Uncensored Censori
The controversial couple shocked the Grammys with Bianca Censori leaving little to the imagination in a mesh dress, but is her sense of ‘liberation’ classed as feminism, or something more harmful?
Image of Bianca Censori and husband Kanye West on the 2025 Grammys red carpet before she revealed her nude look. Image courtesy of: Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images available at Yahoo Entertainment. © All rights belong to their respective owners. No copyright infringement intended.
The Grammys were home to many jaw-dropping looks this year, but the most memorable and talked about moment was not Beyoncé’s big win, Chappell Roan’s multiple looks or Raye’s sensational performance; it was Australian model Bianca Censori and Kanye West’s ‘display’ on the red carpet. With her husband Kanye West in an all-black outfit and Censori first arriving in a floor-length black faux fur jacket, the look originally appeared simple but chic. But after the couple exchanged some tense words, she turned around and dramatically dropped the jacket on the floor, revealing a see-through, nude mesh dress without any undergarments and an uncomfortable look on her face. Her complete nudity and vast attention caused by this led to the couple being escorted out of the prestigious yearly event - but was this the purpose of the outfit and what Censori and West wanted?
Courtesy of Getty Images, available via Vogue © All rights belong to their respective owners. No copyright infringement intended.
It was certainly not Censori’s first highly revealing look, the minimalist style being her go-to for a long while, but this style is not completely decided and crafted by her. Kanye tweeted that he has “dominion” over Censori and that she cannot wear anything “without my approval”. These comments alongside her style choices and West’s controversy in general have led to speculation surrounding his control and overly-influential behaviour towards Censori, who often looks uncomfortable when seen in public with him, and at the Grammys, making people question if she has any choice or say in these decisions.
Despite this conversation over West’s behaviour towards her, Bianca insists he is her ‘muse’ and her look at the Grammys being her own sense of liberation as a woman and ‘art’, but was the look really a form of feminism? While it questions the red carpet expectation for women to wear a custom-made designer gown and the expectations of what women should wear in general, we cannot ignore how this could be anti-feminism too, influencing a toxic image for women and also men. The fact of her husband telling her what she can and cannot wear is a rather dated and sexist expectation that we have, supposedly, moved away from; particularly something exhibitionist that will be published on social media and media outlets all over the world, such as Censori’s look. Discussion surrounding Bianca’s look was trending more than the actual Grammys itself, showing the impact and mass attention that the model’s look gained on top of her also highly revealing mesh afterparty dress.
Bianca Censori and Kanye West outside their Grammys 2025 afterparty, Censori wearing another revealing mesh look. Image available at: Just Jared © All rights belong to their respective owners. No copyright infringement intended.
Since the publicity of their relationship and marriage, Censori has been subject to much discussion surrounding her often revealing and risky looks, but her look at the Grammys was by far her most revealing and minimalist yet. The questionable but much talked about fashion choices of West and Censori have plastered social media and fashion publications for years, consequently making us question the purpose of these outfits. Some may be promoting West’s fashion line, Yeezy, using the architect and model wife as a canvas of promotion for his latest collections. But some notable ones such as Censori wearing nothing but hotel pillows and stockings, or a sheer raincoat, or in this context, a nude mesh dress are concerning in addition to being shocking.
Bianca Censori wearing nothing but a sheer raincoat in 2024 (left). Image by BACKGRID, available at The Daily Mail. Censori wearing shapewear and covering her torso with a hotel pillow in Italy 2024. Image by BACKGRID, available at Page Six. © All rights belong to their respective owners. No copyright infringement intended.
According to sources close to the couple, it was this shock factor and mass attention that the controversial rapper and fashion designer wanted; however, with his latest rampage on the platform X, his anti-Semitic, sexist, body-shaming, and racist posts may be the end of his public stunts and attention-seeking behaviors. But the question that everyone is wondering is what are they trying to draw attention to? Kanye’s control over his wife? His latest fashion line featuring mesh dresses like Censori was modeling? Or was it purely to create conversations such as this about the couple?
The meaning may also be deeper, taking into account his recent highly offensive and problematic posts on X and as well as Trump’s re-election (who he publicly supports), could it be an anti-feminism movement, supporting right-wing traditionalist ideology about control over what his wife wears. While tweeting that Censori’s Grammy look was ‘her choice’ and ‘performance art’ but contradicting this by saying she needs ‘his approval’ for whatever she wears, the problematic nature of Censori’s looks may not just be reduced to a ‘humorous’, attention-gaining stunt from West. There may be a more holistic explanation for this controlling behavior, with her exhibitionist and potentially humiliating - not ‘liberating’ - looks alongside the fact she rarely publicly speaks and being married to a highly prejudiced and controversial celebrity; is this promoting and attempting to normalize something much more harmful to women and feminism?
