Look of the Week: Was there a hidden message in Erykah Badu’s ‘booty’ bodysuit?

(CNN) — On Saturday, Erykah Badu made waves online when she took to the stage at Billboard’s Women in Music ceremony wearing a brown, curvaceous knit bodysuit to perform “Annie Don’t Wear No Panties.” The larger-than-life one-piece, dubbed the “Full Figure Form” by Badu and the “booty suit” by its designer on Instagram, featured a set of conical, exaggerated breasts and a rotund behind that seemed to move during her set with a life of its own.

“This night is for us!” Badu told the crowd as she later accepted her trophy as the recipient of the event’s Icon Award. “It’s a night to celebrate the womb of the world, the womb of life, the womb-iverse of all things. The smartest creature on planet Earth. The wisest, the most invincible, sexiest, purest, finest. The woman.” She added: “I want to thank God for giving me the opportunity to be born a woman!”

According to bodysuit’s designer Myah Hasbany, a Central Saint Martins fashion student, Badu’s look was almost entirely hand-knit and took nearly a year to make. Hasbany, who is non-binary, told CNN in a phone interview that they primarily used vintage mohair and yarns sourced from eBay to hand-crochet eight different pieces which they stitched together in the final silhouette – along with a pair of boots.

They stuffed the curves with padding to give it shape, though Hasbany said they tried to keep it “relatively light” so as not to restrict Badu’s performance. The designer often experiments with form and the exaggerated shapes hand-made knits can take.

But on social media, the musician’s outfit choice proved divisive — with some claiming Badu was mocking Brazilian Butt Lifts, a surgery that has exploded in popularity in the last decade. Others suspected there was more history to the bodacious look.

Some commenters believed the crocheted silhouette was a homage to Sarah Baartman, whose image has become an emblem for colonial exploitation. Baartman was an African woman who spent years in European “freak shows” as an exhibited attraction for her large buttocks, and after her death, scientists used her remains to promote racist theories surrounding those of African ancestry. “I thought of Sarah Baartman the entire time,” commented singer Tanerélle on Badu’s Instagram post.

“I’m so sad that so many (Black people) really don’t know their history,” wrote another user.

Others drew comparisons to Venus of Willendorf, a voluptuous female figurine dating back to 28,000–25,000 BCE. Experts have long debated the meaning of the 4-inch sculpture, though it is widely regarded to have been seen as a symbol of attractiveness and fertility.

“It’s Venus,”  wrote one user on X.  “Oh my god, please put art education back into the schools.”

Though Badu shared a Venus-related theory on her Instagram Stories, Hasbany says it’s up to the singer to decide whether she wants to disclose the outfit’s meaning. The designer did reveal, however, that there were “a lot of different reference points.” In the end, they’re glad to see people making their own interpretations about what the look could be paying tribute to.

“It’s amazing to see discourse around femininity and how people interpret feminine bodies, especially for Black women,” said Hasbany. “We should be talking about both historical context and current context.”

The look held personal significance for the designer, too, as it was informed by their perspective and experiences as a non-binary person. “A lot of my work comes from working through my own gender dysphoria and creating bodies and figures outside of myself to kind of work through those feelings.”

Hasbany first met Badu when the singer, an alumna of their high school, organized an annual performance there in 2020. Hasbany showed up to dance auditions in one of their early designs, which Badu ended up buying. Now, they plan to feature the “booty suit” in their graduate collection at Central Saint Martins.

“It’s been so impactful for me as a young artist to have someone who really has my back,” they said. “I think we really have a kinship, and really similar world views and taste.”

The-CNN-Wire
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