In March 2013, Numéro published a spread featuring model Ondria Hardin under the title “African Queen,” photographed by Sebastian Kim. Hardin was styled with visibly darkened skin and an afro, prompting renewed accusations that the magazine had reproduced blackface imagery after already facing criticism for its 2010 editorial with Constance Jablonski. The controversy spread through fashion and media outlets, including The Huffington Post, which contacted Numéro for an explanation. The magazine responded with an apology and a disclaimer, arguing that Kim’s work was intended to express a “melting pot” and a mixing of cultures rather than discrimination based on skin color. Kim offered a different defense, saying his visual references were 1960s figures such as Talitha Getty, Veruschka, and Marisa Berenson, combined with Middle Eastern and Moroccan fashion influences; he also claimed he had not intended Hardin to appear Black and had not chosen the title “African Queen.” The competing explanations intensified criticism because they addressed artistic intention while leaving unresolved the central issue: how racialized imagery is read and experienced by audiences. The episode became a prominent example of fashion’s repeated failure to distinguish cultural inspiration from the theatrical simulation of another race.
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AI concept artworkArchive Record · 2010s
The 2013 “African Queen” Controversy: Numéro Repeats Its Blackface Scandal
Numéro magazine, photographer Sebastian Kim, and model Ondria Hardin / 2010s
In March 2013, Numéro published a spread featuring model Ondria Hardin under the title “African Queen,” photographed by Sebastian Kim. Hardin was styled with visibly darkened skin and an afro, prompting renewed accusations that the magazine had reproduced blackface imagery after already facing criticism for its 2010 editorial with Constance Jablonski. The controversy spread through fashion and media outlets, including The Huffington Post, which contacted Numéro for an explanation. The magazine responded with an apology and a disclaimer, arguing that Kim’s work was intended to express a “melting pot” and a mixing of cultures rather than discrimination based on skin color. Kim offered a different defense, saying his visual references were 1960s figures such as Talitha Getty, Veruschka, and Marisa Berenson, combined with Middle Eastern and Moroccan fashion influences; he also claimed he had not intended Hardin to appear Black and had not chosen the title “African Queen.” The competing explanations intensified criticism because they addressed artistic intention while leaving unresolved the central issue: how racialized imagery is read and experienced by audiences. The episode became a prominent example of fashion’s repeated failure to distinguish cultural inspiration from the theatrical simulation of another race.
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