Who is FKA Twigs? - singer in banned Calvin Klein advert

A Calvin Klein poster featuring FKA twigs has been banned in the UK following complaints the image was "overly sexualised". The poster showed FKA twigs - real name Tahliah Debrett Barnet - partially undressed.

Responding to complaints made by the public, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said the ad was "likely to cause serious offence" by objectifying women. Twigs is passionate advocate for women's rights and previously fronted a global campaign which aimed to stop and prevent domestic and sexual violence.

But who is the Grammy-award winning singer and why is she called FKA Twigs?

Who is FKA Twigs?

Tahliah Debrett Barnet, known professionally as FKA Twigs, is a 35-year-old singer-songwriter and dancer born in Cheltenham to an English/Spanish mother and a Jamaican father. According to Gloucestershire Echo, she attended a private co-educational Catholic school in Cheltenham where she took a keen interest in opera and ballet and frequently appeared in school productions.

At 17, Twigs enrolled at the prestigious BRIT School to pursue dance but later transferred to Croydon College. Starting her career as a backup dancer, Twigs worked with artists such as Kylie Minogue and Jessie J - notably appearing in the music video for the latter's hit, Price Tag, released in 2011.

In 2012, Twigs started to focus on a career in music and released her first project titled EP1. The project offered a unique take on RnB with elements of electronic interweaved throughout.

Less than a year later, Twigs' second project, EP2 was released via the Young Turks label and featured guest production from revolutionary Venezuelan musician, Arca. Following this, Twigs released her debut studio album, LP1 on August 6, 2014, to critical acclaim. The project featured lead singles Two Weeks and Pendulum, and Twigs was subsquently nominated for the 2014 Mercury Prize. In 2015, Twigs released her third EP, M3LL155X.

After taking a four year break from her solo material, Twigs returned to release her sophomore LP, Magdalene in November 2019. The album was co-produced by Nicolas Jaar and features a guest appearance from US rapper, Future.

In January 2022, Twigs released another full-length project - which she described as a mixtape - titled Caprisongs. The feature-heavy record included appearances from a range of artists including Central Cee, Daniel Caesar, Jorja Smith, and more.

In a series of Instagram stories, uploaded on October 15, 2023, Twigs told fans 85 of her demos had been leaked in a hack. “Well done” she said, “no new music for a while now. Bye. <3”.

Why is she called FKA Twigs?

In an interview with Pitchfork, Twigs said her name is a long-running nickname that refers to the way her bones crack. The first half of her stage name was originally going to be 'AFK' but the singer switched round the letters after she was informed it was an acronym for 'Away From Keyboard', according to Dazed.