This TikTok Star Thinks That Kim And Ye’s Divorce Is Basically The New Form Of Fashion Advertising

We've heard of consciously uncoupling but the new trend in the big business of celebrity divorce appears to incorporate high fashion. At least, it does when Ye and Kim Kardashian are concerned.

@kardashian_kolloquim is an Instagram and TikTok account run by sisters MJ and Marie, focussing on a kind of social deconstruction of everything Kardashian-related. In a recent video, MJ put forth the theory that Balenciaga is outfitting Kim and Ye's divorce in the same way that major fashion houses have provided costumes to Hollywood. And it feels like she might have a point.

Since the famous couple announced their separation, both parties have rarely been seen wearing anything other than Balenciaga, the label run by Ye's close friend (and now collaborator– more on that later) Demna Gvasalia, now known simply as 'Demna'. Since she caused a stir at the Met Gala, Kim hasn't worn anything other than the brand top-to-toe, including the time she appeared at the Donda launch party in Demna's first Haute Couture wedding dress for Balenciaga (he re-opened the couture house for the first time in 50 years).

MJ cites a tweet from Patrik Sandberg which reads: 'I find it rather unprecedented that Kim and Kanye are exclusively wearing Balenciaga. To sponsor and dress a celebrity divorce feels like a cynical yet brilliant new breed of endorsement. Where is the investigative report?' She also points out that Ye has been seen with new girlfriend Julia Fox, also dressed head-to-toe in Balenciaga. Coincidence? Probably not, no.

The video draws the parallel between this and the long-standing tradition of major fashion houses 'dressing' certain films. There was Givenchy's relationship with Audrey Hepburn, for example, which led to her on-screen wardrobe consisting of almost exclusively Givenchy-designed pieces. More recently, there was a lot of discussion around the film Spencer, in which Kristen Stewart plays Princess Diana. As a Chanel ambassador, Stewart was outfitted by the brand in the film, despite the fact that Diana herself didn't wear Chanel during the time period portrayed in the movie.

MJ's hypothesis is that this could be the start of a new form of advertising, one which is harder to decipher than more traditional forms of marketing. As she points out, 'Stories are more powerful for marketing that outright selling. Advertising is becoming even more entrenched in media images and it's becoming harder to tell what's 'real' and what's an ad.'

She argues that Kimye could be using their 'tabloid drama' as a form of storytelling. Celebrity behaviour has long been held up as a form of entertainment and perhaps Kim and Ye are now using this to their own advantage, controlling their own story as another way to make money, essentially. It can hardly be a coincidence that Ye's new girlfriend has participated in a social media campaign for SKIMS, Kim's own brand, nor can it be incidental that just a day after pictures of Fox and Ye appeared together, news broke ofYe's collaboration with Demna on a new collection for GAP.

In an online article forInterview, Fox wrote a pseudo diary entry about her second date with Ye, during which he revealed an entire hotel suite full of clothes for her. Is it a coincidence that many of these pieces, carefully photographed, are from Diesel's Spring/Summer 2022 collection from new creative director Glenn Martens? Watch this space.