From Alessandro Michele booking a Greek god at Gucci, to Robert Mapplethorpe’s 1980s muse, we round up fashion’s best bodybuilding moments
For very obvious reasons, fashion has always had a complicated relationship with how it looks. As an entire industry centred around clothing the body, what’s underneath those clothes often attracts as much analysis as the garments themselves. From Jeremy Allen White in his pants for Calvin Klein, to the decline of curve models on the runway for AW24, the fashion industry knows just how much body politics can affect its image, despite often claiming the opposite to avoid any responsibility in the matter.
Despite this, a great example of how fashion uses bodies to create meaning is through its interactions with the world of bodybuilding. The bodybuilder physique occupies a particularly interesting place in fashion – although muscles are seen as conventionally attractive to many, an overly muscled physique is not fashion’s go-to body type, often opting for something a lot slimmer. That’s why, when brands do get into bed with a bodybuilder, they’re often making a wider point about how we view the world around us. That’s not to say that these brands aren’t aware that these kinds of bodies can be considered conventionally attractive, but also that their very presence can represent some sort of masculine excess that’s ripe for exploration.
Below, we round up five times that fashion brands have explored the world of bodybuilding, whether that’s to reflect on ideas of status and power, or to poke fun at a masculinist ideal.
GUCCI GOES GREEK
At Gucci, Alessandro Michele often borrowed from the aesthetics of antiquity, presenting his Cruise collections in ancient Roman cemeteries, and even swapping all the modernist furniture for antiques at Gucci HQ when he arrived. No surprise, then, that the Pre-Fall 2019 campaign was inspired by the classical symposium, an Ancient Greek after-banquet gathering of dancing, music and general merriment. Shot in the ruins of the Ancient Greek city of Selinunte in Sicily, the campaign was lensed by Glen Luchford and featured Michele’s usual gang of fashion maximalists. Among the characters was Calum Von Moger, a professional bodybuilder and former Mr Universe, flexing his muscles while casually hoisting a woman up in the air. Michele and Luchford’s inclusion of a bodybuilder spoke to the shoots ancient themes, as the Greeks celebrated the idealised form, but also conflated this was moral standing, not just physical beauty. The shoot was also inspired by the punks, surfers and bodybuilders of the modern day Venice Beach, which Michele described as “a contemporary fresco of freedom and expression in which the antique becomes the propeller of the present.” By smashing those two references, the designer drew a connection between ancient aesthetes and the grandstanding muscle men of today.
MARTINE’S MUSCLE MEN
For her SS20 campaign, Martine Rose enlisted a bunch of muscle-bound men to execute some bodybuilding posing in various locations around the capital. The Dick Jewell-lensed images saw the men sitting in a kitchen lifting women above their heads, posing in a back garden surrounded by shrubbery, on the counter of a pie and mash shop, and also in front of some terrace houses with the wheelie bins out the front. The everyday British locations were a direct link to the SS20 collection, which Rose described in show notes as a critique of contemporary Britain, one in which “politics is pantomime”. The campaign seemed to echo this sentiment, with these random strongmen appearing in our lives and turning it into a distracting spectacle.
COLLINA STRADA’S MUSCLES AS METAPHOR
For Collina Strada’s AW24 show, designer Hillary Taymour used muscles as a metaphor to communicate ideas about the inner strength of women, but unlike other examples, no actual bodybuilders were present. Instead, STRONGER saw models hit the NYFW catwalk in painted muscle suits and hoodies with biceps stitched onto them, while other models appeared carrying dumbbells made out of vegetable gourds. It was a dramatic and at times campy show, with Showgirls actress Gina Gershon even arriving for her own over the top walk down the runway. Though Taymour’s message of feminine strength was a serious one, it was clear that the show was also poking fun at the over-the-top masculine egos associated with gym-going and bodybuilding.
SUITED AND BOOTED
In June 2023, the Institut Français de la Mode (IFM) presented its annual BA show for Fashion Design. Among the graduates was Jiawei Han, who’s collection went viral for a bizarro muscle suit that appeared mid show. The look consisted of rippling, flesh toned trousers and a double breasted blazer etched with a six pack, pecs and protruding nipples. A regular suit is generally recognised a symbol of masculinity and status, and here Han pairs it with an equally recognisable masculine signifier: muscles. For the designer, the bodybuilder is performing masculinity in the same way a business person might perform status when putting on a suit.
LISA LYON’S FASHION AFTERLIFE
US bodybuilder Lisa Lyon was an icon of the scene and often collaborated with figures from the fashion world. After being crowned women’s bodybuilding world champion in 1979, Lyon transitioned into the modelling world, going on to work with Helmut Newton, and then most famously Robert Mapplethorpe throughout most of the early 80s. Lyon appeared in over 150 of Mapplethorpe’s photographs from 1980 to 1983, including the book Lady: Lisa Lyon dedicated entirely to his muse. Mapplethorpe’s depictions of Lyon were groundbreaking for how they presented her as both traditionally masculine and feminine. Lyon also worked closely with American fashion designer Liza Bruce. Originally a swimwear designer, Bruce was known for her experimentation with Lycra, and also upending stereotypical depictions of women with her strong and athletic portrayals.