Emily Ratajkowski Joined the Bisexual Green Velvet Couch TikTok Trend – Them

In April 2021, yet another viral tweet condensed the original down into the core of the matter: the couch, this time accompanied by several visual aids.

Vox senior correspondent Rebecca Jennings offered an analysis of the general trend toward maximalist interior design in 2020, citing the first viral green couch tweet as evidence. She argued that maximalism was a response to the minimalist tendencies of the 2010s — “a way of explicitly rejecting the spare white walls and perfectly placed wooden salad bowls of professional taste-havers on Instagram.” 

It is worth noting that both Ratajkowski and Mitchell’s proclivities toward the green velvet couch are a stark departure from the aesthetic choices of, say, Kim Kardashian, who remains perhaps the apex of modern heterosexuality. Green velvet — the color reminiscent of emeralds or foliage, the fabric suggesting a certain decadence — is nearly the polar opposite of Kardashian’s infamously cavernous monochromatic home design aesthetic.

While it may seem silly to extrapolate all of this from a TikTok trend, I’m far from the only person who has written on maximalism as a queer aesthetic. Them contributor Frankie de la Cretaz wrote about their maximalist decorating tendencies for Autostraddle in July 2021, saying, “To me, maximalism also feels inherently queer in that it is entirely extra.” Naturally, cool-toned velvet is included in their decorating scheme, pictures of which are embedded in the article. (Hell, I’m writing this while sitting across from two teal velvet ottomans I purchased in 2020.)

Ultimately, much like the “cuffed jeans” and “iced coffee” memes, the green velvet couch is probably not that deep and is just another stereotype we can lovingly poke fun at. But as someone who remembers a time when it was a big deal for a high fashion model like Cara Delevingne to come out as queer, which truly happened not that long ago, it’s pretty cool to be in a place where celebrities can come out with something as simple as a 30-second video clip of their living room decor.

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