Lana Rhoades on stanning Miu Miu, the male gaze & swapping porn for fashion

From adult stars walking the runway at Mugler, DSquared2, and KNWLS, to Shayne Oliver, Ludovic de Saint Sernin, and Vaquera linking up with Pornhub on XXX-rated collabs, the worlds of fashion and porn grow more intertwined with each passing season. After a brief stint as a porn actor, Mia Khalifa has become a regular on the front row at Paris Fashion Week, attending shows spanning Louis Vuitton, Off-White, and more.

Joining her now is Lana Rhoades, who similarly made her name in porn having launched her professional career in the industry at the tender age of 19. However, like Khalifa, her stint in the adult film world was short-lived, spanning just eight months in 2016, before she made the bold decision to exit. Despite this brief tenure, Rhoades skyrocketed to superstardom, claiming the title of Pornhub’s most searched actor for an impressive four consecutive years – something which secured her a spot on the platform’s top 20 list.

Behind the glitz and glamour, though, was a dark side of exploitation and mental health struggles, which prompted Rhoades to pivot in another direction and begin a new chapter in her life. Now, in addition to co-hosting top-ranking podcast 3 Girls 1 Kitchen, in which she and co-hosts Olivia Davis and Alexa Adams talk food, sex, love, and the tricky waters that are modern dating, she’s fulfilled a lifelong ambition to dip her toes into fashion, working with brands including MISBHV and even walking the runway at Dilara Findikoglu’s AW24 show at London Fashion Week. 

Here, Rhoades talks making it in porn, her switch to fashion, and her plans for the future. 

Hey Lana! So first of all, how did you get into fashion in the first place?

Lana Rhoades: I have always been someone that is conscious of their look, so I’d say clothing in general has always been an interest. But maybe in the last three years it has become an obsession. One of my biggest passions outside being a mother is watching vintage fashion shows for fun, and I also love sourcing really cool vintage pieces, looking for different trends. When it naturally translated into career opportunities I was very thankful. I was asked to walk my first fashion show in 2022, and after that more requests started coming in – I’ve worked with I.AM.GIA., Poster Girl, and MISBHV, on my own clothing, and multiple collabs with jewellery brands, shoe labels, and more. I could not be having any more fun doing it.

Who are your favourite designers? And do you have any fave pieces? 

Lana Rhoades: Probably some early 2000s Miu Miu purses and shoes, I have a really cute early Miu Miu coat. 2000-2010 Miu Miu was my favourite, it was playful and experimental, and it was so girly. Miuccia Prada is my favourite designer. Ever. All her early work for Prada and Miu Miu are chef’s kiss. If I’m collecting something, it’s gonna be those.

How has your approach to personal identity changed as you’ve transitioned from the adult film industry to the fashion world?

Lana Rhoades: I wouldn’t say that my approach to my personal identity has changed because of my shifts in career over the years. I was really young when I first came on to the scene, and I’ll be turning 28 in September, so I think it’s just a natural evolution of figuring out who I am, coming into my own skin, figuring out what I like, and how I want to be – it’s never really been a planned thing, it’s always been about me being authentic to myself and presenting what I liked then and liked now.

I don’t do anything to purposefully sway people’s opinion or view of me away from my past in porn – nothing that I do is for that purpose, not my haircuts that I get or anything I say or wear. I’ve seen comments from girls saying “she wants to separate herself from that”. When it comes to my appearance or personality, it was never about that – I’m just truly expressing myself and what I like. It has nothing to do with wanting to conform to other peoples’ opinions or views of me.

“When you’re not catering to men, they’ll insult you and get mad at you for not doing what they want – they want to jerk their little weenies off to you, but you’re not giving that to them” – Lana Rhoades

When the recent Rihanna cover for Interview came out, people were saying she looked demonic, and not like the ‘old’ Rihanna. The same thing happened to Julia Fox when she was no longer the Uncut Gems star they once knew. I’ve noticed a similar thing happening in your comments on Instagram. How are you navigating that? 

Lana Rhoades: I have noticed a huge influx not only on my own photos that I post for work, but on all the names that you’ve mentioned and many more. It’s become an accepted thing to berate other people based on their appearance, and it’s something I will never understand. As someone to whom it happens too often, i would say it affects me less than it probably does other people because mostly – and I’m not just saying this – I don’t really care what people think. 

But sure, on some days, I might post a photo that I have to for work, and I genuinely think I look really pretty in whatever outfit I have on and feel proud of the picture, and I get completely berated. It makes you second-guess yourself, like ‘do I look too skinny? Too pale? Is this outfit really ugly’. I want to base my opinion of myself on what I think, not some weird people that I don’t even know, because I’m the one who lives with myself every day. 

In real life, I have people coming up to me saying ‘are you a model? You’re so beautiful’, so I try to look at the logic. The men that comment are going to other profiles of women, who may or may not be more attractive than you, and commenting ‘baby you’re so beautiful’ because her butt is out and she’s – inadvertently or otherwise – catering to them sexually. But when you’re not catering to them, they’ll insult you and get mad at you for not doing what they want – they want to jerk their little weenies off to you, but you’re not giving that to them.

It’s breaking away from the male gaze…

Lana Rhoades: Yes, but I think male desire is an issue which extends far beyond fashion or what women choose to wear, the make-up they choose to wear, what hair cuts they decide to have. I’ve recently been exposed to more news and seeing how often women are sexually abused by men because they can’t control these desires is scary – I generally walk around covered up because I don’t know that I would feel comfortable going out in public wearing something men find attractive because they scare the shit out of me. The male gaze comes down to entitlement and them still thinking they can take what they want from weaker beings. 

Are you making a conscious decision to move away from the male gaze in the brands you work with and campaigns you shoot? Obviously you were working in an industry which caters largely to men when working in porn, and fashion is known for also pandering to the male gaze…

Lana Rhoades: I would say that the campaigns that I have booked in particular over the past year and a half feel quite contrary to what men want and what’s defined as ‘the male gaze’. For example, in a campaign I shot last July, I had a black pixie cut with micro bangs and the men did not like that! I think it’s common knowledge that men’s favourite hair is long hair – that’s what I’ve been told my entire life  – but I loved wearing it short. I was actually inspired after this shoot to go get baby bangs on my natural hair, which the men also did not like. 

Recently, I walked for Dilara – who’s a genius by the way – for London Fashion Week. I absolutely love that she uses styles from the Victorian era and the tuberculosis baddie make-up was everything, it ate. Yet again, the men did not like it, but it was really fun for me! I think fashion is moving away from catering to the male gaze, especially in the last few years – from the bleached brows to the baby bangs, the things that are becoming popular or on trend are things that men actually hate.

“I walked for Dilara for London Fashion Week. I absolutely love that she uses styles from the Victorian era and the tuberculosis baddie make-up was everything, it ate” – Lana Rhoades

Do you feel you’ve reclaimed your gaze in the fashion world? Maybe where you might have more control over how you’re presented?

Lana Rhoades: I don’t think I have reclaimed anything. I think that I have always done what I liked at the time, so if the way I was styling myself five years ago was more ‘male-approved’, say, it was because I was genuinely doing what I thought was attractive for me. So in that way, I don’t think there was anything to reclaim, I’ve always been very authentic and done exactly what I want – not just when it comes to my appearance, but also no one will tell me what to do when it comes to my body. 

What show would you love to walk in the future?

Lana Rhoades: I doubt this pipe dream has very much possibility of becoming a reality, but if there was one show that I would just die and go to heaven, it would be for Miu Miu. As I’ve already said, I’m just such a big fan of Miuccia’s work and walking for Miu Miu I would probably be like ‘okay, I can retire from modelling now because I’ve just achieved my ultimate goal” Once again, probably not a realistic goal, but that’s the dream!

And what are some goals for the next year?

Lana Rhoades: Over the next year, I’d like to move into the beauty space of modelling, and I’m excited to launch my own clothing under the name of Rhoades Studio and continue to expand and become a better designer through working with other companies and working on my own stuff. That’s really where I’m aiming in the future, to work in fashion design.