T
H
E
TRIBE FANZINE
CONTENTS Pg 2. THE BIRTH OF THE SELF-SUFFICIONITES
Pg 4. GIRLS DONT LIKE BOYS
Pg 6. CLOTHING FOR THE EMOTIONALLY DISPOSSESSED
Pg 8. THE SPOILS OF WAR
Pg 10. SUPERFICIAL WOUNDS
Pg 12. THE BEAUTY OF ART
EDITOR’S LETTER
Page 1
THE BIRTH OF THE SELFSUFFICIONITE
A new sense of wartime austerity has befallen us. Although six decades distance our war with the one fought in the time of our grandparents, everything has changed, yet everything is absolutely the same. Sure, our trappings have evolved with time. We’ve adapted to the ‘new Millennium, the ‘baby-boomers’ are soon to be nursing home dwellers—as their parents before them, and we’re enduring a credit crunch that refuses to ease up. One thing that has definitely stayed the same and simultaneously transformed beyond recognition is the necessity for a classic fashion-uniform.
The chasm between Dior’s decadent ‘New Look’, and the minimalist offerings of today’s most prominent couturiers, is immeasurable. The continual need for an evolved uniform look that represents the social climate is what undoubtedly keeps the fashion industry moving. And yet for most, the appearance of modern contributions to this long line of unofficial fatigues, are borderline radical, if not visionary. However, these changes are aesthetically symptomatic of societies condition. And are reflective of the realisation that no battles can be won by one weighed down by swathes of knee-length, A-line fabric. That being said, no one heralded the appearance of the earth cultivating ‘self-sufficionites’ of today, better than Nicholas Ghesquiere. In 2006 while most of teen culture was stuck in an 80sinspired nu-rave reverie, the designer “was thinking of robotic articulation. Car parts. Droids. A boyish silhouette.” Which explains the futurist troupe of female warriors that stomped down the Balenciaga Spring/ Summer catwalk in 2007, and delivered a cold start of realization to those clever enough to heed the warning against over-indulgence. Complete with shin pads, gold, metal leggings and Perspex goggles, the triumphant march of these women was the kind of complex simplicity, one could never find in Primark and its overstocked cohorts. How so, you ask. After the onslaught of ‘cheap chic’, and the gorging on high-street finds, bargains and steals, it was hard for anyone to understand the significance of a starched, monolithic collar or a long, A-line, leather coat. Still being force fed a diet of Kate Moss ‘boho chic’, and American Apparel synthetics, we were hardly in the position to accept Ghesquiere’s vision, for what it represented, the biology of the modern woman. The meaning behind it translating to the tenacity of a galvanised army of women, ready and waiting for their generation’s revolution.
Page 2
Pull into focus the use of metallics to represent most if not all manner of scientific advancements, the abandonment of hard, shiny metals in Balenciaga’s Spring/Summer 2007 collection, can be compared to the more definitive collections of the 1960s. Proof positive, the inspired use of aluminium in Paco Rabanne’s, ‘12 Experimental Dresses’ collection in 1964. If that wasn’t society’s anticipation of imagined, new technologies manifesting itself in an ingeniously, crafted collection, what was? Due to society’s reluctance to award fashion with the importance it deserves, it sometimes proves hard to argue the social relevance of a mere collection of clothing being paraded down a catwalk. However, this season sees a procession of fashion houses ready to push the message, of more altruistic consumption during this time of war. From the tribe of models that walked the Dolce and Gabanna Autumn/Winter 2010 catwalk, in all manner ofblack jackets, to the current range of metal-plated Acne denim, the austerity of war is well and truly upon us, and our best option is adaptation. “We came up from water and now with the help of stem cell technology and cloning, we must go back to it to survive. Make no mistake, this is not sci-fi, this is evolution.” The recently deceased Alexander McQueen, explained the precipice of his seminal Spring/Summer 2010 collection, which visually explored and documented the themes of austerity and evolution. It presented an unspoken argument for a return to a simpler time, before we crippled ourselves with the mass consumption of our seemingly abundant resources. There’s no doubting it, in 2007 the Balenciaga Spring/Summer collection pre-empted the next step in our evolution, and the rebirth of nature as we know it.
Writer: Florie Mwanza Images: style.com
Page 3
undeniable, 2010 is so far shaping up to be GIRLS DONT LIKE BOYS It’s another year of females ruling the airwaves and music video channels. Unless you live in a cave in far, far away land, GIRLS LIKE GUNS you’ll be aware of the new rules they’re playing by. ... AND MONEY Unlike the plasticity of the girl power sentiments we saw in the 90s, these
girls mean business. Rather than blowing pink bubble gum and running around in popper tracksuits and platform trainers, they’re whipping up batches of poison, wearing shoulder-padded leotards and nonchalantly boasting about how they “pitch with grenades.”
Of course this is nothing new. The earlier allusion to the 80s fashion staple—shoulder pads—probably conjured images of Melanie Griffiths in Working Girl, and more aptly Madonna, during her Blonde Ambition phase. The current crop of music’s ‘It girls’, appear to be tearing pages right out of the queen-of-pop’s book of, commercial success via, stealth feminism.
Rihanna, Hard
It’s the “papa-don’t-preach” seeming disdain for patriarchy, combined with the “Justify-MyLove” sexual empowerment, that they’re duplicating and selling to us by the truckload. They attempt to emulate the ploy Madonna mastered, of allowing herself to be objectified for the sake of everyone’s desire, all the
while reaping the profits, of our endless obsession with her fame-whoring antics. It is simple. She was our object, and we were her loyal subjects where it counted most—at the cash registers.
There should be no surprises in who’s leading the charge. When Lady Gaga released the long-awaited video, Telephone, featuring Beyoncé, to say it was perplexing, would be an understatement. Despite the lyrics, telling the story of a person out in a club, on a night away from an over-possessive lover, the video strangely neglected this narrative. Opting instead, for a storyline based on the feature film Thelma and Louise. The video sees the two singers mastermind a jail-break, commit mass murder and run away together. With Lady Gaga killing her boyfriend in the prelude, Paparazzi, and Beyoncé poisoning her significant other in Telephone, there’s an undeniable push for the audience to drink in, this nine-minute long fest, of pseudo-saphic sisterhood. Amidst all the blatant product placements from Diet Coke to Virgin Mobile, we’re expected to believe in
Page 4
this vision of female solidarity in the face of male oppression. However, it is not just the blatancy of their corporate interests and shameless gay-for-the-stay antics that belie their feminist stance as “independent women”. Instead, It’s the visual formula that’s most puzzling. The progression one can take, from brandishing a weapon with intent, to writhing around in littleto-no clothing is brow-raising. Most evidently so in Rihanna’s recent video titled, Hard. Operating out of a desert camp, Rihanna goes from blasting off a machine gun alongside her squadron of hunky soldiers, to writhing on a pink, army tanker—poised for battle in black cut-offs, a Jeremy Scott-Mickey Mouse helmet and a belt of bullets to conceal her breasts. However false, her militancy is a welcome change from the norm, yet this aggressive stance is immediately mired by how quickly she gets her tits out for the lads. However, lets not pretend that, commodified feminism and female performers don’t enjoy a marriage made in capitalist heaven. In the past fifteen years alone, we’ve seen an array of performers situate themselves on the “which-feminist-are-you?” menu. From the compartmentalised branding of the Spice Girls, to Kesha’s skank-chic reinvention of the ‘ladette’ . I suppose, this manipulation is the price we pay for leaving our heads and hearts on the dancefloor. Who knows, perhaps this armed, scantily-clad, Lara Croft-vision of female empowerment is an unavoidable progression. After all, there have always been material girls on our screens, it just so happens that the current crop prefer guns and money over diamonds.
Writer: Florie Mwanza Stills: www.vevo.com
Lady Gaga feat. Beyoncé, Telephone
Page 5
CLOTHING FOR THE EMOTIONALLY DISPOSSESSED
For most of us, couture remains an unachievable dream, only attainable by those who can justify collecting it. Knowing this, Gabriella Gonzalez is the latest designer to try her hand, at outfitting the fortunate few. Describing the allure of her recently launched line of made-to-measure accessories as “keep sakes with all the qualities of luxury, without the guilt.” A recent graduate from Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, if you’re yet to hear of her, be prepared for the onslaught of leathery goodness courtesy of this young designer.
As dubious as the current state of people’s finances may be, the trepidation that should fill any un-established designer venturing into such a costly business is not the bother of Gabriella. She possesses the ability to elicit very human responses to very inanimate objects—namely her creations. And while it may be a little early in the day, to compare her to the revered, dexterity of Azzedine Alaia, the easy transcendence her pieces make from garment to shield-like, human contraptions, make her an easy contender for his throne. Despite her obvious talents, the Colombian-born designer is quick to tell me she only moved to London to pursue a career in couture after realising her innate talent was in-suppressible, “I tried a lot of things as a kid, maybe just not to be like my family, but with age I came to realize that, maybe the best thing for me was to be like my family, and so I allowed my passion to take hold, which was of course, design.” She hastens to clarify, “It must be in the blood because my grandmother was a seamstress and my father was a fashion designer.” Although the line tagged to all her adverts and press releases reads, “Clothing for the Emotionally Dispossessed”, the emotional restraint she claims moulds her work, doesn’t translate as much as does, the fierce wonderment of the wearer to the world around her. A need to explore and explode, rather than the suggested need to retain and implode. At the base, Gabriella’s current collection is a line of leather accessories including knee-pads, helmets and platforms, that have “a tough edge” which is “usually coupled with a softness.” And they simultaneously exist, as her imaginings of the paradox of the modern female. Caught in a Ga Ga-esque “Bad Romance”, this collection straddles the oft-missed fine line between fetish and fashion.
Page 6
Taking on different forms from one view to the next, the designs could either exist as Victoriana devices of constraint or the chic interpretation of a post –punk, post-feminism, glorification of fetish-for-fashion. “I don’t want to lure people into my brand by subliminally advertising it as something they need to consume because, it will help them play the part they want in society.” Although this is a fair point to be made, for the transparency of her creative process from realisation to conception. She must know that her creations attract a certain kind of woman. One whom, without labelling her, we’ll say does not fit in with the meek or the mild. The designer understands all to well what this implies and is insistent “I believe that unity of the people is more important, and to be a feminist further divides the sexes.” However you slice it, even from a passing glance, the collection Gabriella has created leaves an undeniably, strong impression that she’s envisioning the modern woman’s suit of armour. And perhaps forgetting her earlier protestations about the lucidity of her intentions, the Colombian is certain to assert, “I want my accessories to give an added sense of strength and protection to the wearer. To stand up tall and fearless and actually believe it.” This sentiment echoes much of what one might imagine a young activist to believe, albeit one who values personal politics over petty, group thought. This designer would rather, her creations be worn by “the kind of person who is not scared of testing social norms, vulnerable but fearless. A walking contradiction.” So it’s no surprise, that she pulled on the fearless, androgyny of “Joan of Arc” to design the collection, which she decides was made with the purpose of each piece being “empowering for everyone who chooses to wear it.” Despite her, putting some of my over-eager assumptions to bed, what is true of this collection is that it’s not for the mild or faint-hearted. If you’re the type of person who’d rather let the starving eat imaginary cake, than buy all the chocolate gateaux on offer at Iceland and personally deliver it to each person, this collection is definitely not for you!
Writer: Florie Mwanza Images: www.gabriellamarinagonzalez.blogspot.com
Page 7
Page 8
THE SPOILS OF WAR
Opposite Page Shorts, H&M. Boots, Doc Marten. Silver Crucifix, Stylist’s Own. This page Helmet, The Entertainer. Dress, River Island. Studded Boots, Office shoes. Hat, Stylist’s Own. Jacket, Stylist’s Own. Briefs, Topshop. Tights, H&M. Boots, Peacocks. Stylist and Photographer: Florie Subulwa-Mwanza Model: Sophia Young
Page 9
SUPERFICIAL For a few years now, there’s been an underground beauty revolution steadily taking over London, and it’s only just coming to light. The reWOUNDS
cently-unveiled, boutique nail salons, have slowly taken over from the rather unoriginal, high street standards, and their trusty offerings of ‘American style white tips’. With most avoiding the generic look of the aforementioned white, square-tip manicure, and its association with the Shauna Sands, and Pam Andersons of the world, people like Sophy Robson are gaining loyal followers, interested in the artistic skills they bring to the oft-ignored, intricate craft of manicuring. It’s fair to say, manicured nails have long been seen as the preserve of ladies who lunch. The women who can afford to piss about in the nail salon for an hour or two every couple of weeks. Or better still, the ones who have a leisurely enough existence so as to afford not to do anything taxing for an hour every day whilst their nails dry, because after all, the process of applicationfrom base coat to top coat is a timely one. Although this may prove true in some cases, Sophy Robson feels a good manicure is one of the small luxuries every woman can, and should enjoy. “Sometimes I see little old ladies with perfectly manicured nails, and it’s like everything else is falling apart but the nails are still looking good!” And though we assume the more mature lady probably has enough time, to maintain a good manicure, there’s a new crop of nail art enthusiasts. They are neither old, nor leisurely and seem to find equal pleasure in looking down at well manicured nails. Describing the beginnings of her own obsession with her cuticles, hip hop enthusiast Sophy explains, “I couldn’t do my hair as it was so thick and unruly so I just had that scraped back and then I didn’t really wear make up, so nails were my thing and I was really into hip hop, and nails were a big thing on the scene then!” So whilst some young women today may not have the time or desire to bury themselves under
Page 10
tonnes of caking make-up, a good manicure, whether home-done, or performed by a trained technician, can be just the thing to remedy any plain-Jane blues. “Personally speaking it was always that little detail that I could take care of myself, and it made me feel good, and I think this goes for a lot of girls too.” Boasting a portfolio that cements her as the unofficial go-to-girl for nails, Sophy’ s rumoured to be working on the as yet, unannounced, Tom Ford cosmetics range, due in 2011. Not to mention, her work can be seen on it-girls like Rihanna, in fashion tomes including Vogue and Tatler, and all over the Paris catwalks. With a few of the more recently opened nail bars, losing their glamorous veneers due to repetitive, brash designs, and bad customer service—no names mentioned of course! Sophy is well aware of the people vying for her crown, and is confident that her skills can withstand the competitive market, “I can’t help but notice that there are quite a few bandwagon jumpers around! For me nail art and fashion have always been a passion, so what I do is from the heart and that’s what sets me apart.” And it’s her natural ability to find inspiration, in the most unassuming places, that’s provided her with longevity and authority, in a field that’s often ignored. “Sometimes, I’ll see a piece of jewellery, or an accessory, or shoes on a fashion shoot. Or a shopping trip and it sets me off, I’m inspired.” Any followers of her blog will be aware of the pretty, and equally kitschy, Murakami flower design, Sophy sported at Paris Fashion Week earlier on in March. And to many, her love for “Pop art, photography and Japanese animation” are obvious influences on her designs. She explains, “I don’t go out looking for things, it’s just what I see everyday in my travels, I think of ideas randomly.” Case in point the custom nail art she created for the Vivienne Westwood Autumn/Winter 2010 collection. Taking her cue from Val Garland, who created the make-up looks for the show, Sophy, “was trying to think of something appropriate to go with it, as it was quite arty and theatrical. “ Continuing, “I tried out a few ideas along the lines of an abstract art idea, and then we decided to use a dark brown.” And hey presto, another of her light-bulb moments came upon her. She explains, “The blue bruise idea came to me in a sudden flash of inspiration!” While these may be superficial wounds, acquired through pampering rather, than grafting, we all know nothing proves you’re a hard-working warrior, more than a set of hands decorated by bruised nails. Whether vampy, girly or rather macabre, the ingenuity involved in creating art, and using the human nail as a canvas, is undeniable. And Sophy’ s innovative approach is sure to make nail art collectors of us all! Writer: Florie MWanza Images: http://www.sophyrobson.com
Page 11
THE BEAUTY OF ART Walk into any given exhibition of modern and historical art today, and you are almost guaranteed to happen across the same pink elephant in every room and warehouse, or beach and rooftop—in Antony Gormley’s case. The issue of the missing beauty in contemporary art, is the one question that dominates most discussions surrounding the offerings of modern artists. It is this awkward misunderstanding that’s prompted many a critic, to launch into a diatribe against poster kids like Damian Hirst and Jeff Koons. That modern art has somehow become a by-word, for trivial, unoriginality, has made a mockery of the art created by people who have something to say, and use only their art as a form of expression. Yet the relentless tarnish of works born from this interpretative school of art, has had adversative effects. Rather than limiting the remit of artists, the criticisms seem only to embolden them. Case in point, Californian artist Peter Gronquist. “My initial thought 10 years ago was,
Page 12
wouldn’t it be funny to make a Louis Vuitton shotgun? Sort of joking. The next day I took my sawed off 12 gauge and old Louis Vuitton doctor bag and voila, instant art!” By instant art, he refers to the collection of luxury weapons he made as “a statement about the rampant, over-use of designer labels to spruce up an otherwise mundane object.” The collected works called, “The Revolution Will Be Fabulous: A Weapons Of Mass Designer Show”, was the continuation of his bizarre combinations, from a Louis Vuitton electric chair to a gold-plated Dolce and Gabanna machine gun. Inspired by a period that is typified by society’s exhaustive obsession with inflated designer brands, one would not be wrong in imagining Gronquist’s monogrammed rifles and Pacman grenades as the kind of art Kim Kardashian might come across in a google search for ‘Gucci kitchen knives’. In many ways, his work is symptomatic of just how much our consumption of art has evolved. Despite pre-dating the war on terror, his glamorous weapons of mass destruction, are easily a satirical comment on our distance from the brutalities of a war that is far from over, if the recent surge of casualty numbers is anything to go by. Discussing his appreciation of the varying attitudes toward his art, Peter elaborates, “I mean, on our side we look at the work and debate the meaning, and laugh at the irony, and be all arty about it, but some people just want a gold plated Gucci machine gun because they like how it looks, and I think that it might be the truer emotion.” Unlike more historical forms of art favoured by the Brian Sewells of the world, the beauty in contemporary art lies in the objectivity it allows the viewer. Whether lacking aesthetic appeal, or suffering from a saccharine, overabundance of it, there’s no mistaking the open invitation this art has, to be, “interpreted by the individual viewer.” One of the reasons why a Johannes Vermeer painting will always be viewed in the highest esteem, can be accredited to the ingrained opinions of taste pundits and, art commentators over time. And whilst it’s debatable, the truth in most cases is that, when viewing historical pieces of art we are more carried with the artistry and technique, than the artist’s message and purpose. As Peter explains, the enjoyment should be about, “making someone think, and making someone feel with the same piece of art.” After all, where is the fun in looking, if the piece you’re staring at is more transparent than it is beautiful?
Writer: Florie Mwanza Images: www.petergronquist.com Image of artist: www.wired.com
Page 13