Frank Ocean understands self-referential, ironic fashion very well. The theme of “camp” could be said to be made for him.
He is known for wearing tee shirts with Tumblr quotes and elevating a quote of the pop culture zeitgeist to cult status. He wore Vans with a suit to the White House (Obama naturally):
Here he is at Paris fashion week in a puffy jacket and jeans, but with a woman’s green bag (Celine 2017) that created a stir.
Why? Because fashion isn’t about the piece. It’s about the meaning and the intent, much as art is about intent. It’s about the intellect behind the design, not the shape or cut or color.
He can camp it up as well as anyone. Here he is celebrating his 30th birthday party.
But the least expected, most ironic thing at an event celebrating camp is to be the servant of the rich— the unnoticed paps or security guards at the Met Gala, especially for a male POC like Frank Ocean. If he were on the other side of the red ropes, how easy would it be to dismiss him, to mistreat him?
Wouldn’t you brush someone aside who was trying to get a glimpse of celebrity, trying to snap a quick souvenir photo?
The fact that Frank is wearing a Prada parka is funny and campy in a dry way. Frank has worn a Prada bucket hat before, with similar intent. When the rich make mundane normcore into couture, with nudge-nudge-wink-wink irony and of course, couture prices, they’re imitating, and scoffing at, the poor. It’s the same way that Marie Antoinette played shepherdess at Petit Trianon while real French farmers starved, or Roman emperors handing out bread and circuses as their empires burned. Or Donald Trump serving tacos at Trump Tower to celebrate Cinco de Maio while families were separated at the border. It’s poverty put in a zoo for the rich.
Here’s a hoodie that Frank wore in his Nike video:
As he sang about Trayvon Martin, the black Florida teen murdered by George Zimmerman, “Trayvon, that nigg* looked just like me.”
Check out Frank’s insta too. Here’s a self-aware post.
So little protects the safety of a gay black man… only the veneer of celebrity.
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