The fashion label Valentino has dropped fashion photographer Terry Richardson, telling the Daily Beast it took the “allegations” of improper behavior against the photographer “seriously.”
Richardson had most recently photographed the label’s 2018 ‘Resort’ campaign. As of last Friday, the label had, without comment, removed references to the controversial photographer from their Instagram page.
On Tuesday afternoon, a Valentino spokesperson told the Daily Beast: “Valentino's last campaign with photographer Terry Richardson was shot in July 2017–there are no plans on a future campaign and, of course, take these allegations against Terry Richardson seriously.”
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Richardson’s own hand had famously featured in a 2013 Valentino campaign, holding the label's handbags.
The Resort 2018 campaign featured, according to The Fashion Spot, a group of models–Faretta, Imari Karanja, Jolie Alien, Ratner, Selena Forrest, Torie Bowie and Mag Cysewska. It was shot on location at St. Vartan Park basketball court in New York City.
The many allegations of inappropriate behavior against Richardson, who admits to having sex with women who model for him though says it is “consensual,” long predate July 2017.
A spokesperson for Valentino would not elaborate on why the label had decided to terminate their working relationship with the photographer only now, in the wake of Richardson being blacklisted by Condé Nast International titles, including Vogue and GQ.
A representative for Richardson told the Daily Beast Tuesday that Richardson was “disappointed” by the blacklisting, “especially because he has previously addressed these old stories. He is an artist who has been known for his sexually explicit work so many of his professional interactions with subjects were sexual and explicit in nature but all of the subjects of his work participated consensually.”
UPDATE: A spokesperson for Bulgari said that the jeweler "has a long history of working with different photographers on various initiatives. The campaign that was done with Terry Richardson was a one off, and there are no plans of working with him again."
