Yahoo Finance Scott Disick and the Weaponisation of Photo Op Fashion
Reality TV alum Scott Disick was recently pictured leaving his Miami hotel. He was closely followed by girlfriend and Real Housewives progeny Amelia Hamlin. This painfully dull exercise went largely as expected, and as planned, with celeb-starved photographers documenting the entire affair, and The Daily Mail covering the non-event in full with a blow-by-blow take on where they may or may not be headed for some lunch. This is part and parcel of the Kardashian Koterie, who've long made moments of nothingness their kash kow, and Disick, as the ex of the eldest K-initialled daughter, is now forever a floating piece of space debris left in the wake of the family's star path – and one still willingly moored to the good ship Kardashian.
In a conclusion that was about as surprising as that of Titanic's, Kim Kardashian and Kanye West announced their plans to divorce. (A matter which should not, and does not, concern anyone other than the people who will no doubt fill a small LA courtroom with "I objects" and am-dram Marriage Story improv. There are kids involved. We just wish all parties the best.) And yet. Disick manoeuvred his way into THE NARRATIVE by publicly going out to bat for one side, ostensibly evading but actually courting the paparazzi in a bold blue hoody, a declaration etched to the front in snaking Garamond Alt font: "Ye must be Born again". Shots fired! Oh no he didn't! And so on and so forth.
First debuted by enigmatic streetwear outfit Cactus Plant Flea Market in 2019 (fans include Pharrell, Timothée Chalamet and, yes, Kanye), the hoody was never initially designed with the pro-life, anti-everything-else rapper in mind. It's just a good old-fashioned fire and brimstone biblical reference. But given its release during the toxic warm-up to the 2020 US election in which West was a candidate, and given the fact it shares Kanye's shorthand sobriquet, the Internet was awash with intrigue. Thus, Cactus Plant Flea Market's hoody, unintentionally, was attached to the "Wash Us In The Blood" rapper at a time of much rebranding. Kanye had gone from musical iconoclast to born again Christianity to presidential politics. We were all a bit confused.
For Disick to dredge up an artefact of Kanye's recent past at this moment in time is suspect. One: the rapper's pivot has been reported to be the cause of a great rift between West and his wife. Two: what on Earth does it have to do with Kanye's sister-in-law's ex? With a showbiz cycle hooked on speed, and the Twitter masses monitoring Hollywood's every move, this sort of PR stunt feels premeditated, a promotional warm-up for another season of Keeping Up With The Kardashians, which, funnily enough, is hurtling towards its 20th and final ever season this year. Is Disick celebrating the newfound freedom of a post-divorce Kanye West? Is this a call for a man's salvation? Is he actively taking chunks out of his former wife's family? The Kardashian circus wants us to ask these questions.
Celebrities have intermittently used clothing to make a statement during times of personal upheaval. Facing allegations that she'd abused at least eight employees, British supermodel Naomi Campbell was photographed in 2006 wearing a slogan T-shirt by Canadian duo Chip and Pepper that seemed to reframe physical assault as a privilege: "Naomi Hit Me... and I Loved It!" And, cast your mind back to the summer of 2016, when heavy petting with Taylor Swift wasn't strong enough evidence that you loved Taylor Swift. Like Tom Hiddleston, you needed a tank top that clearly stated you really loved Taylor Swift in block capitals – and in full view of the paparazzi, of course. The couple broke up shortly after.
What makes Disick's menswear-driven set piece different however, is the means in which the 37-year-old acquired fame. Unlike the Kardashians and their supporting cast, Hiddleston and Campbell have not lived out their entire lives in a glass box on the actual box. Keeping Up With The Kardashians has been on the air for a whopping 14 years. Every personal psychodrama is a plot point, every Instagram post that shills slimming tea or poorly-named shapewear is to be documented, each moment in real life a promotion for the staged one we'll see but a few months later. This is all hype for the inevitable 'reveal' in a tearful VT.
As tabloids intermittently swirl of a reunion between Disick and his ex, the season has its very own "will they won't they" Ross and Rachel, question marks made all the larger as key players publicly take sides in what will no doubt be a very public divorce battle – itself the climactic story arc of the reality TV show's leading lady. Disick remains heavily involved with that show. He, like the Kardashian-Jenner clan, knows how to use savvy, cynical media strategies to keep the world hooked on Keeping Up With The Kardashians.
If the hoody fits.
Like this article? Sign up to our newsletter to get more articles like this delivered straight to your inbox
Need some positivity right now? Subscribe to Esquire now for a hit of style, fitness, culture and advice from the experts
You Might Also Like
