Check out the curves in that tiny photo to the left--that they come courtesy of a push-up bra probably isn't surprising, but you may do a double take when you find out that the person they're attached to is, in fact, a man.
Remember Andrej Pejic, the male model who looks so androgynous that he's been killing it on the womenswear runways in everything from leather leggings to bridal gowns? The gender-bending catwalker just broke new ground by appearing in an ad for Dutch chain store Hema, modeling...their newest push-up bra (which, incidentally, must be one hell of a garment! We're pretty sure there are chicken cutlets in there too, though).
Reports Frockwriter, "Even in the super liberal Netherlands, Hema's choice of model has made big news, with at least a half dozen Dutch news outlets picking up the story in the last few hours. The campaign was shot in Amsterdam in late September and is described as a 'money job' by Pejic's Sydney agent, Chadwick's Joseph Tenni. 'It's revolutionary,' Tenni told frockwriter. 'I've never known a man to do a womens' lingerie campaign before.'"
It was disconcerting enough when we learned, last week, that H&M uses completely computer-generated models to sell lingerie, but the idea of an actual man's image being used to promote something so gender-specific as a bra has me befuddled. Andrej is an incredible model with an admirable history of gender barrier-busting in the fashion industry, but this seems to push the limit into territory I can't get comfortable with. Newsflash: The people who buy bras are women, and when we try to imagine ourselves wearing them, we want to see other actual women wearing them. This ad is for a mainstream fashion brand, and it's unlikely that your average non-fashion-blog-obsessed consumer would know that this is actually a dude. Which once again leaves us with an utterly unrealistic standard of beauty to live up to.
Check out all of the ads over at Frockwriter, then weigh in with your two cents. Are you confused? Amused? Ticked off? Feeling less than stellar about yourself? Time to dish, dolls!
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