Heroin Chic seems to have returned???
Have you noticed that in recent months, whether it is MIiuMiu's spring/summer runway or Paris Fashion Week, thin, skinny, flat-bodied models are obviously more favored
Runway models actually come in two styles: one is skinny and the other is the so-called healthy style.
The former highlights a "skinny", while the latter is more known for being sexy.
Recently, the New York Times published an article accusing that the fashion circle, which claims to be "inclusive and diverse", is actually more and more advocating the brainless worship of "thinness".
The BM wind that has been popular all over the world in the past few years is a good example.
And now even Kardashian has begun to boast about losing weight, and even making her ass small...
Heroin Chic, the originator of the aesthetic of decadence
The New York Times even compared the pursuit of "thinness" in the circle to the return of Heroin Chic, which directly caused disgust among some Americans.
So is Heroin Chic's comeback an aesthetic reincarnation or a pathological pursuit of figure?
"Heroin" is "heroin", and "Chic" means "fashionable and elegant" in English, which also represents aesthetics.
The "heroin aesthetic" dominated the West for a time from the 90s to the millennium.
And this aesthetic trend, which sounds pale and morbid from the name, has single-handedly dragged sweet and sexy supermodels such as Cindy Crawford off the altar of the industry.
In its place is this cold, skinny skinny beauty
And the characteristics of Heroin Chic are actually quite close to the word "Heroin", which emphasizes a slightly morbid sense of depravity -
Unlike the sexy style of the 80s, period models under Heroin Chic were usually known for their pale skin and skinny bodies.
They don't have bumpy curves, they don't have American sweetheart-like smiles, and what they pursue in temperament is a kind of cold dust.
In the choice of makeup, girls will try to weaken gender characteristics: abandon beauty and sophistication, and instead use frigid or smoky + red lip makeup to maintain a "feminine anti-bone feeling".
Heroin is poison, so "sickness" is the essence of Heroin Chic's aesthetic.
Under the guidance of this aesthetic orientation, the combination of skin and bone + miserable white skin constituted the most popular morbid aesthetic appearance at that time.
When facing the camera, the expression must be cool, you can be expressionless or show your disdain, and if you match it with dark circles, it will highlight Heroin Chic's rebellious feeling.
And Heroin Chic's style of dressing is mainly in pursuit of a "freedom from the scrutiny of others" -
It is freedom to dress casually, it is freedom to dress boldly, and it is also women's freedom to dress less "feminine".
Including tobacco and alcohol, which are not recognized by the secular mainstream, are widely used collocations under the Heroin Chic system.
The thin young man examines this bizarre world with a world-weary face in front of the camera, trying to anesthetize himself with tobacco and alcohol
Therefore, the goddesses of the era of that era all had a strong "hesitant, empty, and messy" personal temperament.
For example, Kate Moss, who was popular in the United States that year, directly brought the aesthetic of the modeling circle from sexy and coquettish to indifferent alienation-
She wasn't sexy enough, she wasn't delicate enough, she wasn't pretty enough, but her face was written with disgust for the world, as if everyone owed her something.
Kate is not traditionally an orthodox model.
She was only one meter and seven meters tall, skinny, pale and weak, and seemed malnourished at first glance, but it was such an image that became the object of worship and imitation in the youth circle at that time.
Naturally, models with a "wandering style" like Kate Moss began to be favored by the fashion circle, and the advertisements of big brands such as CK gradually appeared thin and expressionless mourning models.
The catwalk is no longer favored by sexy Britney, replaced by an indifferent big sister
The private life images of Heroin Chic models are also extremely influential, including Kate Moss, Jaime King and others' depraved photos that are favorite posters for teenagers.
The privately psychedelic, lazy, depraved, and chaotic style of celebrity models intensified this Heroin Chic craze.
And this aesthetic method of killing all sides in the fashion circle soon penetrated into the lives of the younger generation.
Items such as skinny jeans, short tops, slip dresses, vests and other items began to become popular, and both boys and girls began to pursue this so-called decadence.
Alcohol, cigarettes or big M's can be a means of escaping reality and intoxicating themselves with short-lived pleasure in this seemingly cool way.
In addition, the fire of Heroin Chic in the entertainment industry is also burning.
The rise of Grunge rock has made young people pay more and more attention to the uniqueness of the individual, and this way of opposing the mainstream music also has the same spiritual core as Heroin Chic.
The 90s was also the golden age of world cinema, and there were many classics in cult films born from the popularity of Heroin Chic.
For example, "Guess the Train" and "Pulp Fiction" are film and television art classics that emerged under this aesthetic frenzy, and the whole film is telling "bad and chaos", which is confusion and reality.
Since then, Western aesthetics have begun to withdraw from the hedonism of the 80s, the beauty created by the predecessors has been completely shattered, and the decadence has become the dominant life of the younger generation.
Heroin Chic, with its unparalleled influence, even goes beyond the aesthetic level and upgrades to a new attitude to life: the expression of self-needs.
Heroin Chic became a trend, is it appropriate?
The reason why Heroin Chic is called Heroin Chic, "Heroin" is the most important element that cannot be ignored.
The two leading figures of Heroin Chic, Gia Grange and Kate Moss, are actually related to Heroin, they not only smoke D, but their life experience is also very in line with Heroin Chic's aesthetic core.
Gia's parents divorced and abandoned by her family since childhood, and Kate suffered from mental anxiety due to the controversy between men and women who filmed a CK commercial when she was 17 years old.
In adolescence, when their mental state is most sensitive and fragile, and their mental illness is the highest, they are all hurt from the outside world, thus beginning a long period of self-depression and self-isolation.
Heroin is their spiritual salvation.
In the face of intense pain, their own indifferent and fearless attitude towards the outside world shows this emotion well-
"The world sucks, so I don't care about the world."
This attitude also became a beacon of life in the teenage world in the future.
Heroin Chic was formed by the individual's perception of the pain of life, so it can become a trend, which partly explains the social state of the time.
What was the world like in the 90s?
The Berlin Wall had just fallen, Eastern Europe had undergone drastic changes, the Soviet Union had collapsed, tribal vendettas had occurred in Rwanda, the United States had become the sole superpower, and the Gulf War and the Kosovo War had been launched.
When the world changed, everyone had to bear the marks of the times, and for young Americans at that time, life was not as promising as imagined.
Most of them were born during the economic debt crisis, not only the unemployment rate increased, but also the racial relations in the society were also tense, and this kind of social environment that was worse than ever made it easier to increase the conflict between husband and wife, which in turn led to the breakdown of the family.
So the aesthetic style they pursue also carries a certain sense of fragmentation.
At the same time, the war has also brought unrest to society, and young people, who are themselves extremely sensitive to the environment, have a strong rejection reaction.
And when you don't trust society and hate the world, what do you care about?
That's right, personal.
So in a way, Heroin Chic is not only a funeral aesthetic, but also the ultimate in individual liberalism.
"The world sucks, so I'm going to enjoy the moment."
They are dissatisfied with the world, so they rebel against all the mainstream: the mainstream makes me sober, then I am intoxicated, the mainstream wants me to be healthy, I want to be sick.
If everything can be easily destroyed, then focus on the indelibility of the individual.
Uniqueness and rebellion are their rebellion against the world, but is it really healthy?
To the younger generation at the time, Heroin Chic was comparable to spiritual opium.
In addition to the popularity of Heroin Chic's public celebrities, they have also been exposed to a series of D-smoking scandals, and for those young people who regard them as idols, smoking Heroin is also imitated by some people.
They see this rebellious, unusual behavior as a way to release themselves.
Even if you don't smoke Heroin, at least keep Heroin: from your figure to your makeup to your outfit, you have a pale and weak sense of exhaustion and sickness.
And this rebellious attitude at the social and cultural level has intensified, and even the morbid trend has been constantly glorified, becoming a self-antagonistic way for young people who are unwilling to be assimilated by society.
It wasn't until some Heroin Chic public celebrities died of drug overdoses that people began to reflect on whether something was wrong with this aesthetic trend.
Heroin Chic, who is fashionable by drugs, tobacco and alcohol, and flaunts his attitude to life with a pathological and senseless attitude, has long deviated from his spiritual core.
In the younger generation, Heroin Chic is no longer a way to express himself, but more and more superficial, empty of morbid rebellion, but no real attitude.
For the people of that era, Heroin Chic was undoubtedly unhealthy, and as more and more people realized the seriousness of the problem, aesthetics were bound to return to the original mainstream.
In 1997, 13 well-known designers in the industry jointly signed a statement opposing the use of addict look as fashion promotion, and the explosion of Ji Niangniang also announced the complete return of "sexy models".
Since then, the Heroin Chic craze has come to an end.
But the end does not mean disappear.
As the New York Times put it, the increase in skinny models means Heroin Chic's comeback.
Of course, the sheep does not agree with this view, because it one-sidedly describes the "pursuit of thinness" as Heroin Chic.
Heroin Chic is not only skinny, but since Heroin Chic's popularity, the fashion industry has always had a certain love for skinny models.
Represented by Saint Laurent, many brands have begun to re-enable feminine skinny models with dignified dark circles to shoot fashion blockbusters
It's not so much a return to Heroin Chic, sheep feels more like the era's reinforcement of individualism.
As long as humanity develops, the spirit of rebellion will not die.
But first of all, we must know that the core of individualism is to express oneself, not to use extreme bodies to cater to the audience of this aesthetic trend.
Between 2000 and 2009, when Heroin Chic ended, girls aged 15-19 had the highest incidence of eating disorders, and France even fought anorexia in 2015...
Aesthetics is expression, it is release, no matter how much you subjectively like an aesthetic, don't lose yourself.
Once you are dominated by aesthetics, you will no longer be you, but a vassal of a morbid aesthetic.