Since the success generated by Stan Smiths in the last few years, Adidas have brought old style runners back into fashion, a style that almost seems to have come straight out of your secondary school days: the Superstars. And as part of their ad campaign, the three striped brand decided to go for an avant-garde approach, using Swedish model and artist Arvida Byström. Except that she is an active militant feminist, who long ago stopped with any sort of body hair removal…..
Trainers taking the place of honour on un-shaved legs
Adidas took inspiration from what they had accomplished with their trainers, and not from their physical appearance. This is what led to model and artist-photographer Arvida Byström, in conjunction with the brand, deciding to put on her pair of Superstars on her un-shaved legs! The only problem was that not everyone liked it….
A torrent of criticism on social networks
Obviously, when we decide to do something out of the ordinary (although body hair is not exactly anything new, in this day and age….), we expect to have our critics. But it wasn’t simple criticism that Arvida received having posed with her legs exposed: it was insults, hate, racism and even threats of rape. And remind us why? Because of her leg hair….
“My photo from the @adidasoriginals superstar campaign got a lot of nasty comments last week. Me being such an abled, white, cis body with its only nonconforming feature being a lil leg hair. Literally I’ve been getting rape threats in my DM inbox. I can’t even begin to imagine what it’s like to not posses all these privileges and try to exist in the world. Sending love and try to remember that not everybody has the same experiences being a person 🌎 Also thanks for all the love 🌹got a lot of that too ❤️❤️❤️❤️”
Arvida, an outspoken feminist model
Arvida is no novice in the area of feminism: she regularly posts provocative or shocking photos and comments to her Instagram account. Her recent photos include: a full menstrual cup, hairy armpits and cellulite. This young woman pulls no punches, and she fights for the cause of women accepting their femininity as it is.
I think femininity is usually created from our culture. So I think everybody can do feminine things, can be feminine, and I feel like in today’s society, we’re very scared of that.
