Is a trend emerging for using paywalls as protection?
Last week Page Six reported on a self-consciously scandalous musician who had joined adult video site OnlyFans — not to make porn but so that she could express herself freely, far from the prudishness of mainstream media.
Now we’re told that a controversial fashion designer is exploring the platform as a way to escape “outrage” and the “culture war” (and to, you know, maybe make some money in a devastatingly difficult retail landscape).
Elena Velez — who has dressed Taylor Swift, Solange Knowles, Charli XCX, Julia Fox and Grimes, among others — has been called “problematic” by the Washington Post, and last year reportedly had a slew of guests cancel at the last minute after she revealed that her Fashion Week show would be an meditation on “Gone With The Wind.”
But the winner of the CFDA Award for Emerging Designer of the Year tells Page Six that OnlyFans is one of a number of ways she’s fighting against the morality vogue.
“On top of the precarity of a career in the creative industry, we’re also in the middle of a culture war,” Velez told us, “Every public proclamation or creative assertion that lies outside of a tightly sanctioned social window comes with the possibility of outrage and professional ostracizing. It has never been more important as an artist who values the integrity of creative expression to diversify their means of income.”
She added that “content of my unusual lifestyle or… sharing the unique struggles I face as a professional artist” may make for compelling footage that “people see a lot of value in.”
“OnlyFans is a really cheeky and disruptive way to democratize access to capital and target different audiences,” she said.
To mark her entry to the subscription streaming world, Velez has also produced tshirts and hoodies printed with the OnlyFans logo and a corset design. The tshirt, available on the OnlyFans site, is $275, and the hoodie is $350.
Her work will appear on OnlyFans “SFW” (or G-rated) platform OFTV.
The post Controversial fashion designer Elena Valez joins OnlyFans to escape ‘outrage’ and ‘culture war,’ releases OnlyFans designs appeared first on Page Six.
