Manner editor at Vice’s i-D journal suspended more than sexual misconduct claims | Vice Media

A leading government at a single of the UK’s most important fashion publications has been suspended by the enterprise right after a lot more than a dozen gals accused him of sending sexually inappropriate messages.

Max Clark, fashion editor at i-D journal, is a distinguished figure in the business and has been utilized by the influential publication, which is owned by Vice Media, considering that 2014. He has also worked as a superior-conclusion stylist on promotional shoots for brands this sort of as Prada, Burberry, Ralph Lauren, Nike and Supreme – doing work at situations these types of as London manner 7 days.

Messages reviewed by the Guardian show gals professing Clark produced unwanted improvements towards them, with the separate alleged incidents using put more than numerous yrs. Lots of of the gals ended up somewhat junior workers, doing the job in vogue or the media, who mentioned they acquired unsolicited explicit messages from Clark over social media in the early several hours of the morning.

Their promises had been collected semi-anonymously via Instagram right before remaining handed to Vice’s human means division, prompting the corporation to start a formal investigation and suspend Clark final 7 days. The allegations have led to the opinions segment on i-D’s social media posts getting flooded with people asking about the investigation.

A spokesperson for Vice, which acquired i-D magazine a 10 years back, stated: “We are taking these allegations particularly significantly and are handling them according to our set up benchmarks and procedures. We retained an impartial, outside investigator to examine the statements and in get to not compromise the integrity of the investigation, we are reasonably restricted in what we can say at this stage.

“What we can unequivocally say is that we strive to keep a function ecosystem in which all people are dealt with with respect and dignity, and as this sort of, we right away took the appropriate ways to guarantee we are delivering a secure working setting for our workforce and partners.”

Clark’s listing on the web-site of his administration firm Artistry has also been taken out, with particulars of his manner shoots and large-name clientele taken out from the world-wide-web.

A spokesperson for the company reported: “We operate a zero-tolerance plan for any allegations of this nature and we will not depict/market any man or woman beneath these types of significant investigation.”

In a assertion, his attorney mentioned: “Mr Clark denies any allegations of sexual harassment or any other kind of sexual misconduct in the strongest of terms and will use all authorized avenues available to him to apparent his identify.”

Vice, which crafted its identify as irreverent publication aimed at then-youthful millennials, has had historic problems with allegations of sexual harassment in the business. This culminated in a 2017 New York Moments investigation into the company’s inner culture at the height of the #MeToo motion which resulted in the departure of a major government.

Before long afterwards Vice’s founder, Shane Smith, also stepped down as chief govt, handing day-to-working day manage to Nancy Dubuc, who promised to change the company’s inner tradition. The corporation was valued at $5.7bn as not long ago as 2017 but this has considering the fact that plummeted, with the corporation instead boosting cash from current investors in a bid to achieve profitability.