Modelling may be mostly filled with glamour, but it’s not all spotlights and runways. Some campaigns ask for the downright weird: whether it’s posing with live animals or being covered head to toe in anything from olive oil to clam dip…
While there is sound logic in using food in a fashion campaign, I have never been able to get on board with covering the model head to toe in it. To my mind it would be uncomfortable for the model, a pain for the cleaners, and it doesn’t make the clothing any sexier –in fact all I can think is, ‘you’ve ruined a perfectly good boudoir ensemble’. But these thoughts don’t stop designers and producers from flooding the world with some seriously strange campaigns.
The latest that got me thinking was Emily Ratajkowski’s getting greased up with olive oil and pasta for LOVE magazine’s annual advent. Each year LOVE puts together these productions that feature the fashion world’s most notable females making boring household tasks more seductive. The latest video sets the premise of ‘carbo-loading day’ with a quick voice-over summarising the film’s (humorous) point:
“Another problem that has never really been settled: how to eat spaghetti gracefully.”
The film is then one and a half minutes of Ratajkowski writhing on a table covered in pasta and olive oil looking sultry, but definitely not eating gracefully. Sensuality is a curious thing. On the one hand I can totally understand the logic behind a having a curvy woman in lingerie all oiled up and seductively working on a strand of spaghetti, on the other hand I prefer my food to stay on its plate and not on someone’s body. While this type of thing is not new, I can’t help but wonder will it ever get old?
Sex and food have forever been holding hands in fashion campaigns, advertising, film, and TV -even Matt Preston on Masterchef measures a panna cotta by its suggestive wobble- and their interconnectedness can no doubt come from the indulgence they share. Think about it; the early stages of our courtships are always shaped by romantic dinners –often involving foods considered aphrodisiacs like oysters, champagne, and chocolate- and in many committed relationships special occasions such as anniversaries are celebrated with a special dinner followed by an even better dessert. When we eat good food the sounds we make and our facial expressions are strangely identical to those we make during sex, as is the euphoria we feel at the meal’s end.
Obviously sex and food trigger the same biological responses (well, some… not all) in us and we have learned to connect the two in other ways: food critics will describe dishes as ‘sexy’ while fashion designers take inspiration from every culinary avenue, creating ensembles that get described as, ‘good enough to eat’. But at what stage does the crossover become repellent?
It could be when the ‘not-sexy’ foods start having their day in the sun –and probably spoiling in the process- like the album cover for Soul Asylum’s Clam Dip & Other Delights: a parody of Herb Alpert’s Whipped Cream & Other Delights. Or maybe it’s when we start to consider the mental and physical dangers of indulgence. Those euphoric triggers from sex and food –caused by dopamine, the ‘reward’ hormone- are easy to become addicted to and our brains naturally will connect feeling good with whatever caused those triggers. This was the idea that artist James Ostrer explored in his 2014 project, which took a major stab at junk food culture. In his work, Ostrer covered his models in everything from McDonalds, to deli meats, to confectionary, creating literal junk food monsters that could make Willy Wonka switch to salad! In an interview Ostrer explained his own relationship with junk food –and the euphoria it caused- came from his parents’ divorce and his father taking him to McDonalds.
“I came to view it as a place of relaxation and fun. Ever since, whenever I feel distressed I go straight for this kind of food.”
Ostrer’s not the only one exploring the link between sex and junk food. In the same year photographer Sarah Bahbah also examined the theme of indulgence with her series Sex and Takeout. The series of twenty photographs depicts men and women in various stages of nudity -pre and post coitus- indulging in a range of junk foods from pizza to doughnuts. Unlike Ostrer’s work Bahbah stays on the less frightening side of things, as her subjects playfully eat their food naked and enjoy every minute of it! The series explores the romantic link between food and sex, but turns it on its ear with the meal coming after climax and extending the euphoria -hopefully no grease stains ruined those white sheets!
There is still sensuality in the marriage of food and sex, as is –somewhat- obvious from LOVE’s latest advent. But behind the whipped cream and olive oil there’re mental and physical health hazards that threaten us. One can only hope that campaign designers, producers, and marketers will know when to draw the line between sexy and sordid.
Have a guilty food pleasure? Share it with us below!