Heroin Chic: The Obsession Of Thinness In Fashion and Its Concerning Reappearance

Gia Carangi is considered to be the world's first supermodel, as well as the model who perfectly embodied the heroin chic aesthetic. Photographs of models posing unconscious, washed-out and exhausted were argued to portray senses of realism and rawness in fashion  photography. While drug use is a severe epidemic, especially in the United States, photographers, stylists, models, and designers glamorized the heavy drug-use look, which many believe negatively impacted the fashion industry. 

In the mid-’90s, heroin chic was brought to the runway, as well as to the big screen. Movies like Pulp Fiction, and thrown onto billboards of Calvin Klein campaigns brought the party side of fashion into the limelight, intriguing consumers. The lifestyle that came along with this bold look is what eventually led to the death of Gia Carangi at only 26 years old. 

While Carangi worked within the cutthroat modeling industry, she was actively using heroin, bringing the terrifying reality behind these photos to life. The practice of active drug use eventually took the life of the young model; she died of AIDS complications, it is believed she contracted the disease from a needle contaminated with HIV. In the 1998 film, GIA tells her story, showcasing addiction while highlighting the problems within the modeling industry.

Following Carangi’s passing, newer supermodels continued to symbolize the idolization of thinness in the fashion and modeling world. Furthermore, we continue to see the romanticization of this time and style in modern platforms and fashion.

"You do not need to glamorize addiction to sell clothes," President Bill Clinton stated at the U.S. Conference of Mayors in May 1997. "The glorification of heroin is not creative, it's destructive." After the mid-’90s, politicians, civilians, and artists expressed their concerns regarding the message “heroin chic” was sending to the public. The pressure to put an end to the trend grew, in hopes of saving individuals from starving, abusing substances, and potentially dying. 

Another poster child of the “heroin chic” style was photographer Davide Sorrenti, who died at age 20 after fighting kidney disease and using drugs. Young, and famous for his melancholic photographs, he and his girlfriend, model Jaime King, spent their youth creating “heroin chic” inspired art. 

Below, on the left, the two are pictured before Sorrenti’s passing. On the right is a photo Sorrenti captured of King, in ripped tights with messy hair, and frail features: characteristic features of the “heroin chic” aesthetic.

Later on, the globally known supermodel Kate Moss was recognized for her slim figure and pale complexion, making her a perfect model for projects aimed to fit the heroin chic style. The model could be found posing in high-fashion magazines in addition to the most crowded catwalks. She represented the desired look at the time and with her, came a flood of thin models. 

Moss’ famous mantra “nothing tastes as good as skinny feels” encouraged the culture of starvation. The phrase is still found posted on platforms such as TikTok and Instagram today. Moss shared regret for saying these words in a recent BBC interview. Yet, the damage is done. Photos of her younger, slim body with the phrase still live on pro-anorexia websites.

Platforms like Reddit and Twitter have thousands of posts with the hashtag “thinspo” where users share inspirational quotes aimed at weight loss. These threads get extremely dark, encouraging eating disorders and pushing society further away from health. Along with these threads, young audiences are consuming endless airbrushed photos and fabricated profiles. Content like this drives viewers to compare themselves to images that are fabricated. Encouraging an unrealistic lifestyle, generating body dysmorphia, anorexia, bulimia—the list goes on. 

A 2021 TikTok trend: dark eye-circle makeup

With the diet industry’s growing value exceeding billions of dollars, it’s evident our society’s fixation on thinness continues to be very prominent. History shows our failure to learn from our mistakes, and while movements challenging these unrealistic beauty standards have thousands of advocates, sadly, trends encouraging starvation continue to live on. 

Messages that our bodies are not thin enough are thrown in consumers' faces daily. The diet industry spreads the belief that if we were thinner, life would be better, taking advantage of people's insecurities to generate profit in the fastest ways possible. Diet pills, fad cleanses, and dieting programs can cost hundreds, for just momentary change. The false promises advertisers provide to buyers like “You’ll look your best in a week!” typically lead viewers to feel their worst. The plans consist of restrictive behaviors, usually leading participants to binging or purging. 

Not only does the modeling industry push unrealistic expectations of fitting into this cookie-cutter outline of a body, but so does social media. Just within the past few years, social media has changed drastically. Apps once created to share updates with loved ones are more corporate than ever. Influencers and companies have changed the way social media runs and with thousands of followers watching them, the pressure to be “perfect” has reached an extreme. There's rarely education or guidance on how to be or look healthy either. Public figures are paid to promote certain vitamin and diet brands they don't even use themselves. It’s difficult for followers, especially younger users to determine what is true vs. what is false over social media.

Detox FitTea x Kylie Jenner advertisement (2014, Instagram)

The National Eating Disorders Association, a non-profit organization supporting individuals and families affected by eating disorders reports that “by age 6, girls start to express concerns about their own weight... 40-60% of elementary school girls (ages 6-12) are concerned about their weight or about becoming too fat.” 

The media and runways' never-ending connection of thinness to high fashion is destructive for so many people. It negatively impacts society as a whole. Further proving the lack of education in the media regarding healthy relationships with food. On April 18, 2022, Woman’s World published a magazine with the headline “Drop 16 Lbs in 10 Days.” The recurring encouragement of being thinner and thinner found through all platforms of media is relentless, harmful, and far from “chic.”