The model in the bottom left picture wears a t-shirt writing “Think While it is Still Legal”, an internet conspiracy-type of slogan, and the model in the top left picture wears a t-shirt writing “Hotter than your Ex, better than your Next”, a tacky phrase found in internet memes. While these banal meme phrases can be printed cheaply on any plain t-shirt, these Vetements t-shirts have prices starting from \$450. All models in Figure 4.2 are focused on their phone screens, that is on their own self-image, in an overtly narcissisticcompulsive way.
The audience reactions in these posts are also indicative of a cool sexpositive atmosphere as they are more than often include many “heart” and “fire” emojis in the row, implying that the model looks hot rather than that the garment is beautiful. “Does the shirt come with the guy?” asks, for instance, a user in the comments of the top-right picture. Again, here the “guy” is more important than the garment (which is obviously and purposefully banal), and as typical for the Warhol Economy, it is the surroundings that matter often more than the objects themselves. In this selfie banality, the models then “look like us” yet the actual price of the garments erects a class barrier between “them” (those who can aford Vetements clothes) and “us” (who cannot). In many places on earth, for instance, a simple pair of
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Cultures of Platform Capitalism