Izzy feels remiss for having offended some of his loyal readers regarding Gianfranco Ferre. The post was intended to make fun of the designer’s fondness for white suits—not his size and certainly not his passing. (As someone who has actually read Moby-Dick (twice!), Izzy feels confident that while being compared to a whale can be unflattering, the allusion to the Great White Metaphor has many positive connotations.)
As a matter of fact, Izzy admired Ferre for being someone in the weight-obsessed fashion world who demonstrated a (stereotypically Italian?) willingness to take pleasure in food.  Come to think of it: Could the widespread abuse of intoxicants in that industry be an attempt to compensate for self-denial?
In any case, Izzy apologizes for teetering over the “Cartesian vortices” below.
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