This resurgence of braless chic undoubtedly brings back (your dad’s) fond memories of the 90s nipple craze. From Jenifer Aniston’s iconic nip shots on Friends, to Kate Moss’ lewd Calvin Klein covers, freeing the nipple was absolutely high fashion. Now, through a combination of the trend cycle and lazy pandemic style, we’re SO back to flashing our high beams ladies.
The idea of a bra so overtly sexual treads the line between empowering and dehumanising. Whilst the oversexualisation versus sexual liberation debate has been dividing feminists for decades, and will continue to long after The Kardashians finally stops airing, it is clear that Kim firmly believes that nudity is freeing.
True to her controversial roots, somehow the nude look is not the most contentious part of Kim’s new campaign. She launched the product with a sardonic climate changed themed advert, arguing that she wouldn’t let rising temperatures stop us girls from having a tasteful braless moment. Many climate activists were quick to take issue with her flippant dismissal of the real dangers that climate change poses, alongside the ironic lack of sustainability of the bras themselves (manufactured using non-biodegradable nylon and polyester). That, combined with her known private jet usage and lavish consumerism, made the ad quickly unpopular. Perhaps, as fellow climate-criminal Kourtney Barker likes to remind her, Kim needs to remember that there are people that are dying.
On the flipside, Skims has pledged 10% of the profit from the nipple bra sales to the climate non-profit 1% for the Planet to offset their environmental damages. Furthermore, it’s more than a little suspicious that many Twitter users quick to repost an unfunny SNL climate change skit seem to have a problem with the ad. Arguably, the idea that Kim is playing into the bimbo character, both in the advert and for years on her reality show, has gone over a lot of people’s heads.
If you squint quite a bit, there is something a little bit dystopianly feminist about a woman skyrocketed to fame via revenge porn earning millions to do a valley girl accent on TV and sell fake-nipple bras in the face of imminent death by rising sea-levels. Maybe Kim is on the right track in deciding that sometimes all we can do is put on a silly voice, buy some new shiny things, and laugh.
