Fashion and style icon Julia Fox‘s sartorial unpredictability with Kanye West has made her a favorite topic of internet chatter. She has developed a distinctive look that includes DIY-ing a bandeau top and matching bottoms out of a single pair of jeans using just a pair of scissors, as well as her now quintessential finger-painted black eyeliner look.
Last Friday, she was at it again: wearing a black string bikini top and a pair of centaur-inspired leather trousers with a plunging V-crotch. (In fact, there was one hook.) She took to Instagram later in the week to offer additional context: “I had to put [the trousers] on and then shave, like, around it.”
Fox’s look is the latest in a new genre of extremist fashion. The ensemble was designed by Liza Kearne, a graduate of Central Saint Martins. Recent fashion weeks have touted super short hem-lines (a la Miu Miu’s era-defining micro-mini skirt), risque prints (see: the revival of the trompe l’oeil), and cut-out silhouettes. And Fox seems right at home in this space, leaning into trends that certainly won’t be for everyone. From her bleached brows — regularly replaced with penciled-on flapper-esque lines — to her now-famous jean boots, she appears to construct her looks with provocation in mind, often taking cues from the BDSM community.
Fox recently came under fire for appearing to criticize the fashion industry’s emphasis on beauty. In a series of Instagram videos, she said, “I just want to show young girls or even women out there that it’s okay, you don’t have to fit in with what other people say is beautiful.” When asked about the controversy in a second video posted on the same day, Fox said, “I just want to sincerely apologize for having figured out that there’s more to life than chasing an impossible beauty standard projected onto me by insecure celebrities for the ultimate goal of pleasing men.” While she may want to position herself as someone who defies convention, Fox has certainly enjoyed several moments of conventional fashion-world success.
