Safer Sex…Fashion?

Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes forced the world to see safer sex when looking her in the eye. Lopes, 1/3 of R&B girl band sensation TLC, brazenly popped out an eyeglass lens and put a latex condom in its place during the early stages of her career.

Safer sex education and awareness is still a pertinent issue, but pamphlets and public service announcements can’t always do the job. One of the biggest hurdles faced by the safer sex movement is the idea of message fatigue. We’ve heard it over and over: Use Condoms! So, how do you get people to keep listening after all these years?

One way is to use a little PR trick called spin. To spin the safer sex lecture into something entertaining, accessible, and one that people will pay attention to, is a coup. Fashion – safer sex fashion – takes a crack at delivering an old message in a new way.

Left Eye’s safer sex fashion statement was novel and commendable and upon researching her I started to wonder how many others had engaged in similar endeavors.

Designers Against AIDS was launched in Belgium in 2004. Their goal is to “raise AIDS awareness in the international media and towards the general public, more specifically towards young people in the industrialised countries using elements from pop culture (music, fashion, design, arts, sports, film, celebrities, etc.)” DAA’s many projects include festivals, a perfume line, and a collaboration with H&M called “Fashion Against AIDS” where celebrities like Cyndi Lauper, Rihanna, Rufus Wainwright, Yoko Ono, Moby, and Dita Von Teese designed T-shirts and other fashion pieces to be sold through the retail giant.
Others make fashion out of safer sex equipment, as it were. For twelve years, Adriana Bertini has “investigated the transformation of condoms into art pieces re-utilizing condoms which haven't been approved by the companies' quality control process.” She “re-defines the condoms' image by breaking taboos and inserting the image in a natural way to every day life.” At a distance, Bertini’s designs look like fun, elegant gowns. It isn’t until closer inspection that you realize prophylactics occupy the space you thought fabric did. Ingenious and thought-provoking? Yes. Breathable? I’m not so sure.

Jeremy Scott channeled his con(tra)ceptual creativity into a project with Proper Attire condoms that benefitted Planned Parenthood. The project reminded him “of how fashion can still make a real statement.” Scott transferred his neon, pop-culture, urban prints to Proper Attire’s condom packaging to make purchasing condoms as exciting as buying couture.

I am anxiously awaiting news of where safer sex fashion will go next. If there’s any star power out there looking for the next big idea, give me a call. I’m happy to swap ideas about Dental Dam pocket squares for men’s suits or the flavoured condom charm bracelet.

This guest post was submitted by Caitlynn Cummings. Caitlynn is a recent Bachelor of Arts grad from the University of Alberta and is embarking on a transatlantic writing escapade in Edinburgh, Scotland where she will take her MSc in Creative Writing in September 2010.