Kahlo-mania

[steepholm]

Shopkeeper: Can I help you?
Frida Kahlo: I'm just brows-ing.

I wonder when the Frida Kahlo-isation of our culture first took serious hold? Not that I particularly object to it: I can see that, now Che Guevara's star has waned, there is a (counter-)cultural niche to be filled. And who better than Kahlo, with her take-me-as-I-am stare and striking looks? That she also had Trotsky a lodger certainly doesn't make her less cool.

I've known of her for a long time, in fact since the days when she was mostly spoken as Diego Rivera's partner ("Who he?" quoth the Zeitgeist), but I've only recently become aware of Kahlo merch in almost every shop, at least in Bristol and Brighton. Is it a recent phenomenon - and if so, what triggered it? Or has it been building slowly, and I've only just noticed, parboiled frog as I am?

Comments

[lamentables]

My perception is that it has been an exponential growth and that we hit the beginning of the really steep part of the curve about two years ago. I think the V&A exhibition was riding the trend, rather than setting it, though I have no sense of what did kick things off.

[green_knight]

The exhibition is still on until 4/11, and apparently it's sold out.

(I saw it; it was impressive. I learnt a lot of stuff about Frida Kahlo that I hadn't known.)

Can't say I've noticed merch anywhere else.

[larryhammer]

Here in the States, Kahlo hit ubiquity a while ago, shortly after the biopic came out.

[joyeuce]

My 6-year-old daughter has just announced that Frida Kahlo is her favourite person in history. I don't think I'd even heard of Kahlo until I grew up.

[steepholm]

Did your daughter explain why?

[joyeuce]

She (daughter) said she wants to paint pictures like Kahlo's.