It seems burqas are out of Vogue this year.
In a harshly worded e-mail, Conde Nast International Chairman Jonathan Newhouse angrily rejected a proposal to print a Middle East edition of Vogue pointing to the region’s “violent elements.”
Newhouse said he feared running into “a strongly negative, even violent reaction,” if the company allowed an Arabic-language version of the Anna Wintour-edited magazine that celebrates fashion, women and sexuality.
Newhouse’s smackdown came in response to a recent inquiry by a publishing company in the United Arab Emirates asking if Conde Nast would be interested in licensing an Arabic-language version of the famed fashion bible, which has multiple other editions throughout the world.
But instead of politely saying no, Newhouse channeled the magazine’s traditional holier-than-thou attitude as he snottily rattled off a litany of reasons why the company had no interest in sticking its nose into the troubled region.
“Within the Arab world, or to be more accurate, the Muslim world, there is an element which accepts Western values. There is also a powerful fundamentalist, religious element which rejects Western values,” he wrote in an e-mail that was leaked to the newspaper Emirates Daily.
“This element rejects freedom of expression, equality for women and expression of sexuality, to name three values associated with our publication,” he continued. “And this militant element is capable of aggressive opposition, even violence, to attain its goals. At its most extreme, this militant element is capable of murder.”
He then pointed to the troubles Playboy had when it tried to launch an edition in heavily Muslim Indonesia.
“In Indonesia recently, the editor of the local edition of Playboy was put on trial even though the local edition did not print nude photos,” he said.
“Our company has no wish to impose its values on a society which does not fully share them. And we do not wish to provoke a strongly negative, even violent reaction. It isn’t even worth it for a few million in licensing fees,” he continued.
Later, Newhouse wrote that the Middle East has “plenty of people . . . who would love to read Vogue. But unfortunately they live in the same general region as some of the most militant and violent elements.
“The UAE borders Saudi Arabia, home [country] of bin Laden and most of the September 11 terrorists. And militant elements take offense at any Arabic-language magazine,” he wrote. “This isn’t Israel/Palestine, Iraq or Iran. It isn’t a thorny problem which has to be solved. It is a problem I don’t have to have.
“So I will simply avoid it by never entering the market. And I will sleep better at night,” he concluded.
Emirates Daily did not identify the company that approached Conde Nast but quoted a spokesman who said officials there were “astounded” by Newhouse’s broadside.
A spokeswoman for Conde Nast declined to comment on the matter.