FKA twigs drags ‘double standards’ after Calvin Klein ad banned for ‘objectifying women’

We can’t stop talking about Calvin Klein this month after Jeremy Allen White‘s rooftop campaign with the brand had the whole of the internet screaming “yes, chef’ in horny unison. But now, in a seemingly outdated bout of censorship from the UK’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), FKA twigs has had her comparatively conservative Calvin campaign – which was released in April 2023 – banned for “objectifying women”.

The ASA had received two (2) whole complaints about FKA’s ad when they decided to ban it. “We considered the image’s composition placed viewers’ focus on the model’s body rather than on the clothing being advertised,” they have said. “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.”

Credit: Calvin Klein

Unsurprisingly, FKA had something to say about the left side of her body being labelled offensive. “I do not see the ‘stereotypical sexual object’ that they have labelled me,” she wrote in an Instagram post on Wednesday. ““I see a beautiful strong woman of colour whose incredible body has overcome more pain than you can imagine.

“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,” she continued.

“Thank you to CK and [fashion photographers] Mert and Marcus who gave me a space to express myself exactly how I wanted to – I will not have my narrative changed.”

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Calvin Klein also released a statement in response to the ban on FKA’s ad, explaining all “conventionally sensitive” areas of her body are fully covered and she was stood in a neutral and normal position.

“Surely, pulling FKA Twigs campaign is policing a woman’s body?” questioned one person on Twitter. “This is where we’re at as a society. Couple people can make a complaint and your ting – goneeee!” 

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Featured image credit via Guerin Charles/ABACA/Shutterstock