Cultural commentator Stephen Bayley launched his new book Ugly: The Aesthetics of Everything, with a party at Brunswick House that included a dwarf, a man who can pop out his eyeballs and the world’s ugliest dog. Bayley said he was inspired to write the book by “Parisian gargoyle” Serge Gainsbourg, who had declared ugliness to be “superior to beauty — it lasts longer”.
The Londoner asked Bayley’s Carlton House publisher, Jonathan Goodman, if he was worried that hiring guests from the Ugly Models wasn’t a little un-PC. “We’re a totally un-PC company,” Goodman replied. “PC makes everything so flat and dull. Everyone is different — beautiful or ugly — and you should say so. That’s what this night is all about.”
The journalist Yasmin Alibhai-Brown said she felt uncomfortable with the ugly models defining themselves that way. “I’m sure it can be empowering but I think you should find the beauty in everyone,” she said.
