Background and Context:

Supermodel Bella Hadid entered the stage at the conclusion of the Coperni show during Paris Fashion Week. Nobody has settled down since Bella Hadid walked down that runway while nearly naked, driving fashion fanatics insane. The enthralled crowd viewed for nine minutes while an incredibly quick dress was sprayed onto her body. A slit up the leg and straps were quickly hand-molded after the event. The outfit is constructed from liquid fibers, also referred to as liquid fabric or “fabric in a can.” The polymers and chemicals that hold the fibers together vaporize when they come into contact with surfaces, in this case, Bella Hadid’s skin. When the fiber layers thickened, the substance—a unique spray-on fabric created by a London-based company by the name of Fabrican—started to resemble spider webs. However, they quickly dried into a jagged cloth, essentially mummifying Bella Hadid. The dress appeared to be made of cotton or silk in photographs, but when touched, it felt rough and soft like foam. A Mid-length, white dress with off-the-shoulder straps was the end result.

This dress caused an upset all over social media as it highlighted fashion’s obstinate infatuation with extreme thinness as being noticeably less forward-thinking. I just want to point out this is not a direct criticism of Bella Hadid herself, but the idea of the “ideal” body type that many thought worldwide she unconsciously portrayed when walking in this show. It appeared for a brief period of time that the body-positivity movement had been successful in enforcing greater diversity in the business. Brands that ceased offering clothing in sizes 16 or 18 stood the risk of legitimate backlash on social media. On occasion, curvier models started showing up in fashion magazines, advertisements, and runways. Yet, this dress had much thought differently about the progression of fashion today and seems to convey a message to many that the size 0 obsession will never truly go away.

Another shocking controversy about the dress was the photo edit of Bella Hadid’s dress that said “White Lives Matter” posted by Kanye West earlier this week. Kanye West captioned the post by saying “OH AND I DID A T SHIRT DRESS TOOOOOOOO GOOD ARTIST BORROW GREAT ARTIST STEEEEEAL I’M THE LOUVRE”. The “White Lives Matter” shirts were described as very provocative, aggressive, and violent by Gabriella Karefa-Johnson, the editor and designer for Vogue. Gigi, Bella’s older sister, criticized Kanye West for speaking ill of Karefa-Johnson, so he took a dig into Bella as a result of this criticism.

Work Cited:

Lumb, David. “Bella Hadid Gets Dress Sprayed onto Her and Walks It down the Runway.” CNET, CNET, 30 Sept. 2022, https://www.cnet.com/culture/fashion/bella-hadid-gets-dress-sprayed-onto-her-and-walks-it-down-the-runway/.

Kato, Brooke. “’Is It Fashion or Is She Just Skinny?’ plus-Size Tiktoker Tests Trends.” New York Post, New York Post, 2 Aug. 2022, https://nypost.com/2022/08/02/is-it-fashion-or-is-she-just-skinny-plus-sized-woman-tests-trends/.

Bitsky, Leah. “Kanye West Photoshops ‘White Lives Matter’ onto Bella Hadid’s Dress.” Page Six, Page Six, 6 Oct. 2022, https://pagesix.com/2022/10/06/kanye-west-adds-white-lives-matter-to-bella-hadids-dress/.