sided of me.

I want change for the better for the Cuban people. Period! I DO NOT want to Americanize the island. Nobody should have to suffer that

My hope for the people of Cuba is the freedom we all enjoy and the freedom that is their right as humans.

IMHO.