Lingerie Brand Playful Promises Claps Back At The Haters Who Criticised Gender Fluid Model Violet Chachki

Not today, sweetie

A lingerie brand has expertly shut down criticism from people on social media who disapproved of their choice of model for their latest campaign.

London-based brand Playful Promises announced via Twitter on 15 November that Violet Chachki, a gender fluid drag and burlesque performer, would be the featured model for their Bettie Page collection.

The new collection has launched! This raunchy new line features drag and burlesque starlet @VioletChachki 😍 Stock is limited, so don't miss out!https://t.co/kGE4129v51 pic.twitter.com/O0ttsLzyTE

— Playful Promises (@PlayfulPromises) November 15, 2017

Although the announcement was generally well-received on social media some expressed their disapproval of the brand’s choice of model and many misgendered Chachki.

Not holding back, Playful Promises took to Twitter to not only stand by their decision, but to also stand up for what they believe in.

“Violet is gender fluid. We did not choose ‘a man’,” they wrote.

“We chose a gender fluid person that is not represented in the media and certainly not in the lingerie industry.”

A post shared by Violet Chachki (@violetchachki) on

Things you need to know about why we chose Violet Chachki to model our new range of Bettie Page Lingerie:

1. Violet is gender fluid. We did not choose "a man". We chose a gender fluid person that is not represented in the media, and certainly not in the lingerie industry.

— Playful Promises (@PlayfulPromises) November 20, 2017

Even in 2017, the notion of gender fluidity in the fashion industry is a hot topic.

While some brands have embraced the perspective that clothes should not be gender-specific (see Christian Siriano’s NYFW collection), it seems others are slower to catch on.

Well, Playful Promises is having none of it.

We’ll just share some of the woke tea they dropped on their Twitter timeline.

2. Deliberately misgendering someone, once informed of their gender identity, is cruel. It also implies that trans women are not accepted. We stand with our trans, gender fluid and non-binary friends, you are all welcome.

— Playful Promises (@PlayfulPromises) November 20, 2017

They also addressed issues relating to gender within the pin-up community.

3. We also chose to use a non-binary model because the vintage/pinup community has certain issues with gender (also racism, but that's another thread). We've seen comments comparing "modern" women to their "classier" counterparts of the past.

— Playful Promises (@PlayfulPromises) November 20, 2017

“Often there’s an implication that women who had less agency and freedom are ‘better’ than women now,“continued Playful Promises.

“A non-binary model raises questions about how we view pin-ups of the past, and how we talk about images of women today.”

Plus they made a good point about how the hyper-femininity of the drag world compliments lingerie advertising.

4. Drag is about looking at hyper-femininity (or the opposite for Drag Kings). Lingerie is one of the most traditionally "feminine" products one can buy (or at least how this is presented in advertising). Which leads me on to...

— Playful Promises (@PlayfulPromises) November 20, 2017

5. So many lingerie campaigns are created with the male gaze in mind. Less so than 20-30 years ago, but it's still there. What does using a non-binary model who is not a cis woman, shot by a woman, wearing lingerie created by women, say to you about the male gaze?

— Playful Promises (@PlayfulPromises) November 20, 2017

This final point about the collection’s namesake, pin-up model Bettie Page, brought it home:

Also, you can't claim to be a fan of Bettie Page without acknowledging that what she was doing at the time was severely frowned upon. If you expect a brand named after her to do things by the book, you're missing the point of what she stood for.

— Playful Promises (@PlayfulPromises) November 20, 2017

Playful Promises is not here for your hate.

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