ADVERTISEMENT
You probably know Doug Abraham — artist and owner of iconic punk outfitter Bess NYC — for his work, even if you don’t know his name. He is the man responsible for the Instagram-collaged Kendall Jenner for a Dazed & Confused spread, and has won recognition from the CFDA for notable fashion Instagrams. His store was largely responsible for the pyramid-stud craze of the mid-2000s, when seemingly everything — especially the things that were least likely to be — was covered in square studs and spikes.
In 2014, Abraham’s Instagram @bessnyc4 was deleted for crossing community guidelines, but was shortly reinstated afterward. He told Dazed then that although he self-polices for female nipples and other Insta no-nos, his risqué (for Instagram) collages mix porn, horror films, and photojournalism with luxury logos, resulting in mash-ups that toe the line between good and bad taste.
Abraham’s recent work is a gradual departure from the collage-focused pieces he has become known for, and is a lot more minimal, relying on just one image — that’s typically stunning in its simple crudeness — and one logo. It’s two tongues touching with a Dior logo slapped on top, a pair of pressed-together breasts and Chanel, or a flash of vulva and Givenchy (which creative director Riccardo Tisci recently praised, captioning his 'gram with "#Love").
Ahead, take a look at the images Abraham has created. Thankfully, these have made it past the Instagram mods: They make us think about the business of fashion — and the business of sex.
ADVERTISEMENT