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Jun 05, 2023

Troye Sivan's “Rush” turns SafeSearch off on menswear

By Zak Maoui Since the start of his career Troye Sivan has unapologetically expressed his queerness through his music. He sang about losing his virginity and gay bottoming on pop track “Bloom”,

By Zak Maoui

Since the start of his career Troye Sivan has unapologetically expressed his queerness through his music. He sang about losing his virginity and gay bottoming on pop track “Bloom”, discussed coming out in his EP Blue Neighbourhood, and, in his latest music video for his new song “Rush”, gives more than a nod to gay hookups and sex-heavy day raves.

Sivan dropped “Rush”, his first solo single in almost four years and the lead for his upcoming album Something To Give Each Other, last week. A dance track that in part takes its name from Rush, the poppers brand ("I mean, sure. Loosely. Not no" he said to Vogue when pressed on the topic) it sees Sivan and scantily clad 20-something guys throw serious moves. There's plenty of ass. It's provocative in every sense of the word. Sivan told GQ that he wanted “to slap people in the face with this in the very beginning – it just felt like a fun way to kind of kick things off after all this time.”

The music video was shot by Gordon von Steiner in locations across Berlin and was styled by Larissa Bechtold, who has a background in costume design. In total, they created 165 looks (if you can call them that, given no one guy is fully dressed) for “Rush”.

“I really tried to give the feel of freedom of expression and sex positivity,” Bechtold told GQ over the phone. “When you see all the skin and the asses it's meant to be playful and free. It's definitely a celebration of queer liberation,” Bechtold says. “You've got the sweaty jocks in there, the club night fixtures – you know, those guys who huddle together in their barely there clothes and stay out from night to day and go again.” Speaking to Vogue, Sivan said, “we go to parties with dark rooms every weekend, this is real life and it’s what it feels like. It’s exactly what I want to capture."

The music video has all the eroticism of the work of Tom Of Finland, the Finnish artist who famously sketched homosexual art. That was a reference point. "It's quite Boogie Nights-meets-Trainspotting," Bechtold says. The first thing Bechtold wanted to do was tap Europe's queer designers. Sivan himself stands tall in a Paco Rabanne chainmail sequin dress ("this was meant for one of the girls in the video, but when Troye saw it he said ‘what about me?’"). There's Spanish designer Alled Martinez, who outfittedextras in teeny tiny shorts. Lazoschmidl's strappy vests are in there. Troye's in a pair of Dsquared2 chaps, and a jockstrap. It's no bars hold styling.

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There are archival Dior mini miniskirts, worn by guys and girls. Crotch-flashing chaps from Harry Styles-approved Egonlab, the French label that's been sending models down the catwalk in micro-shorts, leather chaps and halter-neck, bring more heat. Y2K-influenced brand Blumarine provided strappy ab-showing cropped tops. Bechtold also wanted to play around with athleticwear. She says that queer people have long subverted traditional sportswear, sexing it up by pairing it with something you'd never find on the sports field. Crop tops with skimpy Adidas training shorts. Topless guys in low-slung track pants and G-strings. Camo cargo pants worn so low they reveal pubic hair.

As well as being a full frontal depiction of gayness, the music video is an advanced take on a wider move towards sexier menswear that we're seeing among celebrities (Manu Ríos, Cillian Murphy et al) and designers alike. Loads of skin. Arms out. Torsos on show. And Sivan is just tapping into that. He wants you to get even more naked – and have fun doing it. “I feel like, in a way, it's kind of the perfect moment for it,” Bechtold says, explaining that five years ago this kind of music video would've shocked, rather than inspired. Bechtold is under the impression that Sivan's latest release might push for the sexy narrative even more. Social media has been pretty glowing about it all. “You know, instead of people going like, ‘oh my god, this is too much,' they're like, ‘Oh, my God, this is really fucking exciting.’"