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Saturday, April 10, 2021

Is Khloé Kardashian a Victim of Unattainable Beauty Standards — or Part of the Problem?

Earlier this week, an unedited photo of Khloé Kardashian appeared on social media and, as things tend to do on the internet, it spread. Soon after, people began posting about how her legal team was messaging many of them to take it down in a futile effort to have the image scrubbed from the internet.

But in the same way things spread rapidly online, they also never really go away. What followed was the perfect example of the Streisand Effect, which is what happens when efforts to hide something only end up publicizing it more. It was coined in 2005 by Techdirt’s Mike Masnick, and alluded to Barbra Streisand who, in 2003, sued a photographer for violation of privacy for taking an aerial shot of her California mansion as part of a public collection of coastline photographs. Prior to her filing the lawsuit, that photo had only been downloaded a handful of times, but afterwards, due to the publicity, that number rose to thousands upon thousands. So, in much the same way, the internet’s favourite subject of this week became the very photo that Kardashian didn’t want anybody to see.

And much of the chatter has been about why, exactly, the 36-year-old reality TV star wanted the seemingly innocent shot of herself in a leopard bikini, smiling by the water, manicured nails and all, wiped from the web in the first place?

Here’s the thing: the photo is unedited, unfiltered and she’s wearing very little make-up. She also is not the one who posted it online (prayers out to the assistant who made that mistake). And if the Kardashian clan is known for anything, it’s a tightly controlled image.

Many on Twitter expressed confusion, wondering if she wanted the photo removed because “her ‘real’ face doesn’t match the shape-shifting CGI face she puts on IG,” while some noted “she looks gorgeous and happy in this pic, wish we’d see more like this.” Others wondered how the rest of us, who don’t post retouched photos of ourselves online and who don’t have bodies akin to Kardashian’s, should feel about our appearances if she still isn’t proud of hers.

i have seen the Khloe Kardashian pic and she looks fucking great!

girl, give us more unedited photos! pic.twitter.com/JsZPCfIeLE

— ✨yeetball sub✨ (@sarahhyland87) April 6, 2021

The Good American slogan…..”Representing” Body Acceptance, this is a missed opportunity, imperfection is perfection! We are all ready for people to be real!! #nocompromises @khloekardashian pic.twitter.com/aHoNPaznzv

— Sara (@knope_sara) April 7, 2021

On April 7, Kardashian addressed the backlash in an emotional Instagram post. The caption reads: “The photo that was posted this week is beautiful. But as someone who has struggled with body image her whole life, when someone takes a photo of you that isn’t flattering in bad lighting or doesn’t capture your body the way it is after working so hard to get it to this point — and then shares it to the world — you should have every right to ask for it to not be shared — regardless of who you are. In truth, the pressure, constant ridicule and judgment my entire life to be perfect and to meet other’s standards of how I should look has been too much to bear.”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Khloé Kardashian (@khloekardashian)

As the member of the famous family who has received the most criticism about her body since the reality series Keeping Up with the Kardashians debuted in 2007, Kardashian’s appearance has been analyzed for being taller, bigger and blonder — even to the point of speculation over whether she has a different father to account for her perceived physical differences. In regards to this, Kardashian added that her struggle with her body has partly stemmed from having “every single flaw and imperfection” poked at “and made fun of.”

She continued, “You never quite get used to being judged and pulled apart and told how unattractive one is, but I will say if you hear anything enough then you will start to believe it. This is how I have been conditioned to feel, that I am not beautiful enough just being me.” Kardashian goes on to say that she’s used the criticism “to get myself in the best shape of my life,” but not without people wondering if she “paid for it all.” She does say that she loves “a good filter, good lighting and an edit here and there.”

That post includes a video of her topless and attempting to demonstrate that her body is hers, and that what we see on her Instagram feed is real. She even hosted an Instagram Live that same night as evidence, as if removing all smoke and mirrors.

Needless to say, it only heightened the online discussion, with Kardashian trending all over Twitter the rest of the week, and with many calling her out as being “part of the problem,” as a “perpetuator of unattainable beauty standards,” and not to mention someone who, along with most of her family, has profited off unrealistic beauty standards by selling products like flat tummy teas.

Lol yes I read Khloe Kardashian’s statement and while I have empathy for her, she is currently part of the problem. This is sick and she needs professional help, not a platform where she lives a lie and separates young women from their money by teaching them to hate themselves.

— Sophie Ross (@SophRossss) April 8, 2021

Particular members of the Kardashian family have been the biggest perpetuators of unattainable beauty standards. You live by the sword…

— machine gun Kele (@kelechnekoff) April 8, 2021

Meanwhile, actress Jameela Jamil, who created the body inclusivity platform I Weigh, tweeted that we’re all victims of beauty standards, and that “[the Kardashians] may hurt us, but god did society hurt them.” Katie Couric weighed in, too, commenting on Kardashian’s post that it was “raw and honest” but that “non-stop procedures and constant filters are promoting unrealistic and harmful beauty standards.”

This is what I was saying. She was bullied into this mind state. But now is also a really good time to admit to surgeries, thinning photographs and videos, and to stop being part of the culture that makes girls like her hate herself. No more diet products. No more “revenge body.” https://t.co/KghUckybbZ

— Jameela Jamil 🌈 (@jameelajamil) April 8, 2021

The discussion, evidently, is a complex one. Kardashian is a victim of online harassment, but as part of a family that has long appropriated Black and drag culture in their looks, has promoted weight loss products to its fans, and whose appearances are edited in much of their online content, she is also a perpetrator of the very thing she’s criticizing.

“Khloé is not immune to the pressure that society places on women’s bodies, but her family has also perpetuated those toxic, unrealistic beauty standards,” says Aisha Fairclough, a body image advocate and co-founder of Body Confidence Canada, an organization that supports body diversity through programming and community engagement. “They have profited off of these standards through flat tummy teas, body-contouring shapewear and by emulating physical features often associated with Black aesthetics. That’s down to the fuller lips and larger buttocks that are weaponized when possessed by Black bodies. You cannot discuss the Kardashians and body image without applying a race, class and gender analysis lens.”

In recent years, any one of the Kardashians or Jenners can be found in magazines, on red carpets or walking down the street, always turned out. Their heavily made-up aesthetic has been so pervasive over the years that it’s come to dominate the look of social media influencers and Gen Z. That look — which consists of symmetrical eyebrows, filled lips, bronzed skin and baked-on layers of make-up — was even dubbed “Instagram face” by the New Yorker’s Jia Tolentino. Add on the trim waist, large chest, toned tummy, curvaceous behind and long hair, and you’ve got a hell of a mold to try and fit into, one that consists of many features that women of colour aren’t typically praised and idolized for the way the Kardashians are.

I feel for Khloe Kardashian and the criticism she receives, but if she finds it hard to meet the ‘impossible standards’ set for her, imagine how ‘normal’ people feel, trying to reach the impossible standards and body shapes set by her and her sisters

— meglucia ♍️ (@meeeglucia) April 8, 2021

Khloé, you neglect to take accountability that a person of your economic status uses photoshopping, airbrushing, make up, professional photography that is put together for all your social media posts. You stigmatize natural beauty when you behave like you do as an influencer.

— Vianne (Vee•Ann) Frances (@viannekelly97) April 8, 2021

Consider Khloé’s younger sister, Kylie Jenner, who came under fire in 2015 for plumping up her lips while lying about using fillers. When she later revealed the truth, she had a makeup line to sell alongside it, so you could — theoretically — achieve the same look with nothing more than a lip liner and gloss.

So while, yes, it is difficult to live up to today’s beauty standards, the Kardashians are guilty of continuously perpetuating them. There’s a confounding cognitive dissonance, then, to saying you don’t feel “beautiful enough just being me,” while also hosting a show called Revenge Body, selling fans diet products and encouraging them to try to emulate the impossible-to-achieve image you post daily on your Instagram. An image that is, undeniably, often Photoshopped. It’s a powerful thing, after all, that while Keeping Up with the Kardashians is wrapping its 20th and final season later this year, the family’s impact is likely to last far longer.

In order to move forward and break this damaging cycle, imagine a world in which the Kardashians never posted retouched, filtered images? Or if they did, and if they happened to buy a nip here and a tuck there, they were completely transparent about it?

“Khloé has the right to do what she wants with her body and to take down any picture she wants, but it would have been a step in the right direction to leave the unedited photo online and not make excuses,” says Fairclough of Kardashian wanting to remove an image she didn’t consent to being shared online. “[But] by removing the photo, what message does it send to actual fat people, women, girls and people of all genders who struggle with Eurocentric body image ideals? For the sake of body justice, ‘body positivity’ and for all the women that struggle everyday with their body image, she should have left it up. We are living through a pandemic and we are all fighting to stay alive and survive in the bodies that we are in. Khloé could be telling us that we should be grateful for our bodies, lumps and bumps that make us whole.”

It’s clear that Kardashian is struggling with body image issues, as are so many women and girls today. Multiple studies show that those experiencing body dysmorphia or any kind of preoccupations with their weight typically display higher levels of symptoms for depression and anxiety, and are more likely to have suicidal thoughts. Key causes of those concerns can be any of the following, according to the Mental Health Foundation: our relationships with our family and friends, how they speak about bodies, our exposure to images of idealized or unrealistic bodies through media or social media, and the pressure to look a certain way or to match an “ideal” body type.

“Khloé’s story sounds like the story of many people who have fallen prey to a visual culture that undermines women and girls at every turn in its attempts to shape us literally and figuratively into taking up as little space as possible,” says Fairclough. “Khloé may very well need help, but this is larger than Khloé: our society needs help. There should be no apps for lightening or tightening our skin and bodies. And Photoshop should not be used to alter our images to make us look younger or thinner.”

The sooner we reach that stage, the better we all — including Khloé — will feel about our authentic selves. But for that to happen, the Kardashians, Jenners and all the other powerful figures in Hollywood and beyond who perpetuate and profit from impossible beauty standards must stop playing the game and start being honest.

The post Is Khloé Kardashian a Victim of Unattainable Beauty Standards — or Part of the Problem? appeared first on FASHION Magazine.

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A New Collection from Vancouver-based Label Lezé Meets the Moment

“Instead of just selling clothes, how do we stand for something?” It’s a question the founders of Lezé, Tanya Lee and Karen Lee, have pondered since launching their values-driven brand in Vancouver several years ago.

The original concept for Lezé is more timely than ever, as Tanya was inspired by her friend’s penchant for wearing pyjamas out in public — and “not the silky, stylish kind,” Karen laughs — before maximum-comfort dressing became the norm for many of us over the last year.

“We thought, what if we create something that felt like pyjamas but had the structure of something you could go to work in?” Karen recalls about the ideation phase of Lezé coming to life. And it was essential for the duo to focus on how to make these pieces as ethically and sustainably as possible, she told FASHION during a Zoom call earlier this week. “There’s so much waste in the world — why not use what exists?”

Karen points to her partner’s experience in the textile realm of the fashion industry as being extremely valuable for their brand’s evolution; Tanya is the vice president of Tobimax Textiles, the manufacturer of Lezé’s range of haute casual garments that has facilities located in China and Taiwan. It’s been crucial for Tanya and Karen to be transparent about their brand’s practices, and visitors to the Lezé site can learn more about the compensation and working conditions of the people making their products.

leze vancouver — Photography courtesy of Lezé

She goes on to speak of the DMs, emails and comments she and Tanya receive from customers regarding their overseas production. “We’ll get written off,” Karen says. “One comment we’ve heard was, ‘That’s unfortunate. I prefer Canadian, not Asian-made.” While obviously hurt by such sentiments, Lezé’s founders use their platform as one of education and advocacy. “There are a lot of conversations that need to be had, and it’s an opportunity for us to speak on [this] because we know.”

It’s harmful to ignore how a swell in acts of racist aggression and violence towards people in Asian communities is linked to the stigma attached to offshore manufacturing — despite the fact, as Karen points out, that it extends far beyond fashion to include a great portion of the other items we rely on every day (our virtual life lines, the cell phone, included).

“Don’t get me wrong, there are a lot of bad manufacturers,” Karen says. “That’s where the negative perception comes from. [And] people don’t know what they don’t know. I don’t blame people for not knowing, but it would be great if they went into being better educated without having the bias that whatever is made overseas is bad.”

“Oftentimes if you manufacture overseas, you don’t actually know how things are done unless you go there yourself,” Karen continues, adding that the notion of something being made “ethically” or “sustainably” isn’t interchangeable.

These conceptual connections are so vital but also largely nascent, in part because historically, fashion brands have been hesitant to share trade information in order to play into the idea that something that’s exclusive is inherently of more value.

“It’s important for us to show where our clothes are made,” she says. “And it’s a taboo subject in fashion; for some brands, their factory is their ‘secret sauce.’ [But] we want to open up the conversation and break the stigma of something being made in Asia being of bad quality. There’s so much good technology out there that we want to shed light on!”

She highlights how far ahead a country like Taiwan is in terms of working with textiles fabricated from recycled and waste sources. Since launch, Lezé has offered designs crafted with materials made from plastic bottles, coffee grounds, fishing nets (their “hero” material, Karen says), and most recently, the cellulose from sustainably sourced Beech trees. It’s turned into Lenzing Modal, a much-touted material in the eco-friendly fashion space.

The Beech Trees collection, which was introduced last month, “took a long time to come up with,” Karen says. “It reflects the time we were having as a company. We were in a lot of production debt, and we found ourselves leaning into the idea of being planted, not buried, and took the inspiration from the journey of [a] tree. They spend a lot of time growing roots underground, and nobody can see them…there’s this idea of building a foundation, and that when they emerge from the soil, the only way they go is up.”

Not only does the philosophy of this new collection call out to a current moment where we’re all undoubtedly feeling a bit buried ourselves. It will also resonate with those of us still looking for a leisurely approach to dressing given the soft, sultry silhouettes offered such as the breezy Monterey jumpsuit and Mira cardicoat.

lezé vancouver — Photography courtesy of Lezé

Happily, this particular piece — which fuses the coveted slouchiness of a well-worn sweater’s with a tailored topper — is part of a promotional sale Lezé just launched with the Albertan eco-minded accessory brand, Poppy Barley. Between now and April 12, if you purchase the Mira cardicoat in any colour or Poppy Barley’s Polished mule in black, you’ll receive a discount to shop the other label at 15% off. (The two female-founded companies have also joined forces for a pop-up event, with Lezé pieces appearing in Poppy Barley’s Edmonton and Calgary boutiques until May 2.)

The spirit of collaboration seen here trickles into all facets of the Lezé ethos, with Karen and Tanya paying close attention to the wants and needs of their customers through regular follow-up calls for purchase feedback. Karen says that this is also one important way in which they can work towards even further sustainability within the brand’s output, given that refinement in design and production choices are integral to having an eco-friendly approach. “We use an app called Inventory Planner,” she adds, “that tells us how and what product is moving. [It’s a] constant journey of gathering data and feedback.”

This emphasis on technological and community-centric progress-over-perfection is working for Lezé, but Karen says they’re careful not to clutter their minds with the grand totality of what “mindful design” really means. “In the sustainability space, it’s easy to get on that judgemental side,” she says. “Looking at your progress versus someone else’s instead of just looking at your personal progress.”

So, it comes as no surprise that they had the idea for a collection influenced by the lifecycle of a tree. As Karen says, it’s based on “a story of becoming,” after all.

The post A New Collection from Vancouver-based Label Lezé Meets the Moment appeared first on FASHION Magazine.

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4 BIPOC-Owned Fragrance Brands Who Are Creating Change in the Perfume Industry

These four BIPOC-owned fragrance brands are using the power of storytelling to create both challenge and change in the perfume industry.

UNIFORM

Haisam Mohammed’s olfactive inspirations can’t be found in a field of flowers or on a sunny coast in the Mediterranean. “My inspiration comes from the manifestation of a life lived among high-rises, which are often the homes of people of colour,” he says. Born in Sweden to parents who emigrated from Eritrea, Mohammed grew up among the high-rises in the outer city parts of Stockholm. “These high-rises housed a lot of families that had a variety of ethnic backgrounds,” he explains. “When they blended spices, burned incense or cooked, the scents slipped through the cracks of the doors and accumulated into this special smell that could only be found in the stairwells.” Those overlooked spaces may be based in Stockholm, but their scent stories are universal and have been given the spotlight in UNIFORM. In 2020, Mohammed launched the brand with three vegan and cruelty-free perfume oils that you can easily slip into your pocket and reapply throughout the day—a format that pays tribute to his father, who had drawers full of perfume oils that he used to collect. “Scent was such a huge part of my parents’ heritage, whether it was in the food, the perfumes or the incense they brought with them,” he says. “These cultural experiences had been expressed through music, fashion and art but never via scents.”

Bailly

When Halifax-based co-founders Ariel Gough and Edwina Govindsamy decided to launch a fragrance brand, their first goal was to create something for sensitive noses that was inspired by Gough’s mom, who had a severe fragrance allergy. “We thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be great if people with fragrance sensitivities could wear it?’” says Gough. Bailly’s perfume oils are coconut oil-based and formulated without alcohol (known to be an irritant). They also wanted their business to have a positive impact, donating the proceeds from their first collection to the Girl Power Project in support of girls’ education in Uganda. But perhaps their most ambitious undertaking was the desire to change the way fragrance is marketed. Moving away from the fantasy world of traditional advertising, they showcased real women doing real things for their second fragrance collection, called Limitless. “It highlights women breaking the glass ceiling in under-represented fields like aviation, data analytics and carpentry,” says Govindsamy. One of the faces of the collection is Lydia Phillip, a glider flight instructor with the Cadet Instructors Cadre who was the first Black female flight commander at the Debert Cadet Flying Training Centre in Atlantic Canada. Continuing their mission to have a voice in the global conversation about fragrance, Gough and Govindsamy are currently working on a new scent launch for later this year that focuses on health and wellness.

World of Chris Collins

Chris Collins spent 20 years as a model at Ralph Lauren before setting his sights on fragrance. His time with the fashion house helped him learn about luxury and branding and ultimately launch World of Chris Collins in 2017. It also introduced him to Kilian Hennessy, of Kilian, who became a mentor after they worked on a bespoke fragrance project together. “His fragrances set the bar for my creations,” he says. “I wanted to create unique, powerful fragrances like his but with my own DNA attached to them.” Part of that was using scent to shine a light on Harlem—a place Collins called home for almost 20 years. “No one had ever made the connection between Harlem and the French when it came to perfumery, and I always wondered why,” he recalls. “Then I thought, ‘What a wonderful story to tell of the cultural exchange between New York and Paris.’ A lot of African-American performers, poets and writers — like Josephine Baker, Langston Hughes and James Baldwin — left Harlem for Paris because they were more accepted there.” The Renaissance collection pays homage to the period. Collins’s brand is currently the only Black-owned fragrance label available at Bergdorf Goodman and at many other retailers where it is carried. “I’m not sure why,” muses Collins. “There are lots of good brands out there, but if they’re not given the opportunity to show their stuff, they’ll never have the chance to succeed.”

Jazmin Saraï

When Dana El Masri was studying at the Grasse Institute of Perfumery in France, she was required to create a fragrance for her final project. After being trained in a classic French method mostly by French perfumers, she ended up with a fragrance that was quintessentially ancient Egyptian. Since then, rejecting conventions has become one of her defining traits as a perfumer. “I want to express new narratives because ancient perfumery comes from Mesopotamia,” she explains. “There are so many things that have been colonized and repatriated without any understanding of the origins. It’s about sharing new stories or stories that actually exist but are hidden, stolen or forgotten.” The Montreal-based perfumer’s fragrance brand, Jazmin Saraï, embodies that very idea with an interdisciplinary, multi-sensory approach that combines music, art and culture. Raised in Dubai by an Egyptian mother and a Lebanese father, El Masri moved to Canada to pursue a singing career and study and was later drawn to perfumery. After creating fragrances for other companies, she turned her attention to her own label to create on her own terms. Her first collection, The Playlist, imagines what a song would smell like if it were in scent form. Other fragrances, like Fayoum, are an olfactive ode to the Middle East. “I wanted to swap the negative war-torn images of my countries,” she says. “There’s so much scent metaphor in the Arab world. It’s a huge part of our rituals, from how we express ourselves to the way we involve it in all of our social interactions.” She seeks to illuminate those rich cultural histories with her fragrances.

The post 4 BIPOC-Owned Fragrance Brands Who Are Creating Change in the Perfume Industry appeared first on FASHION Magazine.

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Friday, April 9, 2021

18 Face Masks to Wear This Spring and Summer

It may be 2021 but with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, it’s crucial to continue wearing face coverings when we leave the house. Now that the weather is finally warming up and we enter our second spring in the COVID era, black and grey masks are feeling increasingly monotonous. Luckily, fashion designers have drawn inspiration from brighter, sunnier days to bring us summer face masks that are nearly impossible to feel grumpy in. Tanya Taylor’s offerings have transformative powers, with prints and colours that scream Palm Springs and just dare you to have a bad day while wearing them. Fellow Canadian label ai Toronto Seoul, on the other hand, took a more practical point of view, using a quick-absorbing and fast-drying Aersosilver antibacterial yarn — which is ideal for those sporty spices breaking a sweat outside while masked up.

With the pandemic continuing to keep us on our toes, we’ve rounded up 18 summer-ready face masks that will bring some much-needed excitement to grocery store and pharmacy runs in the warmer months ahead.