From Kate Moss to detox clinics: the years of "heroin chic"
The fact is that a whole web of public relations linked to celebrity detox programs has sprouted. Anxiety, depression, and other mental health issues are also part of this mix. Former footballer Paul Gascoigne, singers Amy Winehouse and Lilly Allen , and Portuguese banker António Horta-Osório join the A-list who have passed through The Priory's facilities. After Moss, Winehouse is arguably one of the most glaring examples of a fall into the abyss (this time with no return).
Before the explosion of social media, some patients held press conferences to announce their recoveries. Others wrote newspaper articles chronicling their hospitalizations. In Kate Moss's case, there was no need to bother: the newspapers wrote for themselves, as happened when she left a handkerchief near a candle and activated three fire alarms, leaving the mother clinic on maximum alert. Roehampton, in south London, was built in 1811 as a private home and converted into a hospital in 1872, making it the oldest psychiatric institution in London. But in the 1990s and the first half of the 2000s, the ins and outs of celebrities made it seem like nothing more than a vacation camp for the rich, famous, and bored.
It's not that Naomi Campbell was a newcomer to the subject, but back in 1997, after the murder of designer and his friend Gianni Versace, the British model admitted she had begun abusing alcohol and cocaine. Around that time, on the catwalk, the archives held mannequins with various skirmishes, black eyes, and heavy expressions. Antonio Berardi's fall/winter Paris show would go down in history, an essay on the implications of violence, victimization, and self-destruction, which would probably require considerable contextualization today. It was the end of the decade, and, like Icarus, the industry would pay its price for getting too close to the sun.
The trend exploded with the untimely death of Davide Sorrenti, Mario's brother. In 1997, the fashion photographer was only 20 when he succumbed to an overdose. He left behind the work he'd done with his Leica, a vast chronicle of New York's bohemian scene, and portraits of up-and-coming names like actress Mila Jovovich, model Jade Berreau, and his girlfriend Jaime King, also a victim of addiction. Interestingly, the term that brings us here became prevalent after Sorrenti's death. "This is heroin, this is not chic. This heroin chic thing has to stop ," warned Ingrid Sischy, editor of Interview Magazine from 1989 to 2008.
Davide's mother, Francesca Sorrenti, would actively campaign against drug use in the industry, trying to clear her son's reputation, but the pressure on the environment was unmistakable. The industry, which never quite shook off its bad reputation, was subjected to the ultimate stress test when it came to complicity and devaluation of omnipresent dilemmas: the weight, age, and other profile traits of the models, the associated risk behaviors, the specter of harassment, etc., etc., etc.
In the pages of The New York Times, fashion editor Amy Spindler (1963-2024), who closely followed that era, noted the death that left a stain on the fashion world, recalling how photos from the 1990s drew inspiration from photojournalist Larry Clark's 1960s work or the snapshots of the godmother of underground fashion , Nan Golding, in 1970. Even then-US President Bill Clinton , who had already spoken out about the photos of teenagers in Calvin Klein campaigns, interrupted a breakfast to comment on the death. "You don't have to glamorize addiction to sell clothes," Clinton observed. "The glorification of heroin is not creative, it's destructive. It's not beautiful; it's ugly. And it's not about art; it's about life and death. And glorifying death is not good for any society," she declared, as evidenced in the documentary biography See Know Evil. Released in 2019, it commemorates the late photographer.
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In 1999, the pace could have remained brisk, but Vogue was calling for the start of a new and urgent phase, led by Brazilian model Gisele , who by 2006 would become famous for her Victoria's Secret angel wings, a parade of physical perfection that once again challenged the prevailing stereotype, incompatible with decadent appearances. Later, it would spark a whole other debate.
More recently, however, the term heroin chic has been mentioned again. Active in the 2000s, Canadian model Erin Spanevello was only 21 when she died of an overdose in 2008. It's common to observe the 20-year rule when discussing the cyclical return of trends. Of all the possible throwbacks , this is one of the most alarming , as it involves much more than a simple wardrobe recycling, as is now showcased by influencers popularizing the Y2K aesthetic, such as the Hadid sisters, Dua Lipa, Kaya Gerber, and Zendaya. Alarm bells were sounded again with the series Euphoria .
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Gisele at the VS show in 2001 © Getty Images
In 2014, British model Edie Campbell became the face of Yves Saint Laurent (YSL) Beauté's Black Opium fragrance, a campaign that was investigated in the UK by the Advertising Standards Authority after receiving 11 complaints alleging that the advertising glamorized drugs. The slimming trend continued beyond the turn of the millennium. In a way, the nineties trend never completely faded . In the early 2000s, diet culture continued to thrive, with shows like America's Next Top Model and The Biggest Loser popularizing the battle against the scale, and celebrities like Nicole Richie and the Olsen twins repositioning standards of thinness and somberness. Well, thirty years later, who would have thought that the rush to buy the weight-loss drug Ozempic would dominate lifestyle conversations?
When it comes to models and thinness, the debate is cyclical and never completely closed. Recently, one of the fast fashion giants had to atone for a campaign featuring overly thin models. But in a world of green smoothies, avocado toast, yoga sessions, Pilates studios, and mindfulness, is there really room to rehabilitate the risk-taking of yesteryear? The debate will likely last much longer than a cigarette passed out in Kate Moss's mouth.
