FKA Twigs has spoken out about the U.K.’s ban on her Calvin Klein campaign.
After the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) blocked a recent photo advertisement starring the 36-year-old singer-songwriter posing semi-nude, Twigs shared her disapproval of the decision on Instagram Wednesday (Jan. 10). “i do not see the ‘stereotypical sexual object’ that they have labelled me,” wrote the “Two Weeks” artist. “i see a beautiful strong woman of colour whose incredible body has overcome more pain than you can imagine.”
The banning of Twigs’ campaign is juxtaposed by a recent viral ad actor Jeremy Allen White filmed for the fashion brand, in which he models a pair of Calvin Klein underwear with objectively less coverup than Twigs wore in her photoshoot. Even so, his ad remains untouched, while the British musician’s was prohibited because it “placed viewers’ focus on the model’s body rather than on the clothing being advertised,” according to the BBC.
“in light of reviewing other campaigns past and current of this nature, i can’t help but feel there are some double standards here,” she continued in her post, sharing the now banned black-and-white photo she shot for Calvin Klein. “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.”
“thank you to ck and mert and marcus who gave me a space to express myself exactly how i wanted to – i will not have my narrative changed,” she concluded.
It’s been about two years since fans got new music from Twigs, whose last album Caprisongs came out in January 2022 and reached No. 91 on the Billboard 200. She did, however, update fans in December on her next project, sharing a series of clips from her recent travels on Instagram and writing, “this year i have been making my album in cabs in berlin, huts in big sur, caves in ibiza, roads in hackney, i have written lyrics by lakes in prague and in the toilets of raves with a biro on the back of my hand.”
See FKA Twigs’ post below: