Two days ago, actress and Rimmel spokesmodel Cara Delevingne debuted her freshly shaved head on Instagram. Reviews were mixed, but no doubt tempered by the knowledge that this was a requirement of Delevingne’s role in Life in a Year, in which she plays a cancer patient (opposite Jaden Smith). The following evening, Delevingne absolutely slayed the Met Gala red carpet in a mega-watt Chanel suit, her smooth scalp glimmering with silver paint and crystals. The instantly iconic look made many a best beauty roundup (including ours). Like Demi Moore circa G.I. Jane or a post V for Vendetta Natalie Portman, the hairless Delevingne practically oozed cool-girl confidence. Call it a reverse Samson.
Pixies and buzz cuts are having a fashion moment (see: Zoê Kravitz, Amandla Stenberg, half of the Oscars red carpet), but Delevingne’s outward transformation, albeit for a job, has been by far the most dramatic. But is she any less beautiful, any less the supermodel whose charm, honesty, fearlessness, piercing gaze and preternaturally full brows earned her countless bookings and upwards of 39 million Instagram followers? Of course not.
Yesterday, Delevingne took to Instagram to remind her followers of this fact. She captioned a full-length, hair and makeup-free photo of herself thusly: “Its (sic) exhausting to be told what beauty should look like. I am tired of society defining beauty for us. Strip away the clothes, wipe off the make up, cut off the hair. Remove all the material possessions. Who are we? How are we defining beauty? What do we see as beautiful?”
It’s not the first time Delevingne has questioned societal values or expressed her struggles with fame. In a 2015 interview with The Times, shortly after her quasi-retirement from a wildly successful modeling career, Delevingne stated,ca “Modeling just made me feel a bit hollow after a while. It didn’t make me grow at all as a human being.”
In the age of social media artifice, Delevingne’s post serves as a refreshing reminder of what’s truly important, and how important it is that we advocate for more inclusive representations of beauty.
[ via Vogue ]
