Vogue Portugal Responds To Controversy Over Cover Of ‘Madness Issue’ Addressing Mental Health

Vogue Portugal has been under fire since the release of its upcoming cover for its “Madness Issue,” placing a focus on mental health.

The cover features model Simona Kirchnerova, huddled in a bathtub with two nurses surrounding her, one of whom is pouring water on her head.

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THE MADNESS ISSUE. COVER 1/4 It’s about love. It’s about life. It’s about us. It’s about you. It’s about now. It’s about health. It’s about mental health. #themadnessissue It’s about time. . Edição julho/agosto disponível em vogue.pt/shop Nas bancas disponível a partir de 10 de julho. ___
 July/August issue available at vogue.pt/shop Newsstands available from July 10th. . Photography @branislavsimoncik Styling @ninaford_ @nemamconaseba Hair @janmolnarofficial Make up @lukaskimlicka Models @simonakirchnerova Assistants Branislav Waclav / @PatrikHopjak / @fosia.rvs @exitmodelmanagement . #vogueportugal @lighthouse.publishing #editorinchief @sofia.slucas #creativedirection @jsantanagq

A post shared by Vogue Portugal (@vogueportugal) on Jul 2, 2020 at 12:01pm PDT

As BBC News reports, the cover has been criticized for glamourizing mental illness, in addition to its use of the term “madness.”

“For those with experience of the psychiatric system, seeing a fashion magazine cover presenting a woman in such a vulnerable state can be a reminder of a very challenging time in their lives,” clinical psychologist Katerina Alexndraki told BBC News.

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“This image reinforces the idea of women being vulnerable and helpless during a mental health breakdown. It does not show us the effort those with mental health put in to overcoming their struggles, their strengths and resistance to overcome adversity,” she added.

Meanwhile, Portuguese fashion model Sara Sampaio, who has opened up about her own struggles with mental health, took to social media to blast the cover, which she felt was in “very bad taste.”

In a video she shared on Instagram, Sampaio described the cover as looking like “an [outdated] mental hospital” that would “torture” its patients, and “should not be representing the conversation about mental health.”

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Little Personal thought on mental health. Links English: @didi_hirsch @thelovelandfoundation Português: @saudemental.pt @rumosolutions Will be adding some links for more info on mental health soon, if you have any please leave in the comments! Thank You

A post shared by Sara Sampaio (@sarasampaio) on Jul 3, 2020 at 9:16am PDT

Following the backlash, Vogue Portugal offered a defence of its controversial cover in a statement posted on Twitter, insisting the intent was to “open up the topic of mental health, and bring to the discussion the institutions, the science and the people that are involved with mental health today.”

The statement concluded by acknowledging “the significance of the topic of mental health and our intention, through visual storytelling, is to shine a light on the important issues of today.”

About the Madness Issue pic.twitter.com/wTOy4wp0Hv

— Vogue Portugal (@VoguePortugal) July 3, 2020

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