EMERGE isn't quite sure what to make of a recent photo spread in Vogue Italia by acclaimed fashion lensman Steven Meisel. Splashed over thirty pages of the world's most important arbiter of fashion and style, State Of Emergency resembles a journalistic photo essay about body-armor clad cops and security people helping to make the city a safer place. Instead of familiar-looking bad guys laden with weaponry though, Meisel has placed the sort of supernaturally beautiful models that are his stock in trade into the shots. We see a blond struggling with two policemen as they drag her down the street, a woman pulling on her skirt after a strip search while a german shephard watches, a model lying prostrate on the ground with a riot cop's boot on her throat.

This is not your usual fashion spread, and while the photographs are gorgeously executed, the juxtaposition of fashion and such serious imagery brings up a number of questions. With so many people living in fear of terror attacks is Vogue commenting on the new security state, lampooning the invasive nature of the modern security society, or simply preying on our insecurities to help sell some lovely dresses and lingerie?

Interestingly, much of the online dialogue about the spreads is quite positive, and while several people question the sensitivity of romanticizing the "state of emergency", many more people seem concerned about the gender politics of tough male cops "arresting" sexy women.

What do you think?

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