{"id":32445,"date":"2016-04-14T00:01:51","date_gmt":"2016-04-14T04:01:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wendybrandes.com\/blog\/?p=32445"},"modified":"2016-04-11T00:17:48","modified_gmt":"2016-04-11T04:17:48","slug":"throwback-thursday-the-models-of-freedom-90","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wendybrandes.com\/blog\/2016\/04\/throwback-thursday-the-models-of-freedom-90\/","title":{"rendered":"Throwback Thursday: The Models of &#8220;Freedom! &#8217;90&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>I saw this tweet from Harper&#8217;s Bazaar over the weekend. <a href=\"http:\/\/wendybrandes.com\/blog\/2008\/08\/printed-page\/\" target=\"_blank\">All my favorite models were pictured in it<\/a>, so I clicked through.<\/p>\n<p><center><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Supermodels Relive Filming The George Michael Freedom! &#8217;90 Video <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/f1YTTGiBbI\">https:\/\/t.co\/f1YTTGiBbI<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/egbFP0xuPb\">pic.twitter.com\/egbFP0xuPb<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Harper&#8217;s Bazaar (@harpersbazaarus) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/harpersbazaarus\/status\/719255356828987392\">April 10, 2016<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" async=\"\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/center><\/p>\n<p>The photo gallery was titled &#8220;Supermodels Relive Filming The George Michael Freedom! &#8217;90 Video,&#8221; and subtitled &#8220;Here&#8217;s what they have to say 25 years later.&#8221; I thought, &#8220;HOLY SHIT! I can&#8217;t BELIEVE it&#8217;s been 25 years since that video.&#8221; Then I thought, &#8220;Wait, the song was &#8216;Freedom! &#8217;90&#8217; and it&#8217;s 2016. That&#8217;s 26 years.&#8221; I looked again and saw that the story had <a href=\"http:\/\/www.harpersbazaar.com\/fashion\/models\/g6405\/supermodels-on-george-michael-freedom-90s-video\/\" target=\"_blank\">originally been posted on Oct. 30, 2015<\/a>. I&#8217;m kinda mad! Harper&#8217;s Bazaar, <a href=\"http:\/\/knowyourmeme.com\/memes\/y-u-no-guy\" target=\"_blank\">Y U No<\/a> make it clear you&#8217;re retweeting random old stuff? Also now I feel even older than I did when I thought a mere 25 years had passed! Thanks a lot!<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-32447\" src=\"http:\/\/wendybrandes.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/y-u-no.png\" alt=\"y-u-no\" width=\"299\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.wendybrandes.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/y-u-no.png 299w, https:\/\/www.wendybrandes.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/y-u-no-150x150.png 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 299px) 100vw, 299px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Still, I wanted to share this video because it truly is <a href=\"http:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/music\/news\/kanye-west-storms-the-vmas-stage-during-taylor-swifts-speech-20090913\" target=\"_blank\">one of the best videos of all time<\/a>. Just nonstop, runway-worthy beauty, ESPECIALLY from my No. 1 fave, <a href=\"http:\/\/wendybrandes.com\/blog\/2008\/08\/printed-page\/\" target=\"_blank\">Linda Evangelista<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><center><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/diYAc7gB-0A\" width=\"420\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/center><\/p>\n<p>George Michael didn&#8217;t <a href=\"http:\/\/www.cnn.com\/SHOWBIZ\/9804\/11\/george.michael\/\" target=\"_blank\">publicly reveal that he was gay until 1998, after he was arrested for &#8220;lewd conduct&#8221; in a restroom,<\/a> but &#8220;Freedom! &#8217;90&#8221; pretty much outed him. A straight dude would have had all the models draped all over him in the video, but George didn&#8217;t appear in the video at all! It was <a href=\"http:\/\/www.papermag.com\/george-michael-freedom-90s-fashion-1710357459.html\" target=\"_blank\">high-fashion<\/a>, not <a href=\"http:\/\/wendybrandes.com\/blog\/2007\/11\/dressing-for-all-kings-men\/\" target=\"_blank\">Hooters<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>George&#8217;s 1992 &#8220;<a href=\"http:\/\/wendybrandes.com\/blog\/2012\/04\/musings-on-music-reality-tv-and-thierry-mugler\/\" target=\"_blank\">Too Funky<\/a>&#8221; video was even more high-fashion. Linda was back from &#8220;Freedom! &#8217;90.&#8221; This time she was strutting down a runway with a new crop of models, all wearing <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Too_Funky#Music_video\" target=\"_blank\">Thierry Mugler&#8217;s outrageous designs<\/a>. (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.vice.com\/read\/thierry-mugler\" target=\"_blank\">Mugler<\/a> directed too.) Sharing screen time with the models were actress <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Rossy_de_Palma\" target=\"_blank\">Rossy de Palma<\/a>, with her one-of-a-kind profile, and drag artists <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Joey_Arias\" target=\"_blank\">Joey Arias<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.lypsinka.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Lypsinka<\/a>. (You know who else worked with Joey Arias? <a href=\"http:\/\/wendybrandes.com\/blog\/2016\/01\/memories-of-david-bowie\/\" target=\"_blank\">David Bowie<\/a>.) George donated &#8220;Too Funky&#8221; and two other songs to the album <em><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Red_Hot_%2B_Dance\" target=\"_blank\">Red Hot + Dance<\/a><\/em>, which raised money for AIDS awareness.<\/p>\n<p><center><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/JQ2DVwSVIIo\" width=\"420\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/center><\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;ve always felt bad that George was forced to hide a big part of his life, but in 2014, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.people.com\/people\/article\/0,,20797971,00.html\" target=\"_blank\">he told People magazine<\/a> that he had no regrets about not being open sooner. He said:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><em>&#8220;In the years when HIV was a killer, any parent of an openly gay person was terrified. I knew my mother well enough that she would spend everyday praying that I didn&#8217;t come across that virus. She&#8217;d have worried like that.&#8221;<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>The AIDS stigma was very real. <a href=\"http:\/\/wendybrandes.com\/blog\/2013\/07\/throwback-thursday-madonna-almost-26-years-ago-today\/\" target=\"_blank\">In 1987, Princess Diana shocked people just by shaking hands with AIDS doctors and patients<\/a>. But long after AIDS became a survivable, chronic disease, it still wasn&#8217;t and <em>isn&#8217;t<\/em> easy for many people in the entertainment industry to come out. Ricky Martin was constantly asked about his personal life after &#8220;Livin&#8217; la Vida Loca&#8221; hit big in 1999; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.people.com\/people\/article\/0,,20355546,00.html\" target=\"_blank\">it took him till 2010 to feel comfortable telling the truth<\/a>. By the way, I still love that song and video! It&#8217;s so sex-ay &#8230; I can dream, can&#8217;t I?!<\/p>\n<p><center><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/p47fEXGabaY\" width=\"420\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/center><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/wendybrandes.com\/blog\/2015\/06\/things-i-didnt-expect-to-see-in-this-lifetime\/\" target=\"_blank\">Even though society has become much more open (thankfully)<\/a>, there are still people in show business who feel they have to hide to protect their careers. Actress Ellen Page, who came out in 2014, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/film\/2016\/jan\/27\/ellen-page-hollywood-now-im-gay-i-cant-play-straight-person\" target=\"_blank\">said earlier this year<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><em>&#8220;There\u2019s still that double standard. I look at all the things I\u2019ve done in movies: I\u2019ve drugged a guy, tortured someone, become a roller-derby star overnight. But now I\u2019m gay, I can\u2019t play a straight person?&#8221;<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.wendybrandes.com\/store\/products.php?product=SMH-Rings\" target=\"_blank\">SMH<\/a>! It&#8217;s a damn shame that anyone has to feel that kind of pressure 25 years &#8212; NO! 26 YEARS! &#8212; after George Michael followed up the &#8220;Freedom! &#8217;90&#8221; lyric, &#8220;I was every little hungry schoolgirl&#8217;s pride and joy&#8221; with:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><em>&#8220;I think there&#8217;s something you should know\/I think it&#8217;s time I told you so\/There&#8217;s something deep inside of me\/There&#8217;s someone else I&#8217;ve got to be.&#8221;<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Back to the video and the fashion: Last year, for the anniversary, Allure ran an in-depth story on the making of the &#8220;Freedom! &#8217;90&#8221; video and what made it so special. Even I didn&#8217;t know Linda dyed her hair platinum the night before the shoot! Check it out <a href=\"http:\/\/www.allure.com\/celebrity-trends\/2015\/25th-anniversary-george-michael-freedom-video\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>And you must see how the &#8220;Freedom! &#8217;90&#8221; models and song made a splash on Versace&#8217;s Fall 1991 runway.<\/p>\n<p><center><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/n1SpAepT8gM\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/center><\/p>\n<p>I get chills! Definitely one of the greatest runway moments OF ALL TIME.  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I saw this tweet from Harper&#8217;s Bazaar over the weekend. All my favorite models were pictured in it, so I clicked through. Supermodels Relive Filming The George Michael Freedom! &#8217;90 Video https:\/\/t.co\/f1YTTGiBbI pic.twitter.com\/egbFP0xuPb \u2014 Harper&#8217;s Bazaar (@harpersbazaarus) April 10, 2016 The photo gallery was titled &#8220;Supermodels Relive Filming The George Michael Freedom! &#8217;90 Video,&#8221; and&#8230;<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wendybrandes.com\/blog\/2016\/04\/throwback-thursday-the-models-of-freedom-90\/\">Read More &raquo;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":32447,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[56,42,607],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-32445","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-models","8":"category-music","9":"category-throwback-thursday","10":"entry"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wendybrandes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32445","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wendybrandes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wendybrandes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wendybrandes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wendybrandes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32445"}],"version-history":[{"count":34,"href":"https:\/\/www.wendybrandes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32445\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32481,"href":"https:\/\/www.wendybrandes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32445\/revisions\/32481"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wendybrandes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32447"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wendybrandes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32445"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wendybrandes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32445"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wendybrandes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32445"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}