Susan Sontag X Karlie Kloss

Wake up! It’s time for camp.

Here’s a little backstory to brighten your day: I was in Punta Cana for spring break not too long ago and while I could have spent my time hot potato-ing in the sun, I made sure to dedicate my precious hours to read Susan Sontag’s Notes on Camp. And I discovered that I love Susan Sontag at the very least.

Notes on Camp is nothing extravagant (how very meta) — a 10 page thread of about 30-ish…well..notes on camp. And not the summer getaway, marshmallow toasting, singsongy type of camp (thats not what you’re thinking..right?) Camp as in the aesthetic style. Honestly, I find it kind of difficult to describe camp is terms that don’t come across as just completely arrogant, because it is just so…heady. But to humbly attempt to boil it down, I’d say its a tension and duality between what something is and what it portrays itself to be (SEE. Its litterally impossible).

Lets dive in.

“Camp describes an aesthetic deliberately exaggerated and theatrical in style, often to the point of being ironically funny.”

We all remember the infamous, ground breaking media sensation that was Karlie Kloss’ 2019 social media post where she states she is “looking camp right in the eye” during the lead up to the Met Gala. The catastrophic let down that was her gala appearance caused such online scrutiny, that the meme-ification of Ms. Kloss is something I continue to scroll past even in 2026.

But there is someting more here, and dare I say, the Kloss Brouhaha of 2019 was actually a prime example of camp. Dont believe me? Let me take a stab at convincing you.

Susan Sontag wrote her Notes on Camp as an attempt to define and pin down camp, as again, it is just so…heady. But I think she did a fantastic job, as even I formed a grasp on what camp is. I think…

Camp is a sensibility — it is a way of seeing the world. But what makes it difficult to explain in more literal terms is the fact that it is not a “natural sensibility” that we use in our day to day. She goes on to give examples of campy art, and a history of the origins of camp. Ultimately when describing campy art, Sontag starts by separating form and content. Oh how I just love when we begin to go down the “form vs. content” rabbit hole. She explains how campy art has an exaggerated, artificial style/form to it, that sort of wraps around an ever present seriousness of content. And that artifice, is what the art is trying to portray itself as, but there is a constant nagging of the truth of what it is coming forth.

It is the seriousness that emerges from its artifice. The artifice grabs you by the throat, and you realize it is the hand of god. Too much? Lets get real.

Take this Oscar Wilde quote (Susan references this in Notes on Camp as an example of camp):

“It’s absurd to divide people into good and bad. People are either charming or tedious.”

What is it that makes this camp?

Well its the fact that Wilde is modeling a type of person who would say a thing so pithy…so witty (adjusts neck tie). There is an air of theatricality to it. I mean frankly, if someone hit me with that line, I’d crack a smile — wouldnt you? It mocks the very claim it is making—its such a charming delivery of a message about the value of charm. It sounds almost a little too polished, grandiouse, with an air of Victorian moral seriousness. Oh but….did I just say…seriousness?

And that is where the duplicity comes in, because undernearth that artifice of its delivery, is the kernal of truth. The authenticity behind the fact that what he is saying is true. Society does in fact reward charm and punish tediousness, no matter how baseless either judgements may be.

What makes it camp is the fact that these two exist simultaneously — the satirical display and the authentic content. Sontag would say that this satirical display shapes the meaning of the content, and can support its validity. It is not that form and content have a sort of “never the twain shall meet” relationship — while there is a tension between them — its ultimately their congruence that forms Camp as we know it.

I like to drill into the idea of seriousness. What do I mean when I say seriousness. Here comes a Sontag Snippit:

“Camp is art that proposes itself seriously, but cannot be taken altogether seriously because it is “too much”.”

There is a necessary aspect of naive campy art — failure. Sontag says, “A work can come close to Camp, but not make it, because it succeeds”. (Can we just take a second because wow). Camp has a sort of “life cycle” that begins with a passionate attempt at extravagance beyond what it is at its core. Lady Gaga’s meat dress. Every word ever spoken on “The Real Housewives of __”. My attempt at making denim skirts over pastel pink tights hip again. You get the picture. Its a swing…and its a miss. This is incongruence between what is tries to be, versus what it is, is just so goddamn camp I tell yah!

But there is something so refreshing, humanizing, and liberating about this “failure” because dsepite its awkwardness, it is rewarded with aesthetic praise. Camp finds the success in certain passionate failures. It is a kind of love for human nature. It relishes, rather than judges, the little triumphs and awkward intensities of “character” — Camp is a tender feeling that nourishes itself on the love that has gone into certain objects and personal styles.

Its a celebration of life! So cheers to that.

So what about the Karlie Kloss of it all? I stand by the fact that she was, in fact, Looking Camp Right in the Eye. The 2019 Met Galas theme of “Camp: Notes on Fashion” (which took direct isnpiration from Susan Sontag’s Notes on Cmap) suggested a night of wild extravagant gowns and performance pieces (my favorite of which was Lady Gaga’s three part dress series). And while Karlie Kloss did rock a pair of balloon sleeves, her body con mini dress was not knocking anyone socks off — especially when standing next to the iconic Gaga as she litteralyl transforms from a massive neon pink gown down to an all black lingerie set (props included throughout!). So yes, Karlie did not deliver, and whats even worse is that she hyped up the public for a gaga-level show out.

But this utter failure, total incongruence, total irony — the satire that was her lead up versus execution — IS JUST. SO. CAMP. I mean I genuinely applaud the Gucci team that was behind this effort. While Lady Gaga amstered the conscious camp art, Kloss modeled naive camp.

The life cycle of a work of Camp is a passionate attempt, an unequivocal failure, and its humble demise.

Distinguish naive camp vs. conscious camp.