Ralph Lauren And The Photoshop Issues

  • Pin it

Ralph Lauren. A very respected fashion brand. Photoshop. A very respected computer application. Filippa Hamilton, a very respected model. The Blogosphere. A very respected Vigilante.

Take the above mentioned, carefully stir them together and you have the viral Ralph Lauren ad poster with Filippa Hamilton whose upper body was photoshoped out of its regular anatomic proportions. First spotted on Photoshop Disaster, it spread, being furtherpublished by Boing Boing and so on. (click through to find out what happened in the Blogosphere Vs Ralph Lauren case!)

Filipa Hamilton Ralph Lauren ad

But get this: someone chez Ralph Lauren isn’t a fan of the Blogosphere, hence the DMCA complaint filed against Boing Boing & PhD (Digital Milennium Copyright Act). Resisting the wrongful complaint, Boing Boing’s editor, Cory Doctorow, cleared out the copyright law infringement signaled by the RL lawyers (This is classic fair use: a reproduction “for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting,” etc.). Don’t try to contain the liberty of speech! It will blow in your face, just like it did in Blogosphere Vs Ralph Lauren: the reputed fashion brand issued a statement saying that:

“For over 42 years we have built a brand based on quality and integrity. After further investigation, we have learned that we are responsible for the poor imaging and retouching that resulted in a very distorted image of a woman’s body. We have addressed the problem and going forward will take every precaution to ensure that the caliber of our artwork represents our brand appropriately.”

Filippa Hamilton

5 comments

#1 Sal on 10.12.09 at 7:00 am

Heard about this last week. How did that distorted image EVER get past their higher-ups?

#2 kpriss on 10.12.09 at 7:26 am

it’s the fashion, nowadays! Haven’t you heard about that Gap thing? They manged to mutate a girl’s pelvis! It was horrid, hooorrrrid!

They think we’ll eat just about anything and if we’re having troubles digesting it, bam! a lawsuit on your head! Thumbs up for the Boing Boing guys (and their ISP) who stood up to the couture ego-storm!

#3 Adriana on 10.13.09 at 8:56 am

Disgusting! Saw this before. Agrees with Sal. Yes. strange indeed!
Tried to google for that GAP thing but I believe it anyway…..ugh…..
Good, I read more and more protests against these horrid things, ok, let’s fight against this!!

#4 Adriana on 10.14.09 at 7:41 am

I’ve read that Filippa has lost her Ralph Lauren contract due to this? *Scratches my head now and looks angry*

#5 cc on 12.31.09 at 12:31 am

I’m sorry I just can’t stop laughing – I’ve never seen the image before. O my God – what a hoot!

This is like advertising:

WE ARE RALPH LAUREN

WE LOVE TO GET HIGH IN THE OFFICE

Leave a Comment