Heroin chic was a controversial fashion trend of the 1990's, influenced primarily by Nan Goldin and her real life, gritty portraits of outcasts. Images depicted very slim young girls and models with very angular faces and often dark circles under their eyes. Julian Broad, a portrait photographer, described heroin chic as photographs were not fully lit and the girl not smiling; a much broader description.

Many influential people of the 90's spoke out about the trend, including Bill Clinton, who highlighted that we 'do not need to glamorise addition to sell clothes'.
After the death of Davide Sorrenti in 1997, image-makers and magazines saw the implications their publications were representing, and begun to alter their style towards a brighter style of fashion imaging. However, the aesthetic still hung around, and even as recent as 2014 when Edie Campbell's campaign for Yves Saint Laurent Black Opium fragrance was investigated by the Advertising Standards Authority early this year after receiving 11 complaints over the claim that it glamourised drugs. 

Above, Kate Moss stars in the CK 1993 campaign at 17, creating an iconic (but controversial) image set to inspire the 'heroin chic' aesthetic. Photographed by Mario Sorrenti, the brother of the late Davide Sorrenti who was labelled as a 'heroin chic' photographer. 

Photographed by Christian Within, this s/s 1997 gucci campaign was published in detour magazine, alongside Davide Sorrenti's last ever photographs before his untimely death. They have all the characteristics of a heroin chic image; the dark circles underneath the eyes and angular bone structure. The models are made to look as though they are either on drugs or have overdosed, slumped in corners looking very spaced out and unresponsive. I was quite shocked to see that these images were published as an editorial for Gucci, I had previously seen images from Calvin Klein campaigns featuring Kate Moss's very slim figure being highlighted, however I was unaware of the extent this aesthetic was taken by some photographers and stylists. The Calvin Klein 1993 feels a lot more innocent that these above, and I definitely prefer it to these, which does glamourise the trend a lot more. 

This image is taken by David Sorrenti, of his girlfriend at the time of his death , Jamie King.  I really like this photograph as it feels a lot more natural and unstaged, similar to the aesthetic I want to bring to my own photographs. It follows the characteristics of a heroin chic image according to Julian Broad; not fully lit and Jamie not smiling.