LOS ANGELES - Is it still a "mainstream crossover" if you're showing bush? That's the existential dilemma posed by AVN Female Performer of the Year Sasha Grey in a raunchy online ad for American Apparel.
The image of Sasha modeling nothing but a pair of thigh-high socks is part of a campaign appearing exclusively on a handful of websites: Reverse Cowgirl, Debauchette, and Last Night's Party. Porn actress Charlotte Stokely also posed for one of the ads.
The new campaign features the raciest web ads the company has yet produced, one exec said. Grey is the first model to appear nude in an American Apparel layout.
Reverse Cowgirl blogger Susannah Breslin defended the racy ads against accusations of sexism.
"While some feminists like to spend their time caterwauling about the supposed sexism of AA ads, it bears mentioning these ads were conceptualized and shot by Kyung Chung, who, it also bears mentioning, is a woman," Breslin wrote. "Previously, Chung got feminist knickers in a crack-splitting twist when she shot herself for a Manhattan [American Apparel] billboard. Gee, it's a good thing feminists are ripping their hair out and clawing at their eyes and pulling down the drapes over supposedly sexist ads shot by a woman, or I'd have, like, no self-esteem."
Of course; using your pubes to sell socks is, like, empowering!
For Grey, the ad caps a year of breakout appearances in mainstream movies, TV, books and modeling layouts. Rolling Stone officially certified Sasha's "It Girl" status in its December issue, naming her to the magazine's trendy annual "Hot List".
Earlier this year, the AVN Award-winning performer starred in Lee Demarbre's indie horror film Smash Cut with horror movie greats David Hess and Herschell Gordon Lewis. She went on to nab the lead role in Steven Soderbergh's indie feature The Girlfriend Experience, shot this fall in New York City and due for release in 2009.
Sasha's next big porn flick is Deeper Throat, Vivid Entertainment's "re-imagining" of the 1972 Gerard Damiano classic. A reality series about the making of Deeper Throat will premiere on Showtime in February, with the movie tentatively secheduled to arrive in March.
