Calling double standards on the ASA's ruling, the 'Tears in the Club' singer denies that she was portrayed as a 'sexual object' in the advertisement for the fashion brand.
- Jan 11, 2024
AceShowbiz - FKA twigs has spoken up after her Calvin Klein advertisement was banned in the U.K. for causing "serious offense." The singer has defended the steamy image used in the brand's campaign, denying the notion that she was portrayed as a "sexual object."
Following the Advertising Standards Authority's (ASA) ruling, the British artist took to social media to object to the censorship. On Wednesday, January 10, she posted her image used in the ad and wrote in the caption, "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."
Calling double standards on the ban, the 35-year-old continued, "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..."
Standing by her steamy pose, she added, "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."
twigs' statement came in light of ASA's ban of her steamy Calvin Klein ad, which was released back in March 2023. It featured her flashing her breast and butt as she wore nothing but a shirt draped over one shoulder and hung loose on another side of her body.
"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," the organization said in a statement, adding that the "image's composition placed viewers' focus on the model's body rather than on the clothing being advertised."
"We therefore concluded the ad was irresponsible and likely to cause serious offense," the ASA said. It additionally described the advert as "irresponsible and likely to cause serious offense" and ruled it "must not appear again in the form complained of."
Responding to the ban, Calvin Klein insisted, "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."
The brand argued the poses adopted by both her and Kendall Jenner in the same campaign were "natural and neutral." The brand reiterated that "the ads were for clothing, including underwear, and so a degree of nudity should be expected."
The ad's banning comes after two people complained that the images were "overly sexualized" and objectified women. The two complaints also took issue with the adverts featuring Kendall, who appeared in the same campaign that debuted last March, but ASA deemed them acceptable.
