Heroin chic is a fashion trend of the 90’s where female models would be unhealthily skinny. After last year's Met Gala and Kim Kardashian losing a ridiculous amount of weight to fit into Maralyin Monroe’s dress, The New York Post released an article headlined “Bye-bye booty: heroin chic is back”, and reported on the weight-loss drug Ozempic.
The fashion industry has become more and more body positive over the years and it has taken a long time for plus sized models to even appear on runways. However, by the end of 2022 and beginning of 2023 the suggestion of this buried fashion trend seems to have been rising from the grave.
Did Kim Kardashian revive it? Or is it the comeback of clothing that has only ever been modelled by exceptionally skinny women?
Suchita Naidu, a 20 year old University student from Watford shares her opinions on where she thinks the problem comes from.
“It’s important to note that all contemporary fashion trends have been based on pushing unattainable body types- which are usually thin. It’s society attaching thinness to fashion in order to further imbed fat phobia into our perceptions of attractiveness. I think we should focus more on body neutrality and advocate for people just wearing whatever they want.”
While focusing on positive body imagery, there are other reasons as to why “heroin chic” should never make a comeback.
Ellie Roberts, an 18 year old, Young HealthWatch Hillingdon volunteer, from Hillingdon explains how the trend may impact young people.
“The Heroin Chic fashion trend glorifies an ultra-thin body, promoting it as a desirable standard of beauty. Through the use of social media, fashion designers, models and influences have popularised this ideal by appearing with a gaunt and skeletal appearance. Young people viewing these images who are already vulnerable to body image issues and societal pressures are therefore influenced by the trend, resulting in the promotion of eating disorders in order to reach this unrealistic ideal. The Heroin Chic trend additionally glamorises drug use, associating it with a fashionable lifestyle.”
Paige Abby May Turpin, a 21 year old Teaching Assistant from Milton Keynes expresses her opinions on the matter.
“People can feel self-conscious wearing certain clothes because the media are setting unrealistic body standards so they see themselves as being an “unhealthy” person but of course everyone is different. ”
The fashion industry and the media work very closely together to promote new trends and products which can have a huge impact on body image, particularly through famous influencers.
Andrew Radford, 56 year old chief executive of BeatEatingDisorders reported that “the media can have a significant impact on those suffering from or vulnerable to eating disorders, both positively and negatively.”
We are finally accepting all body shapes and sizes. So why bring this trend back? A trend that influences and harms one's general health is not one that should come back.
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