Unusual model exposes ugly underbelly of fashion world

I’d arrived that morning and it was my first time visiting New York City.

Everything was on brand at that point, with honking cars and steam billowing from grates along sidewalks. I weaved my way through the busy streets, with my luggage clunking behind me, finally arriving at my hotel.

I’d also expected some level of eccentricity. The city is famous for it.

What I hadn’t realized was that it was Fashion Week. Even further, I was staying in a hotel alongside many head designers.

The highlight was when I’d just boarded the lobby elevator.

Just before the doors closed all the way, they paused and opened back up, revealing two men. One had heart-shaped tinted glasses on. The other had aqua-colored hair. Both wore neon bright colors and were stoned-faced.

It was a total caricature of what yo u’d expect designers to look like. They stood beside me and, while looking straight forward, said, “Eight please”.

I obliged.

From behind the camera, it’s hard to stand out in the fashion industry. In front? It’s a bit easier — given how homogenous models can be.

Gucci managed to do so and generated huge viewership while exposing a still-ugly side of the fashion world, and how it alters our perceptions of ourselves.

Some conventions were meant to be broken

Armine Harutyunyan isn’t your typical model.

She has a sharp jaw, pronounced nose, deep-set eyes — and big, protruding ears that don’t fit the narrow standards of beauty that the public holds.

She was appearing during Milan’s fashion week.

The theme of their collection was mental illness — hence the quasi-straightjacket she is donning above. Sadly, the mental illness theme would soon morph into deep irony.

Her appearance seemingly created mass psychosis, the founding of a new mean girls club.

Magazine editors dared to list her among the Top 100 Most Beautiful Models shortly thereafter — and you’d have that alien landed in the fashion world.

Her social media, and that of Gucci, were stormed with commenters who left a slew of hateful messages.

Thousands of users chimed in, comparing her appearance to a donkey, bird, and other zoo animals. It was such a bizarre thing to get upset about.

The anger was misplaced

The masses misunderstood the industry and its changing standards.

Decades ago, models were chosen largely on the basis of utility and eroticism.

Yes, clothes needed to fit them and represent a strategic look the designers were named for.

Also yes, everyone w as and still is very thin. But quite often, models were chosen simply because they were hot to the designer.

Today, the industry has evolved to create more focus on telling a story and having a broader overall message.

This shift isn’t just about making a social statement either.

The shame of it all

Armine Harutyunyan’s appearance was a smashing success despite all the negativity.

It delivered huge awareness and visibility to the Gucci Brand.

And despite the widespread harassment, which continues to this day, Armine was resilient, saying it was nothing new. She’d experienced it all before — especially as a child.

Ultimately, the virality of featuring a woman with strong ethnic features encouraged body positivity among girls in the Caucasus regions.

Many feel pressured to get nose jobs and all manner of plastic surgeries to anglicize their face. And even further, it helped build momentum in the fashion industry’s push for more diversity.

One final thing

If I could toss my opinion into the fire here, as just another bumbling, warm-blooded, heterosexual man. I’m not sure who these men are that are saying she’s ugly:

What I can say that, as a long-time blogger, anytime I’ve gotten a troll comment about my girlfriend at the time being ugly, the commenter was usually nobody to write home about himself.

I suspect, given the opportunity, most of those male critics would kiss the ground Armine walked on during a date. If they thought they had a shot, their comments about Armine’s nose would evaporate instantly and instead turn into love letters about its strong aesthetic appeal, how they wished to softly run their fingers over it.

Unconventional? Sure. Ugly? Go fly a kite.

It shows how corrosive high fashion (and the internet) can be.

The hysteria reminds me of those old 90s romantic comedies where they put a pair of dark glasses on a supermodel and pretend no man would ever be interested in her.

The internet is full of people who are both military strategy and public health experts, and guys who totally knocked out 11 biker dudes in a back alley, and who also dated Jennifer Lawrence but had to dump her because she was too needy.

So be careful what you do. If your appearance doesn’t fit into this narrow box, you might get called out by Kooldood5583.

All that aside — the fashion world has an ugly track record of creating unrealistic body standards, perpetuating eating disorders, and over-emphasizing superficiality.

Beauty standards continue to evolve. And out in the real world, I’ve found that people continue to have romantic preferences for bodies and looks of all types. Otherwise, we’d all look the same, wouldn’t we?

We’d be a live version of Children of the Corn.

The good thing about people like Armine is that young and insecure girls can see her and think, “You know what, maybe I don’t need to get a bunch of surgeries on my nose. Maybe I’m actually pretty the way I am.”

I would also remind people of the obvious: just because you are at a keyboard, doesn’t mean the other person you are typing to has no feelings. I’d recommend you refrain from commenting about other people’s appearances in any negative way. Nothing good ever comes of it.

And if you are losing your mind over thick eyebrows and an aquiline nose, you might want to reevaluate your priorities.