The Hypebae Best: Sex-Positive Fashion, Wellness and Relationship Hard Launches of 2023
Presenting the sexiest — and most controversial — moments of the year.
Despite the taboo surrounding sex and “spinning the block,” 2023 was the year forbidden loves took the spotlight and garnered all the hype. In fashion, sex-positivity reigned supreme with equally seductive and playful campaigns by the growingly iconic Glenn Martens and Diesel, while the sexual wellness industry welcomed a “Dirrty” industry expert aiming to destigmatize the pleasures of sex — cue Christina Aguilera.
Speaking of pop culture, celebrity couples stole the spotlight this year – with both breakups and hard launches. From Shakira‘s iconic diss track to her ex and his mistress to SZA literally threatening her ex-lovers life, 2023 left no holds barred.
Keep scrolling for Hypebae’s Best of 2023 in sex and dating.
Sex-Positive Fashion
Diesel
Diesel
Marking Glenn Martens second year as Diesel’s creative director, 2023 solidified the brand’s place as the sex-positive fashion “It” girls. From its “Find the D” campaign to the massive Durex condom pile at its FW23 presentation — oh, and don’t forget the Diesel x Durex collab — Martens’ sex-positive approach has marked a new lane within fashion that other brands will undoubtedly reference for years to come.
SKIMS Nipple Bra
Skims
“No matter how hot it is, you’ll always look cold.” Despite the controversy surrounding “who did it first,” SKIMS’ Nipple Bra opened an interesting conversation on the “Free the Nipple” movement’s progress and what an often overlooked community of femmes — cancer survivors – actually needs from their lingerie.
Naked Dresses
Naked dresses caused quite the controversy this year, too, sparking discussions on how women should present themselves — yes, people are still concerned with what women wear in 2023, unfortunately. Most notably, Ciara‘s seductive naked dress she donned to the Vanity Fair Oscars After Party. By SS24 Fashion Week presentations, naked dresses dominated the runway with honorable mentions from ROTATE, Supriya Lele and Blumarine.
Sex Toys
Voight’s Boy Tears
Voight
As predicted, 2023 was the year of the clit sucker — and Voight’s Boy Tears had us screaming all year. With the tagline, “What the boys won’t do, their tears will,” Voight founder, Valentina Voight merged the beauty of femme pleasure with marketing that once again proved: if anyone knows her target audience — it’s Valentina Voight.
What the boys won’t do, their tears will!💦New voight toy out tomorrow at 6pm EST💗 pic.twitter.com/lmxaeRfPIU
— Valentina V. (@valentinavoight) April 13, 2023
For more on Voight, tune in to her juicy episode of Servin’ Sex.
Womanizer Launches the World’s First Pleasure Shower Head
Womanizer
Launched in collaboration with hansgrohe, Womanizer released the world’s first-ever shower head for self pleasure. Yes, you read that correctly. Most of our introductions to self-pleasure were catalyzed by the intimacy of a shower head. Whether it delivered your first orgasm or a small moment of pleasure, shower heads are responsible for pleasure education that sex ed forgot to give us. The dual-use shower head is discrete, modeling any other shower head, however it offers three pleasure settings: Pleasure Jet, Pleasure Whirl and Powder Rain. On the topic of range, it’s also available in “Chrome,” “Black” and “White,” colorways making it a perfect match for any decor.
Purchase the Womanizer Wave on its website.
Sexual Wellness
Christina Aguilera‘s Foray into Sexual Wellness
Aguilera’s brand has always been sex-positive, but in 2023, the “Dirty” and “Beautiful” singer made her foray into the sexual wellness space. Despite wellness being essential for women, growing censorship has affected its ability to exist within mainstream spaces. However, this year, Aguilera joined sexual wellness brand Playground and its founders, Catherine Magee and Sandy Vukovic, to help end the stigma of sexual wellness. In an exclusive interview with Hypebae she shared: “I want to do things that I can pass down to my daughter as a mother and make her feel good about her body and break the stigma and cycle,” of sex as taboo. In under one year, Aguilera and the Playground team have done just that.
Best Relationship Hard Launches
Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce
It all began with a podcast. No literally. Whether you’re solely a football fan or a Swiftie, one of the most trending questions this year was: “How TF did Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce meet?” According to Swift, “Travis very adorably put [me] on blast with his podcast,” detailing how he wanted to give her a friendship bracelet with his phone number on it. For non-Swifties in the chat, friendship bracelets are their thing. The pair started hanging out — privately — shortly after Kelce’s podcast admission as Swift thought it was “metal as hell.” Before fans knew it, Swift was in the stands cheering Kelce on along with the Kansas City Chiefs’ wives.
“We actually had a significant amount of time that no one knew,” Swift said, “which I’m grateful for, because we got to get to know each other. I think some people think that they saw our first date at that game? We would never be psychotic enough to hard launch a first date,” she joked.
Kendall Jenner and Bad Bunny
Arguably the most controversial relationship of 2023, Jenner and Bad Bunny saw their relationship’s height – and demise – all in the same year. However, despite public opinion, the pair hard launched via a Gucci campaign, seemingly working their way to “couple goals.” Suspecting that this was yet another one of Kris Jenner’s PR stunts, the Puerto Rican musicians’ fans were not here for it. By the time the relationship ended, his fans broke the internet with iconic memes rejoicing: “The evil has been defeated. Bad Bunny, we are so back.”
Ashanti and Nelly
Ashanti and Nelly single-handedly made a case for “spinning the block” also known as, giving that one love that got away, a second chance. In less than a year of hard launching, the couple is expecting their first addition to their family making a case for the one that got away..
Best Breakup Song
Miley Cyrus x “Flowers”
2023 was seemingly the year of heartbreak with countless celebrity couples splitting — cue the highly controversial Bad Bunny and Jenner breakup. But, one good thing birthed from heartbreak was art, specifically, breakup song galore. Taking the lead this year was Miley Cyrus’ “Flowers,” which marked what we consider to be the most iconic breakup PR run in 2023. Next, was SZA‘s “Kill Bill,” a Quentin Tarantino-coded track about violently seeking redemption. Something we can and did all resonate with, making S.O.S., one of the top albums of 2023, as well. Lastly, is “Shakira: Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53,” the Colombian singer’s ode to her cheater ex, Gerard Piqué. Even more iconic? Shortly after, Shakira broke Spotify’s record for the most monthly listeners — surpassing Bad Bunny.
For more sex and dating content, tune into our sex podcast: Servin’ Sex.
Share this article
