I’m obviously not a fashionable guy. My mom used to complain about the way I dressed when I was in high school, and besides a stretch there while I worked for the paper I have trended toward a dress code centered more around my comfort rather than caring about what others think of my outer appearance.
So you know I must be having a moment where my head wants to explode when I delve into the world of high fashion. Only because when I was delving through my YouTube feed, I came across this story:
What am I looking at? I blinked hard several times just to make sure my eyes weren’t deceiving me, and the AI algorithms are taking over. Sure enough, a Google search and suddenly I’m delving down a rabbit hole and find myself well out of my depth.
Let’s first get something out of the way: the lion’s head isn’t real. The panther that Naomi Campbell was donning wasn’t real. The red paint and 30,000 Swarovski crystals that Doja Cat donned were indeed the genuine article, and must’ve been extremely tedious and uncomfortable to put on, much less walk around in for any extended period of time.
Why then would anyone allow themselves to be paraded around on the red carpet with a foam-sculpted, fake-fur-covered lion’s head? Can you imagine how much that would leave you unbalanced? Or the amount of red paint on your body to make that outfit work on Doja Cat? That’s a concerning amount of body paint.
Artistic creators will immediately begin screaming through their screens at this note whenever they read it and say “KEVIN! YES, THEY WOULD! C’MON, YOU DOLT! THIS IS A TEXTBOOK EXAMPLE OF MAKING A STATEMENT!”
Yes, of course, that is exactly what it is. This is the kind of thing that is called “shock value” when creators are putting together something the general public considers “controversial.”
The amount of user-generated content posted at any given moment that is brand new, exclusive look items – be it a Tweet, Facebook post, Instagram story, Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube Video and Short, Tumblr Post, and so much variety of other social media platforms out there I can’t remember off hand – that no one person could ever read the entire amount in their lifetime posted in just a minute of one single day. This doesn’t even touch the amount of professional content being created out there by journalists, writers, photographers, videographers, and in ad naseam that gets posted ALONGSIDE the social media content, or as items being shared, etc. (It is amazing that systems are in place that can even MODERATE this amount of stuff on platforms like Facebook.
Getting the attention of all these people – who then act as modern-day town criers to the general public about any given subject we cherry-pick from each other to cover, or these days what the algorithm is pushing – takes something that is out of the norm. Thus if you want a platform to get attention? Better bring out that shock value.
Kylie Jenner is the queen of shock value in these already crazy times. She has brought voice to brands and causes alike as her popularity from reality television and social media has grown into a real business. So I wasn’t at all surprised that she would don such an outfit for Paris Fashion Week to watch a runway show. The opportunity to be seen gives rise to shock value statements that then get people talking and asking “Is that real?” and investigating further. Conversations start about whatever it is the Lion’s head is supposed to represent.
Further investigation on my part found the look is part of a whole artistic collection – including a faux snow leopard, black panther, wolf’s head and another lion’s head – that is supposed to celebrate the natural world while using manmade materials.
Again, hard blink.
This is one of those times when as a creator, I understand the “concept” and don’t have to understand the execution. What they wanted ME (creator me, Journalist me) is to write and talk about it. Promoting a brand through something that will NEVER, AND I MEAN NEVER be for sale to a normal consumer. Yet some of their other stuff is, and that’s what they want to sell you. Groups like PETA have already tagged along to the free meida thanks to the “story” the outfit and collection have created with noble statements about it celebrating lions. Animal rights groups who are much more hardcore will gnash their teeth and let loose their fury on Facebook posts and cry havoc on Tiktoks, but won’t actually do anything.
It’ll fizzle out once the “shock value” wears off, and we have something new to fill our minds with another silly news item to argue over the various aspects of each angle of whatever fad thing is in the news.
Creative controversy will always exist and draw attention (however briefly) to matters of major or minor importance. The reaction sometimes is in itself what the creator wants out of the art, but don’t be fooled for a second. This shock value was done for a reason, and it had little to do with protecting lions and much more with ensuring those who can afford it leave Schiaparelli with less money than they had when they entered.
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