Let’s talk about Rick Owens selling his feet pics on OnlyFans.
And why it, and the way fashion media is reporting on it, really doesn't sit right with me.
If you have an eye on fashion, there’s no way you aren’t aware that Rick Owens recently decided being a designer with a $6 million net worth just isn’t sufficient. He’s going to start selling pictures of his feet on OnlyFans as well.
As Complex reported: “Owens said he's grown tired of seeing “prissy moralism” and “judgment” and wants to respond with defiance. "It is my way of saying, ‘Lighten up, don’t take it all so seriously.’ A little bit of wicked fun is elegant," he said about his form of “protest.””
So to be clear, Rick himself has stated, he isn’t doing this for the money.
But to me, his reasoning behind this decision is somewhat tone deaf. It sensationalises sex work (and I’m ready to argue anyone who says selling foot pics isn’t sex work). And neglects any real thought as to the proliferation of sex work, particularly online sex work, in today’s world.
Because for most OnlyFans creators, the content they produce isn’t just a “little bit of wicked fun”, it’s a necessity to make ends meet during an economic crisis. So it seems callous for a celebrity designer like Owens to do this as a form of “protest”. And a protest against what exactly?
Regardless of the blurry subject at hand, it seems to me there are plenty other far more effective methods of protest, that weren’t a massive headline grab which ultimately benefits your brand’s sales.
To top it all off, the jovial reporting on this matter is perhaps what irks me most. Not only does it fail to address what I outlined above, but it sets precedent for glorifying designers cash-grabbing tendencies. Though perhaps, now I think about it, fashion media has been on that train for a while…