Selkie’s AW25 show takes aim at Ozempic culture

At Selkie’s AW25 show, held off-schedule at the tailend of NYFW, the hair was full of secrets. And bows, shells, pearls, miniature vanity tables, cat figurines, a four-poster bed – even tiny Amazon packages. Big, conical powdered wigs in shades of dusty pink, powdery blue and old lilac came with mini dioramas which Selkie founder Kimberley Gordon titled “The Whore’s Bed”, ‘The Influencer Desk’ and ‘The Ozempic Table’.

“During Marie Antoinette’s reign and during the 18th century, women would wear these political statements in their hair and these giant hairdos,” she says. “It feels as if something is coming, some kind of revolution. There’s so many things in the zeitgeist right now that are pointing to this giant flip. There’s nothing better than [the 18th century] to express how I’m feeling about that through clothes. I think it’s important to have this sense of humour about it.”

Sabrina Gilbert created the wigs and hair stylist Linh Nguyen worked with Gordon to carry out her vision of making them look imperfect, matte and slept in. On the face, make-up artist Lottie created a high-impact look with exaggerated cotton candy blush, beauty marks and black-lined pink lips. Under the glow of the candlelight at the Angel Orensanz Foundation, one of New York’s oldest surviving synagogue buildings in New York City, Selkie’s models of all ages, sizes and backgrounds walked the runway in big, puffy Marie Antoinette style gowns, corsets, panniers and bloomers.

“The Whore’s Bed” was inspired by Tracy Emin’s “My Bed”, a sculpture installation that speaks to girlhood and womanhood and the messiness of it all. It has a candelabra and various objects of femininity. “The Influencer Desk” is full of Amazon packages, a ring light, computer and ample clutter everywhere, while “The Ozempic Table” features a table with a single injection tube of Ozempic, that sits perched on top of the hair. “I wanted these three things that are just really, to me, the most powerful things driving my mind right now displayed in the hair,” explains Gordon.

The Ozempic desk spoke most closely to the show’s theme (and Gordon’s perspective on beauty more generally). “I have really complicated feelings about Ozempic, I think everyone does,” she says. “It’s hard because it signifies the increase of shrinking women and throws me back into the 90s with so many diet pills.” While she understands that the medication has been critical to many people and saved lives, the rise in popularity has coincided with a notable decrease in size inclusivity across all major runways recently. “There’s so much judgment and there’s so much praise and it’s happening so fast. You go from this plus-size influencer to suddenly becoming thin overnight and it’s so jarring. I think it's really difficult for women to understand what to do with it in this time period. I don’t know what to do with it. I don't know how to process it. And I guess that’s why I wanted to display it, because what are we doing?”

It’s undeniably true: women are being made smaller both metaphorically and physically everyday as we sink into political turmoil globally. It was because of this that Gordon chose to cast Charlie Reynolds, a Selkie favourite, to walk topless (save for ribbon nipple pasties), in a big pink skirt and feathered hat while eating a Magnum of ice cream, looking seductively indifferent and side-eying the front row. It was a clear reference to Kate Moss walking in Vivienne Westwood’s “Cafe Society” collection in 1994. Except that Reynolds has a very different body type than Moss – a purposeful statement on re-thinking beauty standards.

“The ever-shrinking body pendulum is in full swing right now. There’s this tendency to make women small. So it was important to me to show that even when you take all the Selkie girl’s clothes off, she still takes up all the room and she’s still this powerhouse.” The moment has gone viral on social media, with plenty of praise; somewhat of a rarity on our strange times. “I wanted to ask, was it Kate’s body that made us love that moment?” says Gordon. “I wanted to ask the public that by using Charlie instead. And I think the answer is no.”

Casting has always been intrinsic to Selkie’s rare point of view on beauty standards. The AW25 show also featured two models in wheelchairs, both dressed in revealing outfits. Kaitlin Sommer was one of the models, another Selkie favorite. “She has an agenda to sexualise wheelchair users and show that they are sexual and it is not taboo,” says Gordon. “It was a big deal for her to wear the bow nipple pasties. I am super grateful to give these girls the stage to make their own personal political statements. I’m sharing this stage with all the women in the show.”

Since Selkie was founded in 2018, it’s been devoted to telling stories with beauty through a unique point of view. Selkie’s campaigns often take character transformation to the next level, turning models into everything from cherubs to vampires, with hair and make-up to match. “I want a cinematic moment, but I want to really tell the story too,” she says. “It comes back to if you take her clothes all off, she’s still that girl. And so the make-up and hair really has to suggest the storyline in a way that’s thoughtful and still gives power to femininity. I think that femininity is also subjective, but in my version of femininity, I’m looking for this transformation where they see this alternate version of themselves.”

“Beauty is the ultimate form of self love,” she says. “It’s transformation. To be able to see yourself in the new light.”