When Kanye West’s wife Bianca Censori walked the Grammys red carpet in a long, fur coat before turning around and dropping it to reveal her almost entirely naked body, it caught the world’s attention.
In fact, the general consensus is that her outfit, comprised of a see-through, mesh dress that covered her torso, was a publicity stunt. Whatever it was it made a lot of people feel uneasy – not at the sight of a naked woman, but at the sight of a naked woman we know almost nothing about, have rarely ever heard speak, and who we know is often styled by her always fully dressed, famous and powerful husband.
While the internet continues to debate whether the stunt was uncomfortable or empowering, or worth a debate at all, a resurfaced clip from Keeping Up With The Kardashians has gone viral. In the video, West is seen criticising his then-wife Kim Kardashian’s 2019 Met Gala outfit. ‘You are my wife, and it affects me when picture are too sexy,’ he tells her the night before the event, before saying the custom latex beaded Mugler dress was more like ‘underwear’. If only he had a crystal ball…
He also said it affects his ‘soul’ and his ‘spirit’ as her husband and the father of her children when she dresses that way. ‘It’s hot, but it’s hot for who though?’ he dares to ask.
A stressed looking Kardashian then hits back and says, ‘You built me up to be this sexy person and [have] confidence and all this stuff. Just because you’re on a journey and you’re on your transformation, doesn’t mean that I’m in the same spot with you.’
She’s right. It is a well documented part of their lore as a couple that West went out of his way to transform Kardashian’s personal style and public image. In an old Interview with LOVE, the reality star said West he made her ‘throw away’ her old clothes when they first started dating. ‘I was obsessed with glitter, rhinestone heels and the kind of clothes I now laugh at, and he threw them all out.’
West's influence over her style is easily traceable on the show. When they got divorced in 2021, she admitted that she was trying to figure out her role 'in the fashion world' after being dressed by ex-husband throughout their marriage.
In one episode of KUWTK, Kardashian revealed West had told her she could ‘no longer’ wear ‘big glasses’. Speaking to her sister Kourtney, she said, ‘He sent me a whole email like, “You cannot wear big glasses anymore. It’s all about tiny little glasses. He sent me, like, millions of ‘90s photos with tiny little glasses.’
‘He called me afterwards,’ she continued. ‘He told me my career was over and then showed me a picture of Marge Simpson wearing something similar.’ On another occasion, the rapper said one of Kardashian’s outfits made him ‘so mad’ that he would have rather gone ‘to jail’ than be seen in it.
With these anecdotes in mind, it’s difficult to view Censori’s catalogue of outlandish looks without thinking about the role West played in creating them. On the Grammys red carpet, lip readers claim West gave his wife clear instructions: 'Drop it behind you and then turn…You're making a scene now… I got you.’
Ever since the couple got married in December 2022, Censori has made headlines on a number of occasions for her semi-nude outfits, which, funnily enough, resemble the ‘underwear’ West had previously objected to.
In 2023, she posted a series of styled selfies where she was entirely naked but for a piece of black tape forming a cross over her bum crack. Last February, Censori walked through rainy LA wearing nothing but a clear poncho, while West walked alongside her in normal clothes, a khaki rain poncho and a black mask that covered his entire face. She has also twice been spotted wearing a nude thong bodysuit with a pillow attached to her front, with no explanation.
In other words, her wardrobe is always provocative and designed to be divisive, but why? Is West trying to build her up to be a famously 'sexy person' like he was with Kardashian? It certainly seems that way, especially when he shares naked videos of her in the bath to celebrate her 30th birthday.
The person we should be questioning, then, is West. The Grammys stunt might not have felt as bizarre if they were both butt naked, or if there was a clear stylistic or political motivation for being so. Nor would it have felt uncomfortable if Censori was outspoken and told the world she chooses to wear whatever she wants.
Sadly, the resurfaced KUWTK video is a reminder that this is a pattern of behaviour we have seen before.
Nikki Peach is a writer at Grazia UK, working across pop culture, TV and news. She has also written for the i, i-D and the New Statesman Media Group and covers all things TV for Grazia (treating high and lowbrow shows with equal respect).