Hello! In this blog I will be
talking about the 1990’s phenomenon Heroin Chic. The basics such as what it is,
who was behind it, how it affected America and what happened to it will all be
discussed throughout various posts. I hope that you find the topic just as
interesting as I do and I also hope that that you enjoy this blog :)
To start off with, what is Heroin
chic? Introduced in 1993, Heroin Chic took the fashion world by storm. A reaction
against “healthy” models, Heroin chic strayed away from the obsession with
glamour and prettiness. Designers were no longer aiming for the look of
perfection, but rather the look of drug addiction. This is what inspired the
name “heroin chic.” Waif like girls, wild hair, dark under eye circles
and pale skin now ruled the fashion scene. It was this look of unobtainable perfect imperfection that had America falling in love.
Talk of AIDS was all over the news
at this point but that did not stop designers. Instead, they glamorized the use
of drugs, addiction and self-destruction with images of strung out models
plastered all over the magazines. Black and white photography was used to
capture the raw feeling of the images. (Loncar, 2014)
Known for his controversial ads and
campaigns, it is no surprise that Calvin Klein was the big designer behind the movement.
With Heroin Chic appealing mostly to young America, Klein drew in their
attention by hiring recent newcomer Kate Moss. Klein and Moss had already created
controversy in 1992 with an ad featuring both Kate and Mark Wahlberg, so why
not stir up a little more trouble together? As the face of Calvin Klein, Moss
was, and still is, known as the “Heroin Chic Queen.”
A few other models known for promoting
the look included Jamie King, Jodie Kidd and Chloe Sevigny.
Not everybody was on board with the
Heroin Chic movement. During the 90’s heroin became purer and was now being
sold at cheaper costs. Abuse of the drug became mostly prominent in white
working to middle class individuals and because of this, the fashion industry
took some serious heat for promoting the look. President Bill Clinton addressed
the issue by saying “you do not need to glamorize addiction to sell clothes.” and
continued with “the glorification of heroin is not creative, it's
destructive,'' he added. ''It's not beautiful; it's ugly. And this is not about
art; it's about life and death. And glorifying death is not good for any
society” (Wren, 1997).
Heroin Chic would eventually fade
out after the death of Davide Sorrenti, popular fashion photographer who died
of a heroin overdose in 1997.
Sources:
Breward, C. (2003). Fashion. London: Oxford University Press.
T. Loncar. (2013, October, 7). Heroin chic from the mid 90's. Retrieved from http://stillinbelgrade.com/heroin-chic-mid-90s/
Breward, C. (2003). Fashion. London: Oxford University Press.
T. Loncar. (2013, October, 7). Heroin chic from the mid 90's. Retrieved from http://stillinbelgrade.com/heroin-chic-mid-90s/
