Forget Grimes’ new digital self, I want her gold-plated glasses
Grimes’ new album, Miss Anthropocene, comes out this week. I’m excited! As such, she’s put out a bunch of photos, a new music video, announced a baby with Elon Musk, and, generally, has gone on a media hype blitz.
Of particular note to me, though, as a fan of glasses, is a photoshoot Grimes did with Ryder Ripps, an artist and Kanye West collaborator. In it, Grimes poses as her digital self, known as WarNymph, but also as her regular, human self. She’s wearing gold-plated glasses that have a distinct ‘90s feel. It’s very of the moment. I want a pair. Should I get a pair?
First, though, let’s discuss WarNymph. In an interview with The Face, Grimes says she’s introducing her digital self to the world partially for self reinvention, but also to allow herself to keep working through pregnancy.
“It’s hard for me to do photoshoots and fit into clothes at the moment, but WarNymph is here in your magazine promoting my album for me, haha,” she tells The Face. “So another one of its functions is like… techno-feminism or something. A lot of my friends aren’t having babies because they’re worried about their careers, and we wanted to find a way to overcome this issue.”
Up until now, digital selves have mostly centered on avatars like Lil Miquela, a digital model and influencer with nearly 2 million followers on Instagram. We’ve also seen companies explore the space more recently with Samsung offshoot Neon announcing “artificial humans” at CES this year and venture capital firms like Betaworks seeking to move the technology forward. On a smaller scale, Instagram and Snapchat’s augmented reality face masks give regular people access to 3D features without having to build an entire rendering of themselves. Grimes’ digital self might make the idea of a digital musician, one who changes and evolves in appearance, more mainstream and palatable. I’m here for it.
Now, let me finally acknowledge Grimes’ incredible glasses in Ripps’ photoshoot, which also speak to another Instagram trend — ‘90s nostalgia. Her gold-plated glasses aren’t totally rimless, which W Magazine highlighted as a trend, but still, they’re reminiscent of the style. They especially remind me of Adam Sandler’s glasses in the Oscars-snubbed movie Uncut Gems.
Thank you, Grimes, for making not only digital avatars a thing to talk about, but also the reemergence of ‘90s glasses trends. I want both.
Grimes’ new album, Miss Anthropocene, comes out this week. I’m excited! As such, she’s put out a bunch of photos, a new music video, announced a baby with Elon Musk, and, generally, has gone on a media hype blitz. Of particular note to me, though, as a fan of glasses,…
