Trouser skirt

A skirt that is green. Or grey.

A skirt that feels like trousers.

A skirt the modern way.

Faux crocodile pencil skirt, Tibi

Fasfem reads : The Skirt Chronicles

A strong friendship between three young women in Paris. The love for literature, fashion, culture. The lust for qualitative pieces of information in print. A vintage magazine called Skirt that is about sensual photos of semi dressed women on filelds. That is all it took for Sara, Haydée and Sofia to create The Skirt Chronicles, a publication so unique and inclusive at the same time.

No.

It is not another fashion magazine.

It is a represenation of the feminine in modern times that does not exclude anyone. Please do go and read…….volume V is The Pants Issue. Contradictive enough?

Skirt. Or trousers. Feminine. Or masculine. Delicate. Or strong. Symbolism on our everyday essentials. But there should be no rules.

Oh, that piece of clothing. The skirt, you know. Which has been walking hand in hand with the feminine but for rare exceptions such as the Scottish kilt. Social codes have charged this garment with gender stereotypical use and prejudgment about the wearer’s personality.

That hasn’t always been the case. In ancient civilizations skirts were considered as a piece of clothing comfortable and appropriate enough to be worn by male and female equally. It is of important significance though to note the different attidute towards the hemline. For the female wearer skirt’s hemline has been considered a measure for modesty rather than aesthetics. The shorter the hemline the more controversial the outfit.

And trousers? Well that is a different story. In Western society it was somehow decided that trousers were masculine enough to not be acceptable for women. You see trousers have become the garment of comfort and power. Traits that a woman should have never dared to claim. The first woman who had decided to wear trousers in public - Luisa Capetillo in 1919 - was sent to jail. Virgin Atlantic female flight attendants were allowed to wear trousers earlier this year…

Men on the other hand who dare to put on a skirt? Who enjoy pastel hues or bold flowery prints? What about them? We all can recall memories of this eccentric classmate being bullied about his sartorial preferences…

But what is eccentric anyway? And who has the right to decide what is and what isn’t?

It is that antithesis between masculine and feminine imposed on trousers/skirt designs that makes it so interesting to want to wear…both. Because no matter what we were raised to believe, humans are complicated enough to have many sides. And those sides should be expressed far and beyond social stereotypes.

A person is made of particles that interact with each other and create his/ her /its unique identity. Fashion is a means of identity constraction; one can be vulnerable to or empowered by it. So please do yourself a favor and choose to wear whatever makes you feel being in your own skin. Allow your uniqueness to flourish. Our world needs it.

Pic from @lasyanebo.brand

Carcel

Carcel is the word for prison in Spanish. A word with such a nauseating meaning.

But Carcel is also the word for a former French unit for measuring the intensity of light. Suddenly it doesn’t feel so unpleasant, don’t you agree?

Words carry the meaning we choose to give them. It is after all a matter of perspective. I suppose this must be the case with Carcel, a socially sustainable fashion brand. Veronica D’ Souza and Louise Van Hauen have managed to infuse positivity in the word carcel by founding their brand in collaboration with places which our society prefers to keep away from: the prisons.

The two creative ladies were met while living in Nairobi. Van Hauen was a creative manager at a leather bag company and D’ Souza was the head of a social start-up that made and distributed menstrual cups. So a social entrepreneur and a designer joined forces in order to create Carcel. The Copenhagen based brand sells products of high quality material and timeless design. They make prototypes in Copenhagen and forward the design and a knitting recipe …to the prisons they collaborate with.

You see, their wonderfully designed products have a special origin. They are created by imprisoned female artisans located in Cusco at Peru and Chiang Mai at Thailand. Locations have been chosen as places where the best quality of materials intersects with the highest numbers of female incarcerations. That means baby alpaca wool for Cusco and silk for Chiang Mai.

Carcel sells only what is produced. The products are of high quality material and timeless design. The woman who makes the product sews or embroiders her name on to the label or, as with the silk pieces from Chiang Mai, on the exterior in Thai cursive that doubles as a decorative detail, as you can see below:

Here are the two Fasfem favorite styles from silk and baby albaca:

View fullsize

View fullsize

So one can argue here; is it collaboration or exploitation? Isn’t a succesful high quality brand having emloyed imprisoned women in poor countries an oxymoron on it’s own? By visiting the company’s Twitter account you will notice a confrotation taking place…

But let’s examine some facts before we jump into any conclusions. Workers are mostly convicted for non-violent crimes asserted with povetry. Female criminality seems to be enhanced by the inability to provide for one’s family. So these marginalized women, who turned into prostitution and drug traffiking as a result of poverty, are now given a chance to be productive and care for their families. The prison takes a 10 percent cut of their wages, which are benchmarked against the national minimum wage. The workers keep a portion for living expenses like food and soap, and Carcel pays the rest into their families’ bank accounts (source NYT). They spent few hours each day to work and enhance skills useful for when their sentence will be over. They feel empowered.

Fashion industry employs up to 75 million people. About 3/4 of garment workers are women. Most of them are established in poor countries, work exhaustively and are also paid poorly. A unique business model has emerged where people who can pay for expensive garments coexist with marginalized women who are imprisoned. And it is successful. You see, Peru has become something of a case study on the issue of aid versus exploitation.

To quote D’ Souza: Social entrepreneurship meets fashion here. That is promising for the future of the industry and gives space for exploration. More and more brands with social responsible core would pop up and expand.

I suppose I can live with that. Don’t you?

* Photography from Carcel.co - opening picture Hannah Strøbek portrayed by Sarah Stenfeldt for #carcelpeople

Wild thing...

…I think you move me! And I really know for sure.. I am going to wear you again and again. You have the perfect heel for endless strolling, the perfect color for endless styling, the perfect height for companioning my skirts or trousers.

Ohhh..

Wild thing

I think I love you!

Dedicated to Aylin.

Elise and the youth

The young ones.

The season of their returning back to school.

So much talent and vigor packed in batches and put into the classrooms destined to be bored…

I remember being there. In my early teens, doing my duty at school as a classical people-pleaser child - yet feeling bored and thirsty for something different. Something modern and ahead of its time. I sought after it in teenager magazines, books and movies. I was even dreaming of creating my own publication somehow. But it was quite an unattainable dream, being too young and too female to be taken seriously and all. You see there was no such thing as the web back then…

We live in the era where the democratization of expression is fact - all people can have their own platform, create and share their stuff. Even the young ones. The web has given them the opportunity to be part of the global sharing of information. And add their own perspective to the game…as Elise By Olsen did.

Elise is an editor, publisher and curator sharing her time between Oslo, Lisbon and London. She serves as an editor-in-chief at Wallet publication. Prior to Wallet she had founded Recens Paper, a youth culture magazine and prior to that, Archetype, a digital destination for young people as well. Before you start thinking that many people have similar accomplishments, let me give you another small but important detail: Elise was born in 1999!

Being based in cold weathered Oslo and an only child in her family, she had to spend too much time indoors by herself. Technology became her tool for communicating with her peers. ‘You know if I didn’t have internet friends, I wouldn’t know what to do’ she claims. So she started blogging about fashion and music and stuff at eight years old back in 2008. Her on growing following led her to found a blog network with a group of similarly entreprenial friends called Archetype, whose vision was to tie together young bloggers across fashion, art, music and photography.

But Elise was charmed by IRL instead of URL. And she went on and created Recens Paper, a platform made by youth for youth. In print. Funded from Kickstarter and her own savings at first. A place where gender stereotypes were undone and was advanced beyond advertising led content. Because already existing magazines were created by older people and dictated by other things aside from what’s real, to use her exact words.

She stayed at Recens Paper from 2013 until 2017. And then decided to step down from it as she became 17-years old and wanted to make way for a newer, younger editor. She insists that this is the only thing that will allow to a publication like this remain authentic and provide insight from the inside of the youth - she even created the following video to explain her approach. Please do watch and be amazed!

Creativity though didn’t abandon her - on the contrary! ‘I feel the need for strengthening the political dimension of fashion’ said on the launch of Wallet last year. Another publication, yes. Which was created from a desire to redeem fashion journalism and introduce critical thinking with a serious of descussions. Every issue examines a particular topic from a holistic point - the Issue #5 I just received from post office is about the marketplaces of fashion. I am impressed by this actual wallet sized magazine which seems to function as an essential object. You can easily carry it around, rip the ads if you would rather read without them, keep notes in the given note pages…practical and completely modern way of browsing a fashion magazine don’t you think?

As I have been unfolding all of Elise’s act to present them to you, couldn’t help but wonder…why has our culture been so distrustful around young creatives ? Especially female ones? Is it the patriarchy? The capitalist structure of our global economy that dreads slump? The fear that we, the older ones, would lose our privilege? Why do they have to curve their own paths so people would pay attention? We would all benefit from the simplicity of allowing the youth to just be and be respected. Why is it so hard to realise it?

But I am so glad that they find their way. Even if it is difficult at first. Eventually they thrive and the world can’t help but climb up to their level and listen. Here’s to Elise…and Greta…and Tavi…and…and…

*Photography Maria Pasenau via Dazed

Kardamili

What’s the sound of travelling? It seems easier somehow to think about smells, tastes, colours when recalling summer holidays…but what about the sounds?

Let me describe you the music that Kardamili brings back to my ears…A synthesis made of my daughter’s laughter while fastening her at the car seat to start the drive to Messinian Mani once again. Of lots of cicadas’ voices when arriving at our home away from home, Melitsina. And then warm welcomings and sounds of careful stepping into the stone path that leads to our room.

The first splash when diving at Ritsa beach crystal waters; the undrewater peace afterwards. The clinking of cutlery while eating at Elies restaurant delicious, homemade, perfect food. The sound of waves when walking by the shore to enjoy the sunset and of playground chains as I swing my Nike back and forth. The air breeze as wandering inside the Leigh Fermor house. Those walls create their own music full of stories and bird songs to eavesdrop.

And then there is the night sound. Soft jazz while enjoying a glass of excellent wine at Plastiras with chuckles and giggles on the background. Barking from dogs while strolling around Ag. Nikolaos fishermans’ village. My daughter’s laughter again when chasing them! The stillness after she is put to sleep and we get to enjoy another glass of wine on our porch listening to night birds and falling stars…yes they do make a magical sound, I swear they do!

Kardamili was my first vacation with my baby girl, our first trip as a family, a summerwater love song.

Have a wonderful and rejuvenating August!

Fasfem watches: Paris, Texas

Summer nights couldn’t be more perfect if accompanied by Ry Cooder’s guitar dressing up American landscapes …

Yes, I urge you to pour yourself a glass of chilled rosé - or fine burbon over ice - and watch Wim Wenders’ Paris, Texas again. Close your eyes and smell the desert, sense the warmth of Jane’s mohair, feel the sweet melancholy of not completely lost causes…