Yeah, you read that right, not fashion fetishes - literal fetish fashion, the whole chains and whips excite me deal. Its the new thing for this upcoming A/W season appaz. The ready-to-wear runways of New York (looking right at you Marc Jacobs) kick started the risqué affair. Cue controversy.
We’re all guilty of keeping fashion fetishes. I, for one, cannot stick my nose up at a collar or anything lace-like; both and its like twenty years worth of birthdays and Christmases came in the five seconds of that purchase. Exaggeration. But I do have a poignant soft spot for said pieces. However, this is a different kettle of fish; think downtown Soho meets city man’s mistress. No one wants to be that other woman but now it seems its not only acceptable for us to imitate her but we’re bluntly being ordered to dress like her. If we must then Marc.
Case rested, here's the evidence in black and white. Marc Jacobs, Mugler, Louis Vuitton (complete with Kate Moss cameo, ooh er) and Giles were the guiltiest culprits.
Images: ELLE.com
Here is something I bet you didn’t know - it took four dressers nearly an hour and a half to strap each model into those fetish boots. Apparently, Kate loved them so much “she would‘ve slept them in if she could have”, Louis Vuitton’s Katie Grand.
What exactly is a fetish?
The strict OED definition defines ‘fetish’ as “ a form of sexual desire in which gratification is linked to an abnormal degree to a particular object, item of clothing, part of the body, etc.”
The runways adaptation reveals lashings of slick, oil-black patent leathers, racy, strapping harnesses, lacey corsetry and daringly skimpy hem lines amidst fastenings a plenty: buckles, zips, lace-ups and too much flesh were the chosen accessory.
According to the most reliable insiders, creative directors across the globe were united in their source of vampy inspo; seventies, fashion film favourite, The Night Porter and those notoriously nude,
Helmut Newton images.
Why bring fetish into fashion?
Again, fashion house hosts are unanimous in their opinion that it represents the emancipation of women. Not a hint of sexism or sexploitation is intended. This doesn’t stop people talking.
How on earth does one emulate this trend without being mistook for the other women? Fashion moguls aren’t suggesting we take our bedroom gear to the street but to embrace the subtler side of fetish fashion. Less is more (more of what we‘ve already seen this year): suggestive sheer inserts, leather panels and trims, peek-a-boo necklines and black lace by the bucket load.
Fetish dressing no longer needs to be a sordid secret; best kept in the confines of the world’s seediest digs. That said, save the bondage for later. OI.
21st Century power dressing or bare-faced misogyny? You decide.
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