In the social circles of life society follows fashion, and fashion seems to follow society. The ability of a tiny elite, possessing the vision and creativity to direct the spending and behaviour of a mass market, makes them fabulously rich and influential. Indeed, fashion czars such as Versace and Gucci are far more than just well known brands, they are social icons in of themselves, commanding the attention of a global community of investors, models and media. Their visions of social evolution tumble down through the purse strings of society, influencing the length of skirts, the desire for physical curvature, and the acceptability of nudity.
The all-pervading influence of the fashion industry diffuses into mainstream thinking through advertising, the public wardrobe and the Internet, relentlessly moulding society towards previously unimagined tastes, from breast implants and tight T-shirts, to high heels and starvation diets. As though the reach of their empire was not already sufficient, the ever-grey line separating the fashion and adult industries has become increasingly blurred. Young women aspire to the collagen and silicon enhancements of the icons of the adult industry, and increasingly seem to emulate their scanty wardrobes, thigh-length boots, body piercings and tattoos. The social landscape of popular body culture is again being transformed - this time by the brave new world of nudity and sexuality that is reflected across the front pages of every magazine rack. Victoria Secret, the world’s best known lingerie brand, has become a byword for fashion entertainment on television, having pioneered the use of the web cast. Fashion TV now broadcasts regular lingerie shows to a backdrop of glittering lights and evocative music, and the catwalk models themselves wear masks, leaving little other than their identity to the imagination. So where does the social light of fashion now end and the adult demimonde begin?
Perhaps the first word belongs, at least when starting to discuss the circle of goods, gifts, fashion and sexuality, to Mother Nature. The exchange of goods for services is the very essence of human society, and the exchange of sexual services or even marriage for gifts, opportunity or money is as natural as reproduction itself. Even a male spider, destined to be the lesser of the two sexes in both size and stature, offers his intended bride a wholesome and carefully wrapped morsel in exchange for conjugal rights, and if his offering is found to be sufficient, he may even be spared being eaten alive by his partner. Having thus established that spiders may have been the first species to invent prostitution all those hundreds of millions of years ago, we may perhaps now be able to put the issues of sex, money and the fashion industry into more balanced perspective.
Those of greater means generally have greater opportunity to be more refined in their tastes than those of limited income. A more refined palate extends not only to the selection of food & wine, cars and lifestyle, but also to sexual preferences. Therefore the fashion models who parade themselves on the highest catwalks are by selection taller, thinner, and ‘perceived’ to be more beautiful by their wealthy clientele than contemporary glamour models. Accordingly they circulate within more exclusive circles than the sexual icons of the less affluent classes. The fashion models who frequent the highest circles command the highest prices, and the younger and more fresh the debutante, the more substantial the tribute her beauty may command.
Although some might prefer to believe that such high society rings operate above the law, essentially immune to the reach of its destructive powers, there are many well publicised examples of such rings being broken. One former global operation, known as Nici's Girls and run by Los Angeles madam Michelle Braun, was investigated by the FBI after having been successfully infiltrated by a news reporter. The secret ring advertised the services of leading models and celebrities, including a BBC presenter, a UK supermodel, a Hollywood actress, and a top international fashion model, who each commanded fees of as much as £40,000 a night. A collection of taped conversations and Emails were sufficient to convince the FBI's Organised Crime and Racketeering Division, and the operation was brought down. Michelle Braun’s client list proved to be a veritable International ‘Who's Who’ of politicians, businessmen and celebrities, all of whom had been recruited by word of mouth or via a secret website. Braun's London counterpart, who operated from Hampstead under the alias of Chrissie, allegedly recruited famous models as call girls, and was purported to have had ‘several top fashion models and celebrities working’ for her.
Many a former insider and model has braved industry blacklisting, or responded to it, with an exposé or a lawsuit. Such well known literary contributions include ‘Shut Up and Smile: Supermodels, the Dark Side’ by Ian Halperin, and ‘Model: The Ugly Business of Beautiful Women’ by Michael Gross, not to mention the legendary biopics of early supermodels Janice Dickinson and Gia Carangi. All these exposés relate tales of epidemic drug use, under age girls, prostitution and exploitation behind the curtains of the catwalk. However there seems little to be gained in recounting these many versions of events, or indeed of producing an industry rap sheet - capische. It is as though most members of society, at least subconsciously, realise that such activities go on at the top, where many denizens of the lower rungs of the social ladder themselves aspire to be. Perhaps in restricting the lifestyles of the rich and famous the populace not only confronts their power, but also removes a major motivational drive from the economy.
Ironically one of the biggest stories of the year has been the launch of the first fashion collection from Daspu, a name derived from the Portuguese ‘das putas’, which literally translates as ‘of whores’. Daspu is a fashion house entirely founded and run by Brazilian prostitutes. Their designs have quickly become the talk of Brazil's fashion industry, and their models and designs have featured in the Brazilian edition of Vogue magazine and Marie Claire. It is possibly more than just a coincidence that the models sporting their fashions are also prostitutes, an irony that may not be lost on some, especially the Brazilians. Around half of all Brazilian men have used the services of prostitutes, and the founders of Daspu dreamed up their venture last year when the Brazilian government declined some $40 million in US aid to fight AIDS, an offer which was made upon the precondition that the Brazilian government condemned the commercial sex industry.
The impact of prostitution of course extends far beyond the boundaries cast by the red lights of the capitals of America and Europe. Selling sex is as much a part of daily Western life as a morning cup of coffee, and the commercialisation of sex pervades all cultural dimensions from music to advertising. Former vice girls write sex columns in newspapers, call girls produce famous blogs, and men's magazines openly advertise models on their front covers and the sex industry in their back pages. Even MTV now produces documentaries aimed at the teenage market about the success and lifestyle of leading adult actresses and on how to ‘Pimp your ride’. With rap icons such as Snoop Dog, 50 Cent and Lil’ Kim popularising the gaudy largesse and easy lifestyle of the male pimp, it is not difficult to understand the broad and growing appeal of such a lifestyle. Indeed a renewed public interest in high society prostitution has swept the West with such popular film titles as ‘Diary of a Manhattan Call Girl’ and ‘Memoirs of a Geisha’. However those of us who were not born after the curtain fell upon the 1970s will doubtless recall the explosion of pornography and prostitution on film and video within the popular culture, and the subsequent moral backlash of Reagan’s era of sexual prohibition. This new Puritanism has ultimately failed, both in the high courts and on the back streets, and, if anything, Larry Flint, Hugh Hefner and Ron Jeremy have emerged as martyrs in their defence of public freedoms rather than being successfully vilified as purveyors of pornography.
If the exchange of money for goods or services is the rule of the natural economy, and the exchange of wealth for sex or marriage is a rite of procreation, then those who call for a ban on prostitution in all its forms are fighting against human nature. Prostitution is also one of the most ancient of all financial transactions, and the exchange of sex for gifts, influence or money is inherent within all levels of society. Males of all species, from spiders to deer, flaunt their attributes, exhibit their strength, and devote their earthly resources in their attempts to attract a sexual partner. If a successful businessman hires a limousine, a hotel room and lavishes a wealth of gifts, meals and clothing upon a woman, might this not also be regarded as normal human behaviour, even if the courtship extends to only one night? Perhaps the man offering a ride in his lavish car to a young woman walking alone along a street late at night is merely following his chivalrous instincts, or perhaps he is merely a curb crawler looking for a cheap date, but it is often all but impossible to prove his intentions.