JANET STREET-PORTER: Use your brain not your body, Bianca. Why Kanye parading his semi-naked ‘wife’ through the streets of Italy is the sinister exploitation of a clever woman who really should know better

Is this woman a willing participant or a brainwashed love slave?

As she staggers silently across the cobbled streets of Florence, with a strip of bandage covering her full breasts, paired with sheer tights and no underwear, Bianca Censori’s outfits leave NOTHING to the imagination. Day after day, Kanye West’s newest partner steps out in fetish gear, exposing not only her nipples but every crevice of her beautiful body. In a Catholic country like Italy, this is guaranteed to cause outrage in most quarters.

But controversy is the drug West craves to thrive. Once a billionaire, with the fashion and music industries at his beck and call, his entire empire has been undermined by the man himself.

He has become a pariah for his anti-Semitic comments about Jewish people in October 2022. And after he handed out White Lives Matter T-shirts and praised Hitler, his business empire lost billions of dollars and his brand became toxic. Bottom line: Ye needs cash, cash he’s lost through his own foolish rants.

And the way Ye uses his Yeezy brand to dress his new partner Bianca (they reportedly got married in LA in January, but there’s no sign of a marriage certificate) is largely how he styled his former wife, Kim Kardashian — but she eventually managed to escape his controlling regime, which saw him divorce the father of her four children last fall. The two women look eerily similar. Bianca looks like Kim before she fought back and created her own style.

I highly doubt Bianca chose her crazy outfits because Kanye – or Ye as he likes to be called these days – is known as the ultimate control freak, deciding exactly what his ex-wife Kim Kardasian should wear in public. and along the way she became the most photographed woman in the world

I highly doubt Bianca chose her crazy outfits because Kanye – or Ye as he likes to be called these days – is known as the ultimate control freak, deciding exactly what his ex-wife Kim Kardasian should wear in public. and along the way she became the most photographed woman in the world.

Since arriving in Italy with Bianca at the end of July, the world’s most controversial musician has stepped out with a bag over his head or a mask over his face. He wears a German police T-shirt with huge shoulder pads, no underwear and socks instead of shoes. He is dressed in black from head to toe, so nothing detracts from his ‘muse’.

Italians are known to adore and admire glamorous women – but now even they are begging Ms Censori and her ‘husband’ to put some clothes back on, accusing them of a lack of respect after they were filmed doing some appeared to involve intimate sexual activity on a water taxi in Venice on August 28. On that occasion, Bianca’s head was buried in Ye’s lap, while his pants were pulled down, exposing his bare backside. Since then, Bianca has exhibited all her ‘pieces’ every day.

It’s a one-note ad for Yeezy clothing and shapewear. But what lies behind this disgusting display?

Before his divorce from Kim in late 2022, the past few years had been difficult for Ye. He has had breakdowns, been hospitalized and struggled with his mental health. His ex-wife has spoken on social media about his bipolar diagnosis and asked for sympathy and understanding. Kim says Ye is “brilliant but complicated.”

Despite Ye’s undoubted brilliance as a musician, his credibility is undermined by off-stage rants. In 2016, his tour was cut short and he was hospitalized for depression and paranoia. In 2018, he sparked outrage by stating that slavery “was a choice.” In July 2020, he announced his intention to run for the US presidency and that he no longer supported Donald Trump.

He has a track record of crashing on stage at industry events and comes out with gems like ‘if I don’t win, awards shows lose credibility’. No lack of ego here. He’s even started his own church in California, where he holds services every Sunday – when he’s not parading around Venice without his pants on.

But in October 2022, Ye made the biggest mistake of his career when he ranted about “JEWISH PEOPLE” in a slur I won’t repeat. And then WHITE LIVES MATTER T-shirts were distributed during fashion week in Paris. He then praised Hitler in an interview with a conspiracy theorist and said he did not believe in the term anti-Semitism.

As a result, Ye was dropped by Balenciaga, Gap, Adidas, all fashion labels that collaborated with and boosted his own brand Yeezy. So Bianca’s terribly vulgar outfits – pure Yeezy – are designed to be photographed and get his brand mentioned around the world.

But this strategy could backfire. Online critics mock the couple’s rudeness, and on the streets of Florence there are laughs and chuckles. The couple may try to look tense, but the result looks more like a scene from a bad 1960s sci-fi movie.

As for Bianca, this is no dumb blonde. She studied architecture at the University of Melbourne and obtained a master’s degree. Always a body-conscious dresser, how did this smart Australian woman turn into a miserable-looking robot? At the beginning of their relationship, she may have been seduced by Ye’s undoubted charisma at his best. But she has turned into nothing more than a mannequin for his junk.

Kanye was seen covering up in an all-black ensemble that consisted of a black short-sleeved shirt and black pants

He also wore a black hoodie that covered most of his face and slung a black crossbody bag over his shoulder as the couple went shopping.

And given her qualifications, is this really a worthy and rewarding way to spend her time?

Kanye West originally made his fortune making brilliant music, but his last album Donda 2 (named after his late mother) was only released on Stem – a streaming device he helped develop – so if you wanted to listen to the whole album you had to spend your money twice. Critics describe the album as “grossly unfinished”. Kano, the company that developed the voice player, has now cut ties with him.

This summer, Ye appeared on stage for the first time since last year’s controversy, in Rome. He is said to have recorded numerous new songs and has an album due out any day now, tentatively titled Man Across the Sea.

That adds to my theory that Bianca is nothing more than a marketing accessory, a publicity stunt, a willing performer in his freak show. It’s not fashion as we know it, but smart PR. What’s hard to understand is why a smart woman allowed herself to be used in this way.

Kim Kardashian has been accused of many things, but no one would ever say she is stupid. She trains to be a lawyer and fights for those on death row. You are undoubtedly attracted to brains. The mystery is why Bianca Censori was willing to give up her individuality and her own personality to one of rap music’s greatest showmen to boost his career.

She is a victim of his personality cult.

Let’s hope she escapes.