The CAPRISONGS artist has spoken out after her Calvin Klein advert was banned in the UK for presenting her as what the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) described as a “stereotypical sexual object”.
The campaign poster first appeared in spring 2023 and features FKA twigs posing in an open denim shirt, with the text on the poster stating: “Calvins or nothing”. As the Guardian reports, the ASA received two public complaints about twigs’ advert as well as as two additional images starring model Kendall Jenner. The complainants believed the images were “overly sexualised”, offensive and irresponsible because they objectified women, and inappropriate for the means through which they were displayed.
In a ruling statement issued yesterday (10 January), the ASA discussed the twigs poster, writing: “We considered the image’s composition placed viewers’ focus on the model’s body rather than on the clothing being advertised. The ad used nudity and centred on FKA Twig’s [sic] physical features rather than the clothing, to the extent that it presented her as a stereotypical sexual object”. The ASA said Jenner’s images did not focus on her body “in a manner that portrayed her as a sexual object” and the level of nudity was not beyond that which people would expect for a lingerie advert.
FKA twigs has since shared the campaign imagery to Instagram, and penned her thoughts on the ruling. “I do not see the ‘stereotypical sexual object’ that they have labelled me. I see a beautiful strong woman of colour whose incredible body has overcome more pain than you can imagine,” twigs begins. “In light of reviewing other campaigns past and current of this nature, I can’t help but feel there are some double standards here. so to be clear…
I am proud of my physicality and hold the art I create with my vessel to the standards of women like Josephine Baker, Eartha Kitt and Grace Jones who broke down barriers of what it looks like to be empowered and harness a unique embodied sensuality. Thank you to CK and Mert and Marcus who gave me a space to express myself exactly how I wanted to – I will not have my narrative changed.”
See twigs’ statement in full below.
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Calvin Klein defended the former Crack Magazine cover and the campaign, stating: “The images were not vulgar and were of two confident and empowered women who had chosen to identify with the Calvin Klein brand, and the ads contained a progressive and enlightened message” in response to the ruling.
FKA twigs released CAPRISONGS in January 2022. At the time, we described it as “an indelible chapter in the story of one of contemporary pop’s most intriguing minds”. In October, twigs shared that she had been hacked and 85 of her demos had been leaked. That same month, the artist shared new music during a performance at the Valentino L’Éclole show in Paris alongside a troupe of dancers. The Unearth Her performance featured unreleased music from twigs and her former collaborator and Young labelmate Koreless – supposedly from her forthcoming album, revealed the brand at the time.
