Recently, Manic Metallic posted a TikTok video stitch (you can follow us HERE) about Anna Sorokin (scam name: “Anna Delvey”) returning yet again to the public eye – this time during the recently completed New York Fashion Week. Let’s just say that I did it for science.
I commented on the mediocrity of the entire situation surrounding fashion’s embrace of the clothes-loving fraudster. Little did I know that Anna Sorokin the (Not) German Heiress has a mighty army (let’s call them the Fraud Army) of supporters who champion her in everything that she does. I found out the hard way.
Let’s look at these posts (there were eventually two) and unpack them a bit.
Exhibit A
@manicmetallicofficial #stitch with @dazed I guess that we’re all celebrating tricksters and grifters at fashion weeks from now on. It’s giving desperation and pathetic. And why is the industry that Anna Delvey conned now celebrating her? Has fashion truly sunk this low? The perversity of it all 😒 Oh, and follow Manic Metallic on TikTok for non-grifter fashion material. #manicmetallic #annadelvey #nyfw #nyfw2023 #ss24 #kellycutrone #newyorkfashion #nyfashion #fashionjournalism #fashionshow #runwayshow #fashiontiktok #fashiontok ♬ original sound – Manic Metallic | Fashion Media
In Exhibit A, you’ll see the original video; it’s a quick 15-second job. A user who identifies as “J.scribbl3” immediately comes in with a nice “tbf She only went to prison because she made people in high places lol [sic] real stupid. She proved these people live off of status” and “look at her. she got out of prison and she’s proving her point. slay queen. Rob those nepo babies!” Another (identifying as “MillieShortbread”) simply remarked “every ceo in the world is a scammer”.
Exhibit B
@manicmetallicofficial Replying to @Blah I – or Manic Metallic – can’t bring myself (ourselves) to stan Anna the Grifter 🤷♀️ #annadelvey #nyfw #fashiontok #fashiontiktok #manicmetallic #nyfw2023 #newyorkfashion ♬ original sound – Manic Metallic | Fashion Media
This is the video where it gets interesting. A couple of users began to become hostile upon hearing the suggestion that this company does not stand up for grifters. And I did what no journalist – including me – would usually spend their time doing: I continued the heated “conversation” in the comments. You can see in the above post where this leads; eventually, I had to cease the conversation.
But I continued it in the first place because I had to try to understand where the Fraud Army worldview was coming from. I had to try to understand their side of the story.
What I’ve come to understand is that this way of envisioning Anna as the Swindler Savior hinges on her as a sort of Robin Hood character. She stole from the rich, the Fraud Army says, and that is okay because these privileged idiots deserved what they got. They had it coming.
But what has been most conveniently forgotten is this: Robin Hood gave to the poor!
Did Ms. Sorokin give to anyone after stealing from the rich? Why, of course not. That’d be too easy. She gave only to herself.
Yes. The Swindler Savior did not swindle the rich to make any sweeping or grandiose statement about poverty or inequality. She swiped because she wanted to do it.
“Why has it become okay in this day and age to scam one’s way to the top – and why have certain elements of society [fashion being one of them] begun to readily accept this behavior? Do we have no standards or shame?”
And the most insulting part (among many) is that she didn’t even have to enter the circles of fashion or high society in this way. Anna Sorokin had support from her parents in whatever venture she wanted to pursue. The Russian-born wannabe socialite attended Central Saint Martins – one of the best fashion schools in the world – before deciding to not finish. She also interned at Purple magazine in Paris but she decided that she’d rather obtain what she wanted through ill-gotten means.
Dear reader, do you get what is being said here? Anna the Swiper had a chance to be legitimate in fashion circles, but she actively chose not to be.
Now why would she do that? You tell me. This is someone whose parents even helped to pay for her lifestyle while she was in Europe! They wanted what was best for their daughter like any good parent would, and she wasted those efforts in favor of skating along on fashionable lies and glamorous deceit.
Is the fashion industry actually serious about welcoming Sorokin the Sham back into its good graces? Is the fashion industry fine with being part of the Anna Sorokin Rehabilitation Project? Is the fashion industry and the people who lead its various brands and organizations okay with being seen alongside the Swindler Savior?
Are those people who went to the rooftop fashion show held at Anna’s apartment building (because, well, she can’t leave to go anywhere else due to house arrest) willing to endorse the behavior of someone like this? Because, by attending this fashion show despite Anna’s multiple combined counts of larceny, theft of services, etc., attendance at that show acts as an endorsement. At the very least, it means that these people are all willing to tolerate Sorokin – and that is something that Manic Metallic is not willing to do.
Why has it become okay in this day and age to scam one’s way to the top – and why have certain elements of society [fashion being one of them] begun to readily accept this behavior? Do we have no standards or shame?
We live in a quite fantastical fraudscape that elevates figures like Sorokin, Donald Trump, and George Santos to positions of power while a sizable number of the rest of us sit in sheer awe, bafflement, or disgust.
There are talented creatives out there who will never get the career opportunities that Anna got – nor receive the family support that she got while chasing their dreams – and while it could be argued that Sorokin (in partnering with famed fashion publicist Kelly Cutrone on this questionably-staged fashion show) attempted to boost young talent with the rooftop fashion show at her apartment, we cannot determine whether those efforts were more of a ploy to receive media attention herself during a highly-watched fashion week (NYFW) or a genuine attempt to help young design talent.
Given Anna Sorokin’s track record, we can’t be inclined to believe her side of the story.
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