Goodbye body positivity, hello heroin chic: Are Ozempic and Y2K nostalgia the end of body positivity?

As Oprah WinfreyStephen Fry, Kelly Clarkson, Elon Musk and other celebrities have confessed to using weight loss drugs. Who hasn’t heard of the “magic” injection?

Ozempic’s growing popularity is supported by a strong comeback from Y2K culturea trend that embodies nostalgia for millennial fashion, pop culture and music – and, of course, icons like Paris Hilton, Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera and Kate Moss. With its low-rise jeans, belly button piercings and miniskirts, the Y2K revival has brought back the obsession with extreme thinness that defined the era of “heroin chic.”

Ozempic was introduced in 2017 as an injectable diabetes medication. Its active ingredient is semaglutide. The drug went viral on social media about two years ago after influencers began sharing their experiences of unusually rapid weight loss. Today, the hashtag #ozempic has millions of views on TikTok and Instagram.

At some point, the drug began to be used not only by people struggling with obesity or diabetes, but also by those who simply wanted to lose some weight for the summer. It has become so popular that there is an ongoing shortage for diabetic patients who need the drug.

Novo Nordisk, the Danish pharmaceutical giant that makes Ozempic and Wegovy (the latter another semaglutide drug that has been approved specifically for weight loss control) is currently the most valuable company in Europe, worth almost as much as the entire German car industry.

Ozempic faces Y2K

Ozempic even had its five minutes of fame during Berlin Fashion Week, when clubwear brand Namilia sent a model down the catwalk wearing a T-shirt reading “I love Ozempic” (pictured above). The provocative tank top sparked backlash from social media users and the press alike, who called the move “toxic” and “superficial.”

Following digital backlash and a cease and desist letter from Novo Nordisk, fashion brand Namilia announced that the T-shirt was never intended for sale, but rather as “an ironic statement slogan that comments on the pressures of fame, celebrity culture and unrealistic body ideals.”

Heroin chic is back

Khan, a curvy Turkish-German model who walked in Namilia’s show (though not wearing the controversial “I love Ozempic” T-shirt), doesn’t understand the outrage. She believes the message of the controversial T-shirt was not to celebrate Ozempic but to criticise how fashion is returning to “heroin chic” – an aesthetic associated with thin, pale models such as Kate Moss or Gia Carangi, a heroin addict who died from complications of AIDS.

The rather problematic term “heroin chic,” which glamorizes drug abuse and size 0, was coined in honor of photographer Davide Sorrenti, whose photographs helped popularize the look: pale skin, dark circles under the eyes and a very thin figure.

For Khan, who prefers to be called by her first name only, “heroin chic” is another term that turns body shapes into fashion. “Every few years a new trend emerges. ‘Heroin chic’ is coming back into the industry. It used to be a body-positive trend, but for the past year and a half we’ve seen fewer curvy models on the catwalks,” she says.

Goodbye body positivity?

As one of the few curvy models in the industry, Khan feels the return of the size 0 ideal. “I was often confirmed for jobs and then cancelled after being compared to the stylist because of my size, as happened with a traditional Parisian couture house,” she told DW.

In the high fashion industry in particular, Khan says, tall, thin, white models are once again the preferred choice, reflecting the controversial legacy left by designers such as Karl Lagerfeld. Among other things, Lagerfeld is remembered for fatphobic statements such as “Nobody wants to see curvy models on the catwalk” and calling singer Adele “a bit too fat.”

Vogue Business’ latest report confirms Khan’s observations: in the fall/winter 2024 season, less than 1% of models at fashion shows in New York, London, Milan and Paris were plus-size.

‘Thinness never went out of fashion’

Paula Villa Braslavsky, a professor of sociology and gender studies at the University of Munich, says that being thin has never gone out of fashion, either on the catwalk or on the streets.

“Society has always judged weight,” says Villa Braslavsky. “It’s been a moral issue since the late 19th century. If you’re overweight, you’re seen as lazy, stupid, uneducated, morally corrupt or disinterested.” Villa Braslavsky fears that by normalising them, slimming drugs like Ozempic could intensify body shaming.

“For women, the perception of what is the ‘right’ weight has always been more limited than for men,” says Villa Braslavsky. “The boundaries are stricter because historically, women are judged primarily by their appearance. Too thin, too fat, too muscular, too beautiful or not beautiful enough – women face criticism all around.”

‘Y2K is not just for thin people’

The return of “heroin chic” and the Ozempic craze aren’t stopping Khan from embracing her Y2K designs, either on the catwalk or on the streets. There are still brands for whom body positivity isn’t just a trend, she says, citing Sinead O’Dwyer, Ed Hardy and Namilia as examples.

“If they really celebrated Ozempic, they wouldn’t be sending curvy models down the catwalk. And I wasn’t the only one,” she explains. In her opinion, Namilia “is just being honest in highlighting the controversy around the drug, because unfortunately, people really love Ozempic.”

So does the Y2K hype at Ozempic mean the end of body positivity? Khan’s answer is clear: “Not in a million years.”