High Fashion Models are a Feminist Statement

 

I love high fashion models, and I love how much they piss everyone off. What many people fail to realize is that the main consumers of fashion are women. This is important for designers to remember, especially when it comes to marketing. You must market your product in a way that attracts loyal and paying customers. The fashion industry is a business first and foremost. You frequently hear men whine and complain about the “ugliness” (lack of sexiness) of high fashion models. This is not only ironic but proves that clothing brands have been successful in accomplishing what they sought out to do. 
 
Models are not supposed to be attractive to men. They’re not even supposed to be attractive at all. They are supposed to repel a man’s gaze completely. Why? Because men will not be loyal paying customers! Men’s sexualization brings no profit, and in some cases, can decrease profit. This is female fashion we are talking about. This is not porn. Brands are not making female clothes for men to jerk off to. They are creating these clothes for women to buy. 
 
Many feminists argue that high fashion models set unrealistic beauty standards. They seem to forget that there are practical reasons for why fashion models look the way that they do. Their height makes them easier to be seen on the runway by the audience and show the designer’s garment in its full glory. Their slimness and “lack of assets” (small boobs and small butt) allows for the garments to flow better and give designers more wiggle room to make mistakes. Their “alien-adjacent” or androgynous looks are to keep the female audience intrigued and the male audience repelled. Oddly enough, one could argue that high fashion models are a feminist statement.
 
What feminists fail to realize is that not all femininity is oppressive or bad, but most importantly, not all femininity has been constructed or tainted by men. The femininity fashion models exude is one of femaleness. A standard of femininity that men do not desire. Similarly to the Japanese female subculture "Lolita", high fashion is for the female gaze, not the male one. The high fashion industry is one of the few female-dominated industries that you rarely hear men praise or sexualize. Compared to female porn stars, who are chosen specifically with the male gaze in mind (fake boobs, fake butts, petite, hairless genitals, etc.), fashion models have the unique ability to attract female customers and repel male ones by choosing women who possess androgynous or unconventional features while centering female focused femininity.

Ironically, I hear feminists critique fashion models for setting unrealistic beauty standards more than porn stars despite only one of the two being sold to a male audience. Women will argue with men who scream about their hatred of fashion models and accuse them of being liars, but no, men are not lying when they say they don’t find high fashion models attractive. The male gaze does not bring in money for brands nor does what men find sexually appealing matter when it comes to the profitability of female fashion. Because of this, I deem high fashion models to be a feminist statement. Fashion models are free to look like feminine alien creatures from another planet and make money for themselves all while never having to cater to what men deem sexy. This is fantastic. What could be more feminist than that?