NLIU-ADRC FRESHERS’ POOLS 2024-25

RED
DAWN:
A RETROSPECTIVE

PRELIMS
PROBLEM
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The Dawn: Rags and Riches

The Dawnopolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as ‘The Dawn’ is the

largest art museum in the United States. The Dawn is the acme of art in all forms,
spanning centuries altogether. Collected over a span of 200-odd years, the
Museum boasts of the most iconic art pieces in all shapes and forms, including
paintings, jewellery, sculpture, installation pieces, historical capsules and clothing.
Obviously, their sourcing presents a muddled history, sometimes from generous
donors, or laundered from third world countries, or maybe even stolen? It’s difficult
to say, but there were those incidents of a lost Van Gogh resurfacing in the ‘Room
of One’s Own Retrospective 2009’ and that original Elsa Schiaparelli dress which
vanished from a baroness’s collection in 1949 only to resurface a year after her
death in 2012 in ‘Schiaparelli and Prada: Impossible Conversations Collection.’
Nevertheless, these incidents have been chalked up to poor bookkeeping, as Dawn
administrators take pride in the stereotype of “math-phobic artistic temperaments.”

The Dawn is not wanting of funds, as the State of New York allocates a portion of
public funds to its maintenance every five years, not to mention the backing of
investors, philanthropists and other culturally sensible people. In addition to this, an
entry fee of 40$ is charged from every individual, which ostensibly makes up a large
sum given the number of tourists coming through. However, the distribution of
funds among Dawn departments remains a mystery, given that it often takes great
pains to explore other avenues to fund specific departments. In this case, the
Costume and Design Institute used to organize the ‘Costume Institute Benefit’, a
fundraising event held in the first week of May each year. At the turn of the
millennium, it was renamed as ‘Dawn Soir’ and hosted in collaboration with Vogue
Magazine.

Vogue

Which came first: Vogue or Anna Wintour? Synonymous in

haute couture and high art circles, together they have spelt out
exclusivity in fashion, dictated global trends, and set the tone
for high society’s sentiments for over 40 years now. Anna
managed to stay relevant for decades altogether in an industry
where trends change overnight. She recognized the importance
of ‘new and shiny’ early on in the fashion industry, and has been
greasing the wheels of designers’ fashion houses, haute
couture, fast fashion and of course, capitalism, ever since.
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Vogue, originally a paperback magazine rebranded itself in the early 2000s as a

digital media outlet as well as consultant and publicist to designers and stars,
helping organize and sponsor runway shows, photoshoots, couture events,
exhibitions and fashion weeks. Over the decades, its sources of revenue have also
transformed to keep up with the audience. The Dawn Soir itself was heavily
monetized and controlled by Anna, right down to advertising placements,
livestreaming rights, and of course, ticket prices. It was up to Anna to decide who
attends and at what cost, alongside her instrumental role in deciding the theme of
the Dawn Soir each year. With immense focus on using Dawn Soir as a revenue
source, the charitability of the event eventually took a backseat, and the funds
raised went as much to Vogue as to the Costume and Design Institute.

Dawn Soir: A Chequered Past

The Dawn Soir is no run of the mill event. A 2011 New York Times article described
its grandeur and significance accurately, calling it the "Caviar of Fundraisers". It is
exclusive to a fault in that only the invitees are allowed to attend, even if others are
willing to purchase tickets and tables to the event. The saying goes that one needs
to be in Anna's good books for a decade to be invited to the Dawn Soir in the next.

The advertising and publicity generated from a mere cameo at the Dawn Soir is
immense, both for the fashion design house and the person modelling it. Anna
Wintour knows this better than anyone and has leveraged this to ensure that the
amount of money raised every year at the event is larger than the GDP of a small
island nation, and lately even a medium sized island nation. Fashion design houses
buy entire tables at the Dawn Soir. Actors, models, influencers and even politicians
collaborate with the fashion design houses and wear their pieces in order to attend
the event. Lately, a table at the Dawn Soir costs comes up to a whopping $350,000.
Independently invited individuals can also purchase tickets for themselves, if they
can afford it that is, since each ticket costs $75,000.

However, upon digging deeper Dawn Soir's ugly underbelly

reveals a history of associating with racist, xenophobic,
misogynistic, and homophobic individuals and possessing
questionable ideals from the very beginning. To make things
worse, the waste generated every year from the outfits, the
encouragement to buy more fast fashion, and the private flights
in and out of New York, have made many climate change
activists raises concerns about its unsustainability and
capitalistic frivolities.
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What happens to the hot pink Saint Laurent jumpsuit now that Barbie-core is no
longer en vogue? For better or for worse, Anna Wintour has been of the view that
the negativity has only added to its mystery and exclusiveness, remaining aloof and
making no effort to rectify its glaring flaws.

Each year the Dawn Soir releases its much awaited theme, around which all the
invitees are expected to base their outfits around. Designers have gone as far as to
appoint spies in Vogue to get a whiff of what the theme of the year might be! The
themes have ranged from Chinese History to Heavenly Bodies with no pattern to
connect them to the year or to each other. This year, a mysterious Reddit thread
gained traction where it was stated that the theme would be "Saki Tashi: A
Romantic Retrospective". Never in the history of the Dawn Soir has the theme been
leaked prematurely and unsurprisingly, this became breaking front page news with
reporters flocking outside the Vogue office every day since. Vogue has neither
affirmed this, nor denied it.

But many are not happy with this year's 'potential' theme. Born in Japan and raised in
Italy, Saki Tashi was a luxury fashion designer. Creating a fashion label named after
himself in 1943, his brand was bold statement pieces. Saki Tashi began to make
pieces for many celebrities but rose to stardom by 1949 when he made an iconic
baby blue blazer for Bess Truman, First Lady of America that she wore for President
Truman's inaugural address at the United Nations. He has since exponentially risen
in fame and his label has become a household name.

Unfortunately, he is not renowned only for his stardom. Saki Tashi was notorious for
preferring caucasian white models only for his shows and blatantly rejecting any
model who did not meet this requirement. He was especially racist towards African
American individuals and has been recorded saying racist slurs in an interview. In
fact, in 1996, as a sign of protest, many models refused to participate in his show
until he agreed to let black models also participate. Another perspective from which
he has attracted flak were his fashion pieces themselves. Being a huge fan of
texture in fabrics, Saki Tashi was often spotted in his signature mink coat. All of his
shows showcased various animal furs and he often remarked that faux furs were
destroying true fashion. All of this has led to people heavily criticising the Dawn Soir
for picking Saki Tashi as the theme. He was a problematic man with poor values.
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Turbulence at Vogue

In early 2024, the rumour mill churned out stories about Anna Wintour finally
stepping down from her role as Editor-in-Chief of Vogue and naming a successor.
And all of them were true! On 6th August 2024, Anna posted cryptically on Twitter:
“Seasons change. Springs blooms after Wintour. And with it, Red.”

Websites rushed to report an update in Vogue’s webpage; a new Editor-in-Chief

had been christened. Miss Sha Rouge, protégé to Anna, had taken up this mantle,
along with, of course, the responsibility of co-chair of the Dawn Soir.

Was it important why Anna was stepping down? Possibly. Did it mean a massive
overhaul for Vogue? Definitely. Best put, Rouge was known among fashion circles
as a ‘rebel’, and not in a good way. Even within the high fashion circles, she was an
insider looking out, and had been trying to bring change in small ways since she’d
joined Vogue. To her, Vogue was not just about fashion, but informing people’s
choices in fashion. In present day, it wasn’t just fashion that was in, but sustainable
fashion, and Rouge wanted to help her audience make better choices. For many
photoshoots led by her, she had sourced vintage designer pieces, advocated for the
use of innovative materials and pushed for circularity initiatives among the fashion
houses they consulted with.

Actually, if we’re addressing it, Rouge was at odds with a whole lot of what Vogue
and Dawn Soir did and stood for, right from the awfully controversial and
problematic themes, the lack of charitable intent, and the general apathy towards
sustainable choices. Rouge knew she now had to tread the tightrope between
keeping Vogue a profitable venture and honoring the groundwork Anna had laid,
and finding a way to make Dawn Soir a more ethical undertaking. Rouge has plans;
she wants to make sure that fashion is pushed to the current generations in a way
that resonates with them, their fears and anxieties, and their hopes and plans. That
is why she is absolutely certain that Dawn Soir cannot carry on the way it has in the
past.

Rouge had been occupied with adjusting into her new role for the past
few weeks, and hadn’t found the time to discuss her plans for Dawn Soir
with the Museum. Designers and brands were unsure of the direction in
which Rouge would take Vogue, and appear to be looking for other
publishing houses to branch out to. Anna’s contact list was quite
comprehensive, but Rouge found it difficult to command the same
power among them.
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On 7th October, an update on the Reddit thread about Saki Tashi and the theme of
the 2025 Met Gala added a source for this leaked information, being the Dawn’s
Chief Coordinator’s office itself. Upon receiving word of the same, Rouge was
absolutely livid. The Dawn and its Dawn Soir was already on thin ice in her books,
and this could be the last straw for Vogue to pull out of this entire venture
altogether.

The Dawn has requested Vogue for a negotiation session on 15th

and 16th October 2024, represented by its Chief Co-ordinator, Mx.
Devon Aoshi and Chief Legal Advisor, Mx. Parill Fort.

Vogue would be represented by Ms. Sha Rouge and her counsel,

Mx. Adha Chan.

THIS PROBLEM HAS BEEN DRAFTED BY MS DEVANSHI SINGH AND MS JAYALAKSHMI

SANKAR. CONTACTING THE DRAFTERS FOR ANY ASSISTANCE WOULD RESULT IN
IMMEDIATE DISQUALIFICATION.