Lady Gaga Disses Cathy Horyn, Obsolete Hierarchy Of Fashion Critics

It seems like only yesterday that the sharp-tongued Cathy Horyn briefly turned her attention towards Lady Gaga, just long enough to drop this bomb:

As funny and as fresh as Gaga was in her speech at the recent C.F.D.A. awards, she looked embalmed in the black Versace harness (apparently from Gianni Versace's final collection), and I don't know why Donatella Versace said she was honored by Gaga's selection...

Unsurprisingly, Lady Gaga was none too pleased about being referred to as "embalmed." So the former NYC prep school student has taken a most sophisticated approach to hitting Horyn back: she has penned her own op-ed targeting the New York Times fashion critic and her ivory tower, stating emphatically that "the hierarchy is embalmed."

In "Gaga Memorandum No. 3," published today on V's website, Lady Gaga writes the following:

Doesn’t the integrity of the critic become compromised when their writings are consistently plagued with negativity? When the public is no longer surprised or excited by the unpredictability of the writer, but rather has grown to expect the same cynicism from the same cynic?

[...]

In the age of the Internet, when collections and performances are so accessible to the public and anyone can post a review on Facebook or Twitter, shouldn’t columnists and reviewers, such as Cathy Horyn, employ a more modern and forward approach to criticism, one that separates them from the average individual at home on their laptop?

In five densely written paragraphs, Lady Gaga excoriates the high-ranking fashion critics for their overly negative yet fundamentally useless reviews, which fail to illuminate anything for their audience beyond their superior status as "experts." In short, Gaga writes, "Why have we decided that one person’s opinion matters more than anyone else’s?"

It's a good point, but also a well made point: Gaga is an excellent, clear-headed writer, the kind we would like to read more often.

Maybe after reading her memorandum, the New York Times will come calling and offer her a warring column with Ms. Horyn?

Now that would be interesting.

Read the entire thing on VMagazine.com and see a image of the memo below.

Comments

[butchcliff]

05:57 AM on 09/06/2011

Excellent well written response from Gaga. Well put and correct in her points. Bravo

[Dee Dee Russell]

08:24 AM on 09/05/2011

Sheesh. Mama Monster is thin-skinned.

[kalvanar]

02:39 PM on 09/04/2011

Respect for Gaga increased

[msestvanko]

01:25 PM on 09/03/2011

Cathy Horyn is a real fashion authority. She has worked tirelessly for many many years to get the position of Fashion Critic for the New York Times. She, along with other critics such as Suzy Menkes and Lynn Yaeger, have the actual credentials to give their opinions on what works and what doesn't, what is new and what isn't and what is relevant.

As soon as I found out Lady Gaga was getting a column in V magazine, I canceled my subscription. Judging by this, I'm glad I did.

There is something else I wanted to comment on though. In the article Gaga says that Tavi's blog is the future of journalism. Though I agree that Tavi is an amazing talent, I refuse to believe that that is the future of journalism. I aspire to be fashion writer for a french publication, but I still care very much about the fundamentals of good journalism. If blogging in the future of journalism, I'll be choosing another career path.

[Veronica]

08:38 PM on 09/03/2011

Then why does Cathy Horyn insist on look

[Veronica]

08:40 PM on 09/03/2011

Then why does Cathy Horyn insist on looking so unbelievably FRUMPY herself? I don't get it. If you're going to be a fashion critic, you should have some self-awareness about how you yourself dress. That's my humble opinion.

[msestvanko]

07:49 PM on 09/04/2011

Maybe it's your opinion that she dresses frumpy, but I certainly do not think so. Not one bit. I think she dresses very professionally. Besides, her picture is probably taken mostly during fashion week. Can you even comprehend how many shows she must attend every single day for an entire month? Between covering the shows for 9 days in New York, she then must jet set off to Europe to cover the shows in Paris and Milan; all while writing countless reviews each day, and interviewing designers in the meantime. Her job isn't easy.

But now I'm curious: if you think Ms. Horyn dresses frumpy, how on Earth do you believe Lady Gaga dresses? I think it's hilarious people have deemed her a fashion icon. What she does isn't fashion--it's costume.

[cafecat]

10:55 AM on 09/03/2011

Much as I love to read random comment boards, I still care what those with credentials have to say.

[cameron d]

12:59 AM on 09/03/2011

"Doesn’t the integrity of the critic become compromised when their writings are consistently plagued with negativity?"

Um, not to me it doesn't. When people start falling all over every move someone makes, that's when critics become compromised. Just my opinion.

[eve mahar]

12:07 AM on 09/03/2011

Bravo, Gaga! So true, and well written. Love the stationary, too. And you looked anything BUT "enbalmed" in that video. You looked beautiful, amazing and Versace would be proud!

[Charismatron]

11:09 PM on 09/02/2011

"I think she might have pushed the audience too far". Yes, the audience response was to Twitter, Facebook, and use other social media to discuss/chat about the act. Clearly, too far. Much too far.

[MichaelRCooke]

03:48 PM on 09/02/2011

This doesn't hurt Gaga. Simply because she is an artist, she has the freedom to express herself as she chooses as art. And this piece, which attacks fashion authority existentially while ignoring its source is also a kind of fashion authority -while deflecting the issue by elevating talented young bloggers. It's kind of a work of art too.

I'm impressed. Because the enemies the writing woos, to be upset they have to conceptualize Gaga as themselves - a competing authority challenging a paradigm. And despite her ambition, Lady Gaga is a topic of conversation and not therefore part of the conversation. The freedom Gaga has staked for her performances bar her from participating in the domain of conventional fashion authority, what she says will not matter. Conventional fashion authorities may rein over a conceptual house of cards, but they worked hard and earned their authority as tastemakers.

Lady Gaga's job is to make outrageous fashion ideas pedestrian and actually usable from over exposure.

[KennyG64]

12:47 PM on 09/02/2011

Let's see....

One self serving 'expert' slams a self serving 'expert.' The slammed self serving 'expert' slams the self serving 'expert' who slammed her. Which self serving expert is right here, or are both of them so entrenched in their ivory towers that neither can see the forest for the trees?

What do you do when you recognize the Absurd? Still trying to figure that out

[polarbear7]

12:07 PM on 09/02/2011

My first question, given Gag-a's history, is "Who is she plagiarizing this time?"

[roomwitamoose01]

11:14 AM on 09/02/2011

there is a grammar mistake in the very first sentence of her self-loving and self-congratulatory "memo."

the sentence should read "Doesn’t the integrity of the critic become compromised when HIS or HER writings are consistently plagued with negativity?"

stick to your day job Lamey BlahBlah

[Chimichurri]

09:13 AM on 09/02/2011

How refreshing! Lady Gaga is not only incredibly talented but remarkably intelligent as well. It's been a while since we've had one of those.

Thanks Gaga for putting focus right back where it belongs, on our brains.

[glowgirl]

09:12 AM on 09/02/2011

I Heart Gaga!

[purenergy]

08:29 AM on 09/02/2011

Horyn is just one more bully Gaga has to stand up to, go GAGA! Horyn reminds me of one of those nasty girls who used to snark out hateful comments at you in the high school hallway.

[NerdyStudent]

10:57 AM on 09/02/2011

Or just a professional and well respected newspaper columnist. Someone you can ignore, and turn the other cheek to. But oh, no we must respond! We must feed the trolls!

[VicF]

01:44 PM on 09/02/2011

You believe in newspaper columnists? Both are or will be fallen heroes,

[Tanya Marie]

06:28 PM on 09/02/2011

She may be PAID to give her negative cynical opinions in a column, but she's no professional and definitely NOT respected (except to other negative cynics).