Gender studies
As someone who considers fashion through feminism couldn’t help but be enthousiastic with this. ‘Gender Studies’ SS 2018 collection by THEBE MAGUGU.
The name takes me back to the days I spent reading and researching. Feminism, gender, politics were all examined as elements of a woman’s considerations when putting together an outfit. You see I have this crazy idea that we are part of the material world which we choose to live in and therefore our actions are intertwined with it. One is not born a woman, one becomes one, asserts Simone de Beauvoir. And acts as one ,Judith Butler argues. So becoming means contructing an identity - doesn’t clothing participate in that? And what about becoming an empowered woman? Could clothes enhance something like that?
All the above just magically arose as the form of textiles and patterns and colours when I laid eyes on the collection. Identity politics and autonomy infused in design. Contradictory elements give us a clean feel of an evolving woman nature where sisterhood becomes key to prosperity.
The opening picture above is part of the Figures of Fortitude 2018 series by Aart Verrips. The faux ostrich coat - part of the SS 2018 collection - entered the permanent collection of the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York after being part of the 2018 exhibition ‘Pink : the history of a Punk, Pretty, Powerful colour’.
Would you care for a glimse at the ‘Gender Studies’ runway? Masculine and feminine, red and white, half cut overcoats, darkened sunglasses, they all celebrate the woman who goes against all odds as you can see in the pistures below.
The final look of the collection - fourth picture in the row - included a printed top with words from Oscar Wilde’s The Ballad of Reading Gaol. Wild wrote that while being imprisoned for his homosexuality…
I should point out here that 26 year old Thebe Magugu is considered to be one of the most promising talents emerging in South Africa. A true multitasker - characteristic of his generation - whose last venture is the launch of Faculty Press. An anual zine with the significant role of presenting the face of contremporary South Africa, a who is who of youth culture that explores gender identity, feminism and LGBTQ+ rights.
I absolutely adore what Thebe Magugu does. He is the kind of designer who truly admires the feminine in all its power. From his point of view women possess both strength and vulnerability while beauty operates on a very subjective spectrum. There is no right or wrong side. Just an obvious rebellion against the discrimimation women still face. In his own words :
More chillingly, you would have to be existing in complete isolation to not see that there is currently what is obviously a war on women. If they are not being murdered in cold blood, they are being completely marginalized and essentially erased. Women who assert any sense of self-government are always seen as a threat to be stifled, stemming from the damaging fear of the feminine– that’s why they can be discredited as problematic or discarded in a field. […] Women really need one another right now.
Seven free
I don’t like getting manicures. There I said it out loud…! I hate waiting at the salon, all those smells and unavoidable smalltalk. And don’t even get me started on the gel manicure procedure and all the toxicity that comes with it…
But I do appreciate the way my hands look after it. Since I am an avid cuticle destroyer, my nails look really transformed when pampered and painted. So what do I do? I try my manicures at home, by myself and with carefully chosen products.
Like this perfect sade of brown by J. Hannah. I came across it during my visit at Nanushka flagship store when in Budapest. Loved the intense coloured liquid as mush as the rectangular shaped bottle. And all this came with a seven free formula…which means without the following, known for their harmful effects :
Dibutyl phthalate (DBP)
Formaldehyde
Toluene
Formaldehyde resin
Camphor
Xylene
Parabens
I was sold. And the bottle was sold to me as well! As I knew nothing about the brand, I sat down at the store café to google it while enjoying an espresso. I was surprised to see that J. Hannah is actually a jewelery brand and a very popular one in LA. They have created a small yet delicious collection of nail polishes with colours inspired by art and nature. One of their collaborations was with the artist Alyson Fox who dived her brushes into the nail polishes to create works of art - such an inspiring approach to communicate the launch of a new nail polish colour, don’t you agree?
While taking my last sip of coffee I browsed this at the brand’s site…it was like a puzzle game completed. I smiled and took off to enjoy the city.
Scarlet red
You want this out of your swimsuit. To make you want to conquer the world. Or just a small piece of beach land that you plan to call home for the day.
For me this mission can be accomplished by wearing The Red. I know it when I see it. As bold as I allow it to be. By the beach or by the pool. With a straw hat or tiny black accessories. Twisting around my sun kissed skin and allowing my body to make its comment out in the world. And I feel stronger just like that….
This red scarlet beauty of a swimsuit-one or two pieced-is by Botanica Workshop. The brand is known for their sensational underwear - a woman could finally live and breathe in their silky bralletes and briefs. But it was the swimsuit collection that gave me such a vision of perfect summer days…
As you can see for yourself here, the Botanica Workshop world is made up of organic cotton and dreams. Nature inspired colours and functional design draw a sensual image of femininity, spectacular in its simplicity. The swimsuits, made up from recycled nylon, flirt with minimalism and boldness at the same time.
Getting ready for the beach can’t help but wonder; is there a better approach than allowing the female body to simply BE in all its greatness?
Hesperios
Yellow is the colour that makes me think of blooms. Of fresh air and sunny afternoons. Of spring.
When I first laid my eyes on the picture above all those things came to mind simultaneously. Autumn Hruby, despite her the-leaves-are-falling-mood name, has managed to put everything about spring in her latest collection.
Hesperios is the brand I wish to have created, if I ever was supposed to do so. Ribbed alpaca-fleece knits are paired with a biannual art, literature and travel publication and are stored in a bathed in light boutique store at SoHo, NY. My sense of absolute perfection…
I bacame even more addicted while scrolling down the brand’s site at the ethos section. The company works with a family-owned factory in Lima, Peru and have an ongoing, close relationship with them, as one can coclude by watching their insta stories. They are commited to eliminate plastic in the near future. And, as I went on clicking on their lookbooks section, a marvelous world was unveiled to me.
Aetherial creatures walking down the earth wrapped in precious fabric. Texture and colouring and design all in harmony with real female figures who wander around nature. As if I can feel the breeze that plays with the garments somehow.
I suppose a visit at the wonderfully curated Hesperios Shop would complete the experience described above. What a joyous afternoon would be to enter this shop to purchase a good stack of turtlenecks and the absolute skirt to live in this summer. Then enjoy a cup of tea with fresh made bread and cheese served in custom made ceramics while browsing your own copy of the Hesperios journal. Time would be then well spent.
That is what the future of fashion brands could look like. Brands that offer complete experiences with cultural and materialistic dimensions at the same time. That have core values and work hard to maintain them. I guess there is hope after all.
Cindy and the Lens
Do you enjoy posing for a photo? I do not. I remember dreading the ‘SAY CHEESE’ moments of family pictures, I could never seem to pull my self together and relax in front of a camera. But we are living in the era of self image making, so even people like me are getting used to striking a pose. To pretend they are in control of their situation and smile.
This attitude of performing in front of the camera was made an art by Cindy Sherman long before the selfie culture took over our lives. Being the last and far younger member of a big family she used dressing up as a way to draw attention. I guess she couldn’t have imagined back then how this tricky behavior would take over the rest of her life.
Of course she understood her arty nature and began her journey with paintbrush in her hands. But soon she found that world to be male - dominated and decided to carve out her own niche by taking photography classes. She decided to study art at SUNY Buffalo State, where she failed her introductory course in photography - another fail of our educational system to identify one’s capabilities. But she became interested in how Eleanor Antin, Adrian Piper and others were using role-playing in their work and fell in with a group of artists, including Robert Longo, who became her boyfriend. She and Longo moved to New York in 1977.
Sherman found the city terrifying as being shy and an introvert. So she stayed in and played dress up. And took pictures of her disguised self. That endeavour would somehow lead to her famous Film Stills series, ‘a hybrid of photography and performance art that reveals femininity to be effect of representation’ as described by Douglas Crimp who gave her the first coverage. Since then her art has influensed self-made imagery everywhere and has won every record an artist could desire.
She stars in all her photographs. She has raised critical questions on what it means to be female. She works solo in her studio and acts as director, make up artist, stylist and model. She denies every narcissistic hint in her work, as every sartorial choice projects a complete identity far apart from hers. Those pictures expose the societally constructed nature of preconceived female roles.
What really interests me in her work is the fact that her camera has always been lying, exposing performativity. Just like the thousands of Instagram posts in numerous so called ‘influential’ accounts - though these pretend to be true ... So I became curious to find out about her stance around street style photography and Instagram.
‘It’s business but there’s something dead about the whole thing’ she claimed while coming across with some accounts. She felt physically repulsed by them. And Project twirl was born. In it she posed as modern-day street style star in collaboration with Harper’s Bazaar. You can see her using high fashion creations with irony and wit by constracting caricature peackoking creatures when wearing them. The Gucci green suit in the picture above ? She found it so outhere that she might have actually wear it….!
And what about Instagram? Take a look at some of her latest pictures on her personal account :
Mock self portraits of ordinary people but cartoonishly caricatured - overmanipulated by apps. You know, the ones we all use to retouch our pics…a laugh at our society being obsessed with what we were programmed to consider as perfect.
Cindy is now 64 and lives in Soho. Her latest cover page is on The Gentlewoman. She considers to turn to film. I am filled with anticipation…
*photography from nytimes and harpersbazaar
