Have you noticed? It’s getting hot in here. Exhibit A: the return of the Victoria’s Secret fashion show last month, which saw the “angels” put on their wings and wink at the cameras after a six-year hiatus. B: the most talked about film of the year, Cannes Palme d'Or winner Anora, which features enough sex scenes to send prudes into a spiral (or, at least, earn the marketing gold critic quote: “makes Pretty Woman look like a Disney movie”). C, D and E: Sabrina Carpenter’s winking innuendos, Charli xcx’s insistence that we “wanna guess the colour of [her] underwear”, Tate McRae getting arrested for public nudity in the music video for “It’s ok I’m ok”.
Look all around and you’ll see we're amidst a great raunch revival. Last year, the biggest songs were about breakups and self-introspection, epitomised by Miley Cyrus’ “Flowers” and SZA’s “Kill Bill”. Now? We’re too busy enjoying a seemingly endless brat summer (autumn?) to soundtrack our heartbreaks. The PG perfection of the Barbie movie has been replaced by the full-on 18+ content in films such as Poor Things. The short-lived era of fully-clothed models in the Pirelli calendar has been swapped out for a return to, as this year’s photographer Ethan James Green puts it, the brand’s “sexy classic” roots. Even lads mags are back, courtesy of the recent relaunch of Loaded and the upcoming return of Playboy’s print magazine. Sure, sex always sells, but right now, it appears to be flying off the shelves.
