Heroin Gods of the 90s
Heroin Chic
As Twiggy was the pinnacle of the 70's era, the rise of the 90's supermodels and the one and only Kate Moss launched a new visual aesthetic known as the Heroin Chic. The look was pale skin, dark circles underneath the eyes, emaciated features, androgyny and stringy hair. These traits were associated with abuse of heroin and other drugs, along with eating disorders that were associated with the high life of celebrities and fashion models. Models like Kate Moss survived off of cigarettes, drugs and carrots to maintain the life risking figure, Heroin went from needle use to more easily accessible snorting, changing the stigma around the drug making it more high fashion. Gia Carangi who was labeled as the "first supermodel" was remembered as being the origin of the heroin chic trend.
President Bill Clinton even stated in a prayer breakfast, “You do not need to glamourize addiction to sell clothes. The glorification of heroin is not creative, it’s destructive. It’s not beautiful; it’s ugly. And this is not about art; it’s about life and death. And glorifying death is not good for any society.”
We look at this trend now in modern day as Grunge, and the Heroin trend set the stage for the modeling industry for the last 30 years. But in the 2020's the tide is changing into more healthy and body inclusive modeling, stepping away from the original supermodel heroin physic. Just this month a New York Bill was passed to give models more labor protections against exploitation and mistreatment in the workplace.
