FKA twigs blasts 'double standards' over ban on 'overly sexualised' Calvin Klein poster
Singer FKA twigs has said she feels “double standards” are at play after her Calvin Klein poster was banned over complaints it objectified women.
In the poster, the 36-year-old British singer wore an open denim shirt, leaving the full side of her body exposed, with the caption: “Calvins or nothing.”
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) received two complaints, saying the images were “overly sexualised”, offensive and irresponsible because they objectified women and were inappropriately displayed.
The artist, whose real name is Tahliah Debrett Barnett, challenged the complaints in an Instagram post on Thursday and thanked Calvin Klein for giving her the “space to express myself exactly how I wanted to”.
Alongside a picture of the poster, she wrote: “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.
“In light of reviewing other campaigns past and current of this nature, I can’t help but feel there are some double standards here.
For more arts and entertainment news, listen to our podcast Unscripted...
“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.”
Calvin Klein also previously defended the ad, saying it was similar to those it had been releasing in the UK for many years.
The fashion brand said FKA twigs, who it described as a “confident and empowered woman”, had collaborated with Calvin Klein to produce the image and had approved it before publication.
It added that all “conventionally sensitive” body areas were fully covered and that she was standing in a natural and neutral position.
The ASA said: “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 twigs’ physical features rather than the clothing, to the extent that it presented her as a stereotypical sexual object.
“We therefore concluded the ad was irresponsible and likely to cause serious offence.”
The ASA did not ban two posters from the same campaign featuring model Kendall Jenner following complaints on the same grounds, finding that they 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 ad.
Want a quick and expert briefing on the biggest news stories? Listen to our latest podcasts to find out What You Need To Know…