In December 2022, disgraced rapper Kanye West married Australian architect Bianca Censori. And in the two years since, she has been paraded about in a series of progressively more revealing outfits, often made from cut-up body stockings.
Last night at the Grammys, the pair took this approach to its inevitable apogee: Censori doffed her fur coat on the red carpet to pose in a mesh dress — I use that term loosely — that showed literally everything, including the entirety of her breasts and genitals.
Several outlets said the couple was escorted out by security afterwards, though People has since reported they chose to leave after the red carpet, even though West was nominated for best rap song for “Carnival” from his album “Vultures 1.”
My concern isn’t with the nudity. I’m a proud devotee of super-skimpy clothing myself. It can be a liberating, life-affirming way to express yourself, your politics, your sexuality. My problem is that Censori doesn’t seem to be having any fun whatsoever. And her ‘fits don’t seem to have any point of view. Where’s the joy? The nuance?
Even more concerning is the Svengali of it all. The moments of interaction between the couple right before the reveal were not whimsical or playful, or even seductive. It felt more like watching people argue over which head of cabbage to pick at the supermarket. At one point, West seemed to instruct Censori to “make a scene.” And so she did, lowering her coat to bare all, her eyes dead and sad.
It certainly seems as though West is directing Censori’s clothing choices, but since we never hear directly from her, it’s hard to know. Her silence isn’t making a point. It’s just the absence of saying something, anything. Since they got married, Censori has been so mute that it made the news when followers unearthed a video showcasing her speaking voice (in a 2020 virtual guest lecture to a university architecture class).
Last March, Page Six reported an “insider source” as saying Censori is the one behind all these outfits, and that it is a type of performance art for her. But that is decidedly not the vibe it gives off. The Grammys look, for example, was apparently a tribute to West’s “Vultures 1” album cover, in which Censori stands, almost naked, with her back to the camera. How is it performance art if she is merely an accessory to her husband’s creative output?
Perhaps Censori does have exhibitionist tendencies, but her wardrobe choices would read very differently without the spectre of her fully dressed husband scrutinizing her every move.
Take the many celebrities who have recently embraced the visible nipple trend, including Charli XCX, Zoe Kravitz and Rachel Sennott. Last week, Lourdes Leon wore a see-through catsuit and G-string at Paris Fashion Week, but she appeared confident and strong, defiant and deliberate. And there was no man hulking over her.
The amount of agency Censori is exercising here is questionable given West’s history of controlling his partners, especially how they dress. He told Amber Rose what to wear, asking her to dress sexy, despite the fact that Rose preferred more conservative options. He told Kim Kardashian what to wear. He told Kardashian what to wear even after they had broken up. He told Julia Fox what to wear. (And offered to buy her a “boob job.”) It seems unlikely that he has taken a feminist turn now.
It does seem likely that in a month or six months or a few years from now, the cycle will continue: Censori will break free of West and speak out about the pressure she felt to dress this way, to behave this way.
By now, we’ve all seen her body. It would be a relief to hear her voice.
