In conversation with Alma, Xuehka, Krakรณw Loves Adana, Eugenio Andrade Schulz, Mattiel and many more ...
model / Logan Stevens
www.effenberger-couture.com 2
model / Logan Stevens
www.effenberger-couture.com 3
Meet The Team in Quarantine @marcel_schlutt
@nicolas_simoneau
@nicphilf
Solitude: The Devil’s Worst Weapon I’m sure you hear it all the time that humans are social animals. We need to spend time together to be happy. In a world gone wild, those who prefer solitude are seen as eccentric at best and defective at worst, and are often presumed to be suffering from social anxiety, boredom, and become alienated by others. Loneliness is a negative state of mind, marked by a sense of isolation. At the moment the whole world lives in isolation and we all have to struggle with this condition. With this new issue we want to give you a moment of joy. To forget about being alone for a while. #staysafe Your KALTBLUT Team
@nicosutorfashion
@slaterkarl
Editor-in-Chief Fashion Editor
Marcel Schlutt
Art Director Art Editor
Nicolas Simoneau
Music Editor
Nicola Phillips
Fashion Editors
Nico Sutor
mschlutt@kaltblut-magazine.com
nsimoneau@kaltblut-magazine.com
nphillips@kaltblut-magazine.com
nsutor@kaltblut-magazine.com
Karl Slater
kslater@kaltblut-magazine.com
Contributors
Sebastian Pielles, Lewis Robert Cameron, Anna Barr, Amanda M. Jansson, Aysha Hussain, Marcus Knupp, Alex Howard Proofreading by Amy Heaton and Nicola Phillips
On The Cover Photography Victor Supertramp Photography assistant Jennifer de los Mozos and Héctor Ges Stylist Xènia Gabarri Stylist Assistant Erika Acosta Makeup Anna González Hair Ruben Mongés s Set Design Anna Gustems Models Adrià, Marc and Beza From Blare Management
Always yours > p.56
Beret by Ainara Antxia Pants by Eñaut Blazer by Scotch & Soda Blazer by Llamazares y de Delgado
All Copyright at KALTBLUT
www.kaltblut-magazine.com
@kaltblut_magazine
KALTBLUT MAGAZINE IS PUBLISHED BY MARCEL SCHLUTT AND NICOLAS SIMONEAU All of KALTBLUT´s contributors are responsible and retain the reproduction rights of their own words and images. Reproductions of any kind are prohibited without the permission of the magazine, editor and each contributor. 4
Alma > p.6
New Age: Generation Africa > p.36
HOMO > p.16
Eugenio Andrade Schulz > p.44
Mattiel > p.52
Xuehka > p.102
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King Of Her Castle: An
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Interview With ALMA Interview by Nicola Phillips @nicphilf All photos by Sebastian Pielles @piellesshots
Finnish pop-punk supremo ALMA is at the top of her game. In just 3 years the highlighter-haired polymath has topped global charts with her incredible scream along hooks and irresistible melodies. “Chasing Highs” and “Karma” in particular reached platinum status with “Dye My Hair” going gold, she has written for the likes of Ariana Grande, Miley Cyrus, Lana Del Ray, Charli XCX, Tove Lo to name a few, and has garnered fans the world over from Elton John to Dua Lipa who she worked with last summer in LA. Live, she has toured extensively bringing punk and pop together in a not to be missed show that assaults all the senses. A unique and talented writer ALMA is leading the charge on a new wave of female powerhouses that have something to say through their music. Engaged, forward thinking and opinionated she addresses issues from women’s rights to body positivity to sexuality to depression, drug use and anxiety head on. Now on the cusp of releasing her highly anticipated debut album Have U Seen Her?, we had the chance to speak to the Finnish powerhouse about self-worth, twin connections, fame and keeping level headed throughout it all. So you’ve literally just finished your huge tour supporting Christina Aguilera in the UK. How are you feeling? Uh, tired. [laughs] I’m good. That was an amazing experience and she was so nice and she invited me herself to the tour and I was very honoured that she wanted me like, what the hell? She’s a legend. I met her and she explained to me that she saw me at a festival where we played together. I played first and she played after and um, yeah, she just kinda loved my set and fell in love with my style and that’s how, and she was like, I want to have you on the tour and, and yeah. Then she got me and of course she did, she’s Christina. 7
“Sometimes you just have to remember to take the time for the real ones.” And did you get the chance to introduce any new songs during the shows? Yes definitely. I played a lot of new tracks because I wanted to showcase my new album that’s coming out soon. So yeah, it was very fun. I love to play the new tracks. You already worked with Dua Lipa last summer. Are you still between LA and Finland and are you guys still in touch? We’re still in touch. Like, you know, she’s a friend. Every time when I meet her, it’s just like a little party, always. But yeah, I do go to LA all the time. I think Dua’s traveling around the world. I don’t think she lives in LA, but obviously every artist hangs out there a lot. She’s the best and she’s been supporting my career and I think she’s amazing. Do you find that your hometown and LA have any similarities or are they totally different? How do both shape your music? Where do you find it easiest to create new songs? They are opposites. Like Finland is dark and cold and LA is bright and fun and sunny and amazing. I feel like every time I go to LA it’s not a real world. Like that’s where I pause my world. That’s where I live. Like my fantasy world where I see celebrities and eat good food and party and 8
just, you know, live a celebrity life. Then when I go back home I’m like, I’m hanging out with my friends, going into local bars and so obviously it affects the music. When I’m in LA I write songs that are a bit more poppy. And more like dreams and you know, positive stuff. But then I went back home, I’m like, God, like shit, fuck the shit. No, but like for real, I go back to the old memories and you know, there are my friends, my love, my like everything. So then there comes the real stuff. I love your power anthem “Bad News Baby”! Can you tell us about the song and the video? The song I wrote in LA and that was a time when I went to LA and I felt like I’m not good enough and I’m not, you know, all the pressure hit me and I tend to write like powerful songs in LA ‘cause I just need to write them for myself. Like “I can do this”. So that’s another song when I’m just like, “I can do this. I’m the bad news.” But I’d be like, I’m gonna, you know, “nobody can fuck with me” basically. So it’s all for myself, like it’s a song when I feel like I’m not good enough or I’m like, I feel like, you know, just bad about life. I play that song. The music video I shot with my favourite Finnish producer and we directed together and I just wanted to have a lot of powerful women. I know most of the people that were in the video and you know, I wanted to showcase different kinds of women and just, you know, a lot of power. Powerful. It was a powerful day. I was like, fuck yeah. Yeah that’s important. Keep your sisters with you. How about the song “When I Die” – pretty intense topic. What prompted you to write that? Yeah, I also wrote it also for myself ‘cause my biggest fear is to die and then I was like, you know what? I’m just going to write a song about when I die and it’s not going to be, you know, people crying and it’s going to be positive and, yeah, it was just like I’ve put my fears upside down and I was like, when I die, I hope everybody got two drinks in their hands. I hope, you know, people were just having a good time. ‘Cause it’s like if I died,
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then I thought like, I don’t want to be scared about dying because that’s really my fear. Like, my biggest fear would be like when I wake up and everybody else is dead and I’m left alone or something like this. So yeah. I wanted to make it positive ‘cause you know, it can happen.
own struggles in life. And everybody especially at this time is living a hard life. And I’m 23 this is probably the worst time. ‘Cause everybody’s figuring out what they want to do. So I’m not complaining, but it’s hard. It’s not always a dream.
And your upcoming album “Have U Seen Her?”, are you referring to yourself in the title? Yes! So basically, me and my sister, my twin sister, we used to see these dreams when we disappeared and we were running away to like big cities and we both saw the same kind of dream. And the only thing I could remember is that in the dream I heard like “have you seen them, or where are they, where are they?” And stuff like that. And I think that I was like, “Oh someday I just want to go when I’m old I want to go to like New York or to like LA and just be successful” ‘cause I feel like nobody else in my family is successful. Everybody else is just like trying to figure out their life. And then when I forgot about that dream and then grew up and I got this success and everything and then suddenly all the papers are like, “Have you seen her? Have you seen ALMA?” I was like, maybe this is the dream finally, the dream that I kept on having like, and then I knew I was like that should be the title of the album.
Will we be hearing more Charli XCX and Tove Lo? Or will there be completely new collaborations? You know, we’re friends and we’re gonna collaborate forever. So definitely, yes.
“Believe in yourself. Work hard, but know that nothing happens in a day.”
Is it really like a dream though, or is there a darkside to your new fame? There’s a lot of amazing things about my career. Like I am so honored and I’m so lucky to do what I do. Like so many people want to do the same things that I did, but I’m not gonna lie that it’s, it’s not an easy world. It’s not a dream. No, it can be a nightmare, but still, everybody has their
How was it working with Miley Cyrus? You know, it was amazing. She’s amazing. Obviously I’ve been a fan and I’m still a fan. And what the hell? Obviously I’m always a fan. It was an honour and she’s been helping me so much, she’s always given good advice. We met at a party and then the next day I went to the studio and recorded in it for like two weeks in a row. And then we just wrote a lot of stuff and actually for myself, so there might be a song coming up that is co-written by Miley for me too.
Nice! From when you first started making music to now, how do you feel you’ve grown as an artist? Or even just as a person overall? When I first released like “Chasing Highs” and all of those songs, I felt like I didn’t know who I was. I still don’t know who I am and I’m still a fucking baby, but I’m a bit more grown, a bit stronger, a bit you know, faster, better [laughs]. But like now, I feel like people expected me to put an album out already two years ago, but I didn’t want to do it ‘cause I was like, I have to figure out my way. I’m like, I just don’t want to keep on leading my career to some path that I’m not sure about. But at this moment I feel like I’m ready and I feel like definitely these new tracks, they’re leading the way. It’s not probably THE way yet, but it’s still 11
the right direction. I think I’m always just gonna keep on changing, you know, getting better ‘cause I’m still very young and very much just learning life and getting more experienced. Who has been some of the most inspirational people that you’ve met along the way? My mum and my sister, my friends. I still get most of my energy and most of my friends helped me to write my music ‘cause I need that sometimes when I’m working so hard, I’m like, I don’t know what I should say. And then I just go out with my friends and you know, talk about my troubles, anxieties and drama in my life and I’m like, okay, now I’m ready to go back. But when it comes to making music, Mark Ronson is my idol. And I’ve met him a couple of times and he’s been amazing. Andrew Wyatt, a producer, Charli XCX, Justin Tranter, amazing songwriter. What is the best advice you’ve ever received? One I got from Charli XCX when I was having my first like “hits” moment in my life. She was like, “Okay, right now I can see that in your life, there’s a lot of people coming in and you’re doing great and enjoy it. But try to remember who your real friends are and they’re the ones who are going to stay.” Like some day these other people are not going to be here. Like even if your career would be 25 years or you would be Madonna, I don’t care. Or you would fucking fail and nothing would happen next year. They would leave at some point, but your real friends are the ones that are going to be there forever. And that is very basic stuff, of course. But when you’re having a very successful moment in your life and so many things happen so fast, you don’t forget it, but you just don’t have even time to think about stuff like that. So it was very important and I was like, I think after that party, (‘cause it was at a party, obviously) I called everybody
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who was really important to me. Sometimes you just have to remember to take the time for the real ones. And what advice would you give a young artist who was scared to put themselves out there? Believe in yourself. Work hard, but know that nothing happens in a day. Nothing happens in a year. Nothing happens in five years. You know, you have to, uh, you have to keep on just like waking up every day and, and trying to figure out what makes you happy and go that way. So what makes you happy? Then you know that you are doing something right. If you work hard for two years and nothing goes your way and you don’t even like what you’re doing just fucking stop, do something else and that makes you happy. Also take breaks ‘cause you need time to recover. When did you have that “oh my god I’ve actually made it” moment? Never [laughs] I’m so hard to myself. I think I never would be saying I made it, but there was a moment when I celebrated one of my achievements. That was when the Charlie’s Angels song came out and I was part of that songwriting team. That was a big moment for me cause, you know, Ariana Grande, Miley, Lana Del Rey they’re like probably from every category they’re like the best ones that I would want to work with. And it was like, yeah, that’s what I felt. I felt like I was proud of myself and I admit. It’s hard to admit that I’m proud of myself, but at that moment I was. Who would you love to collaborate with next? A lot of people. I would love to work with SIA. I would love to work with Lady Gaga any fucking day. Think that would be the dream. What’s the one thing that you can’t do without? Um, coffee and my friends, my friends very, very much. What are your top 3 moments recently? Releasing the first part of the album then getting to work on the Charlie’s Angels song, and that was an amazing moment. And then, yeah, I have to say touring with Christina, ‘cause that was amazing. What was the last song that you listened to? Last song I listened to. Oh, it was Raye and David Guetta. I don’t like EDM usually, but that song is somehow fucking amazing. But otherwise I’ve been listening to the old My Chemical Romance albums.
ALMA’s Have U Seen Her? album is due to land on 15 May, 2020 via RCA Records/Sony Music. Instagram @cyberalm
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KALTBLUT meets the
HOMO boys Interview by Lewis Robert Cameron @lrcfashionstylist
So last year I asked our KALTBLUT readers the question ‘What do you get when you mix Mean Girls, Paris Hilton, Pokemon and Sailor Moon with a couple of beefy hot dudes?’ The answers was new Queer label on the block HOMO, a cute and defiant T-shirt brand created and founded by two handsome HOMO’s named Karl and Orestes. Fast forward to 2020 (also known as the apocalypse), I catch up with the HOMOtastic duo to talk T-shirts, couple goals, celebrity thruples and being a diverse multicultural brand with a Queer as fuck endgame. It’s been almost a year since I interviewed you guys, tell me what you’ve been up to since then? Karl: Omg it’s been a year already?! We’ve been really busy! We’ve reached a 700 sales milestone on our online store *yay*, extended our colour bases to pink and black with new vinyl prints, designed two new collections one for Autumn/ Winter and a brand new super fun Daddy collection, AND we have a few new artist collaborations coming up! Orestes: Also, this is a KALTBLUT exclusive! We have a very cool collection dropping soon. It’s called Drag Mouth. It’s a sassy collection of statement tees capturing the energy and drama of Drag Race. Wow, that is busy. I’m sweating rainbows just thinking about it. Now for those who may not be familiar, describe HOMO in a few words. Orestes: Playful, Zero Fucks, Inclusive, Queer Culture. You created HOMO together and we didn’t touch on it in great detail last time, but you guys are basically a virtual power couple! How does it feel to be the gay t-shirt version of Brangelina? đ&#x;?ť đ&#x;?ź đ&#x;?˝ đ&#x;?ž đ&#x;?ż Karl: We would like to thank the academy for this award‌ no fuck that! We don’t really see ourselves that way. People often associate big social following that acquaints to fame but we don’t feel any different to when we started. Orestes: We just wanted to put something out there that we love and believe in, T-Shirts that people will wear and enjoy, unique. Something you don’t find in chain stores.
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What would your power couple name be? Personally I think it should be K.O. As in KnockOut (Karl&Orestes). đ&#x;?˝ Karl: LOOOOL omg we totally thought about it years ago and it is K.O actually because we thought it had a nice ring to it *ding ding* pun intended.
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If you could become a power thruple with one famous male who would you pick? Why? Orestes: If we’re talking style, then Cody Fern. If we’re talking purely on looks, then Arnie in his Mr. Olympia days. Woof. I need a moment. What is it like working side by side as you both come from different backgrounds in terms of your experiences, aesthetics and tastes? Orestes: We always say that we’re two parts of the same brain coming together to create what we do. Karl has a more underground aesthetic that brings geek, gaming and anime references. Karl: Orestes is more of a luxury polished aesthetic that brings music, TV and Film and 80’s - 90’s cartoons to the table. We’re both OBSESSED with bubblegum K-POP groups! How do you solve creative disagreements? Spill the tea! Who’s shadier? Karl: At first it was hard to put our egos aside and trust each other, we’re both experts in our own fields and are used to managing and educating people on a daily basis to reach and match our vision and quality standards. We had to learn to listen and trust each other which took a hot minute! I mean we’re two Leos what do you expect?!
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What do you love/enjoy about working together? Orestes: Being lucky enough to find a guy to share your life with is one thing, but to find a man to build an empire with is an amazing feeling. The most exciting part is that this could be our legacy. OK stop, I will legit cry. You talked about HOMO having a zero fucks attitude and being a very relatable brand, how do you think you have achieved this? 17
“We embrace all cultures & ethnicities and genders in our everyday life so that comes out in our label.� 18
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Orestes: HOMO is relatable because we created something that we felt was missing to give it to people like us. We embrace all cultures and ethnicities and genders in our everyday life so that comes out in our label. Karl: Our house is multicultural, we are a mixture of Maltese-British and Greek-Cypriot We’ve always been the outcasts, never really fitted in with society or social groups and that’s why people resonate with HOMO because they have finally found their tribe, a place were they can express themselves without judgement and look cute doing it! What’s your favourite design from the new collection? Karl: We’re are really excited about the new artist collaborations! We’re obsessed with the designs, we definitely think that they fit in
with our brand but and the same time add new flavour. We believe that there is a design in the mini collections for everyone. Orestes: Also the Drag Mouth collection. OMG! The Work and Slay tees written in text as if it was written on the werk room mirror with lipstick by one of the Queens. Sounds super cute AF! Can you spill any details about any other upcoming collections? Karl: We’re developing the idea of offering our customers a range of accessories to be paired with our range and add that extra flare to their wardrobe. Orestes: We’re also expanding our colour palette and possibly some new silhouettes. So a full HOMO lewk. Speaking of lewks, if your house was on fire and you could save only 21
one item of clothing from your wardrobe right now, what would it be and why this particular item? Don’t worry no HOMOs were harmed in this theoretical scenario. Karl: My House of Holland x UMBRO long sleeve tee because I like nothing more than a high-end/streetwear collab. The contrast of high-end and street is very inspiring to me. Orestes: My Versace Gold Ring - It’s the perfect accessory but mostly because it’s an anniversary gift from Karl.
Last album you streamed? Orestes: Dua Lipa - Future Nostalgia
Seriously, stop trying to make me cry already! What was the last meme you looked at? Karl: Regina George saying ‘Sanitise your Fucking Hands’. Orestes: Carrie Bradshaw writing on her computer and contemplating ‘As I went out of my house without gloves and a facemask I couldn’t help but think to myself. Am I socially barebacking?’
Good advice. Words to live by. Bonus question, and this is thanks to my next door neighbour’s little girl who always asks these kind of questions, what would you rather be, a unicorn or a giant iridescent butterfly? Orestes: Duh?! A unicorn! Karl: Plus, you can use the horn as a dildo!
LOL. I will be Googling those immediately. If you had an unlimited budget a la Chanel, Balmain etc what would a HOMO runway show look like? No expense spared. Karl: We’d have a big ass set like Chanel, models from Marco Marco, the creativity of KTZ, the opulence of Versace the swagger of Adidas and the playfulness of Moschino. So that needs to happen. Who would be on the Front row? Orestes: Paris Hilton, Cody Fern, Usagi aka Sailor Moon, Lion-O, Trinity the Tuck, Alaska, Billy Porter, Kim Petras, Dua Lipa, Lizzo, Dorian Electra, Rihanna, Jigglypuff. OMG Jigglypuff. I know her. What would Anna Wintour say about the show and what HOMO Tee would she wear? BOTH: She’s not invited. THE SHADE. What music would play at the show? Top 3 tracks, go. Or if you could have one person perform live for the show, who would it be? Karl: WJSN - Save me, Save You Lovelyz - Joyland Kim Petras- I don’t want it at all Orestes: Jodie Harsh would do a mean DJ set #icon . I can’t DJ myself cause I’d be backstage. If you could dress one band in all the world in HOMO tees who would it be and why? Karl: 80’s Wham! They tick our all HOMO boxes.
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Last thing you watched on Netflix? Karl: Tiger King… #overrated Finally, what advice would you give to other couples who work together? Orestes: Don’t do it! Karl: On a more serious note- If your relationship is not 100% solid there’s a chance that it might break you apart.
I wish I’d never asked. :P.
Instagram @homo_london Shop etsy.com/uk/shop/ HomolondonStore Meet the Designers Instagram @theotherkarl Instagram @mro_presents Photography by Remi McQuen @remithephotographer
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CRYONICS2020
Photographer & Concept Creator Fouad Tadros @fouad_ Visual Director Nour Mady @nourmady Assistant Photographer Raja Nehme @rajanehme Make-Up Artist Sharbel Hasbany @sharbelhasbany Fashion Stylist Jeff Aoun @jeff.aoun Hair Stylist Ivan Kuz @ivan_kuz Models Vladislavka from Velvet Management @vladislavka_15 @velvetmanagement & Alex Al Ahmar @alexalahmar @dalaeido @depotventebeirut 24
Gloves - MANOKHI Top - DALAEIDO “Recycled Silk” Summoning Summer19 Corset - Hand-Made by Depot-Vente Beirut Skirt - DALAEIDO “Recycled Silk” Summoning Summer19 Pants - DALAEIDO “Recycled Silk” Summoning Summer19 Heels - Dolce Gabbana
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Shirt - Dala Eido Minimus (Chantier Insolite Revisited 2020 Collection) Pants - Loewe Necklace - Dior Earrings - Marina Fossati
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Mask - PROVIDEX OXYGEN MASK Jacket - Sandro Paris Pants - Vintage Hein Gericke Heels - Dolce Gabbana
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Coat - DALAEIDO Maximus (Chantier Insolite Revisited 2020 Collection) Belt - Asos Design Tights - Calzedonia
Man’s Wardrobe Shirt - DALAEIDO Mephistopheles shirt Coat - Multiples Woman’s Wardrobe Dress - DALAEIDO Insolite Collection Belt - Asos Design Heels - Dolce and Gabbana Tights - Calzedonia Necklace - JessicaK
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Brassiere - FELINE hand-made by Nawal.A Dress - Courege
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Entire Look DALAEIDO (Chantier Insolite Revisited 2020 Collection)
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Scarf - Collusion Coat - Multiples Necklace - Kript Cable Lock
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Coat - DALAEIDO Maximus (Chantier Insolite Revisited 2020 Collection) Belt - Asos Design Tights - Calzedonia
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Thebe Magugu photos by Kristin-Lee Moolman set against against the backdrop of the Ipopeng township in the mining town of Kimberley
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@thebem
magugu
New Age:
Generation Africa Text by Anna Barr @annoula_b
Two of the biggest names in fashion at the moment Virgil Abloh and Edward Enninful were both born to Ghanaian immigrant parents on other sides of the pond. It is also the diaspora that has been raising a light on the continent and many young independent designers opting to work with African tailors and local artisans on the continent than factories in China. But more importantly during these confusing days, Covid-19 is seeing a turning point in the fashion industry that could potentially change our consumption culture. Fashion likes to pride itself on reinvention, but when was the last time we could honestly say we have seen that? In the North, we have been suffering from Generation Burnout partially in due to the cult of productivity. We are stressed, full of climate anxiety as the planet is on a breaking point and we just can’t meditate that away. In the end, we have suffered from being time poor. In order to survive, future trends will change according to consumer needs and businesses need to prioritize quality over
quantity, but most of all the glorification of busyness will need to come to an end and we will see the birth of a new age where designers will encourage us slowing down. The newfound energy in Africa is also at the forefront of the slow fashion movement. While this sounds revolutionary, the most famous African designer, Azzedine Alaia, showed us that you can write your own rules and still be successful. Tunisia and Morocco have a forgotten history made up of collaborations, craftsmanship, manufacturers for many luxury French brands. Today, Esmod Tunisia is the leading Fashion school of North Africa and in Morocco we have seen Dior invite guests to its cruise show in Marrakech while designers Amine Bendriouich and Charaf Tajer of hype brand Casablanca put the country in a new epicentre of culture crossroads alongside many African diaspora creatives. Tajer, who had previously consulted to Supreme and Off-White, draws upon inspiration from his Moroccan roots that has seen rappers like Skepta and Gunna decked out in his clothes, but by manufacturing in Morocco he has also given new found confidence that could see the future of manufacturing heading south. Earlier this year he was shortlisted for the prestigious LVMH Prize and stated “My wish is for CASABLANCA to join the legacy of French luxury brands and to signal a new wave of classic brands.’
LVMH has been keeping a close eye on Africa in recent years as Nigeria and Angola are also some of the leading consumers of luxury on the planet. What we also see is a generation returning home from studying abroad to work and cutting down on overhead costs. Last year two African designers in the LVMH Prize final, Nigerian Kenneth Ize and Thebe Magugu, have made their Paris Fashion Week debut, but can LVMH also validate Africans to buy designs from Africans? With the African Union having launched the operational phase of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), it will be the world’s largest free trade area by number of countries once it’s up and running, making exporting more interesting. Additionally, imports of used clothing from the US have also been curbed which prevented the continent from building its own industry in the past when it was flooded with cheap crap. The more relevant question should be: Does Africa need to be reliant on overseas? 37
Thebe Magugu photos by Kristin-Lee Moolman set against against the backdrop of the Ipopeng township in the mining town of Kimberley
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@thebem
magugu
Nigeria has the biggest economy in terms of nominal GDP on the continent and OG Supermodel Naomi Campbell has been a big supporter of Lagos’s Arise Fashion Week. She extended her support of Nigerian talent walking the Kenneth Ize show in Paris. The young designer focuses on reinterpreting Nigerian craftsmanship. With a community of weavers, textile makers and artisans across the country, he is producing luxury pieces that doesn’t steer away from nurturing existing cultures and bring the aesthetic to the future forefront. To be accepted on the official Paris Fashion Week Calendar is already a validation of quality. The continent is having a resource boom, there is no doubt that the in-equality gap has grown, but with a generation connected online, we are witnessing a creative boom as well. Coincidence or not, Africa has the fastest growing population under 30. Each African country will follow its own growth path, but as a continent, it is looking as a think tank of cool. The feminist movement might not be making as much noise, but it exists, and Africa will gain 10% to its GDP if women enter the workforce at the same rate as men according to the Economist. Vogue Italia “Who’s On Next Dubai” 2015 winner Sindiso Khumalo focuses not only on sustainable clothing with an emphasis on African history but also is inspired by her activist mother. This motivated her to bring values of social equality and female empowerment into her brand and into her Cape Town atelier where she takes the time to also train women in her signature textile prints and embroidery with fair and equal pay. Africa and women empowerment is part of the brand DNA as each pieces tells a story about it from history. By controlling the whole supply chain and manufacturing, like many independent designers, she is putting the critical issues of distribution infrastructure in her own hands. If materials are supplied reliably, then technically there are no problems to make this system work except for delivery. Will African fashion get the structure that it needs? E-commerce is growing not just with more brands to buy online but future consumers. Having this new market also means that many designers are taking the time to gain creditability through sustainability in the emerging market where luxury is a consumer that consumes wisely whether its custom-made, eco-friendly, upcycled, rent or swap.
Kenneth Ize FW20 Adwoa Aboah photos by Shoji Fuji
@kennethize
Kenneth Ize FW20 Naomi Campell photos by Shoji Fuji
@kennethize
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Casablanca SS20 shot on film by Remi Ferrante Hartman
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@casablancabrand
The difference between the photography, music and overall creative boom vs fashion, is that it relies on a supply chain which hasn’t been integrated properly into the global fashion system which is now showing its cracks. Generation Africa’s revolution will definitely need to be digital. Exposure that social media has been given not only creates an online platform to sell, but due to the small quantities, slow fashion offers something authentic and a connection to a designer has never played a stronger role. In this David and Goliath world, the social media fashion giants and influencers have turned social media into a catalyst for loneliness. South African designer Thebe Magugu, who creates visions of empowered, African femininity, is the first African designer to be awarded the LVMH Prize, he also belongs to the “Born Free” Generation which came of age following the fall of the apartheid system in ’94. Like the fall of the Iron Curtain or Berlin Wall, there is a cultural landscape driven by this new generation that needs to connect. With his yearbook style zine Faculty Press made up of with editors Lelo Meslani and Amy Zama, and art directors Abi and Claire Meekel, they spotlight South African talent from musicians Fela Gucci and Desire Marea of Faka, activist Lady Skolliet to photographer Travys Owen. Magugu describes it as a “zine dedicated to capturing key moments, ideas, and thoughts from the emerging voices that engage with and move our cultural landscape forward.” Welcome to the new age of Generation Africa.
Sindiso Khumalo Collection 7 courtesy of the designer
@sindisokhumalo
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DIVE IN: 6 Iceland Airwaves artists sharetheirmust-havealbumsofall-time Interview & pictures by Alex Howard @alxmvh
In Reykjavík, the first week of November is synonymous with Iceland Airwaves. The music festival takes over the windy city for four nights and days. Unlikely storefronts are transformed into stages, and venues brim with festivalgoers: from KEX Hostel to the Art Museum, Gamla Bíó to Fríkirkjan. The lineup is always a hearty mix of local talent and foreign acts who have yet to play the island. The combination results in a unique, often magical experience. There is always another act around the corner to be discovered. Last year, we caught up Icelandic headliners and up-and-coming international artists to ask them each the same question. Inspired by the icy shores, we wondered which album these six Airwaves performers would bring to a deserted island. That is: if you could only listen to one album for the rest of your life, what would it be? Check out all of these must-have albums on our Spotify playlist here
GDRN Rumours by Fleetwood Mac: “It’s my all-time favourite album! I started listening to it in 2014 and haven’t stopped since.” @eyfjord
Hatari STUMM433: “We pick recent Mute Records’ compilation STUM433, featuring many of our favourite artists – an album with great variety and interpretations on a piece that changed our understanding of music.” @hatari_official
Kælan Mikla
Up the Bracket by The Libertines: “I’ve listened to it repeatedly for the last 12 years and it still makes me jump around and I never want to skip a song.” - Laufey Soffía Heligoland by Massive Attack: “It’s a modern musical masterpiece that fits no genre in general and has such a variety of atmosphere and feelings that fits all moods. Each time I listen to it, I hear elements I haven’t heard before. I will stay impressed and in love forever.” - Sólveig Matthildur Doolittle by Pixies: “It’s definitely one of my all-time favourite albums. I can listen to it over and over again and never get tired of it, every song is a banger!” - Maggý Rósa
@kaelanmikla
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Shame Remain In Light by Talking Heads: “Only this year have I properly explored the band’s music, and I know it’s something that will stick with me for the rest of my life. Even in modern times, the sounds on the album sound futuristic, and the lyrics and melodies completely unique. A truly inspiring piece of work.” – Charlie Steen Slanted and Enchanted by Pavement: “I haven’t got bored of it yet, so hopefully it would stand the test of time on the desert island.” - Charlie Forbes Women by Women: “Purely for the fact it has the song ‘Shaking Hand’ on it, I could listen to that track forever. That or God Bless Tiny Tim.” - Josh Finerty In Rainbows by Radiohead - Sean Coyle-Smith Ghosts of the Great Highway by Sun Kil Moon: “There’s like 3 versions of each song so you’d never get bored.” – Eddie Green @shame
Madame Gandhi The Best of the Black President by Fela Kuti: “Each 14-minute long political afrobeat song elevates my mood and motivates my spirit.” @madamegandhi
W.H. Lung Grace by Jeff Buckley + Getz/Gilberto by João Gilberto and Stan Getz + In Rainbows by Radiohead: “To be played at the same time.” - Joseph. E, Tom. S, Tom. P, Mercer Main, Mulligan, Olson @whlung
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“Love garlic, onion Gorillaz and Grime
Eugenio Andrade Schulz Interview by Amanda M. Jansson @littlesuicidecandy
Fall in love with Eugenio Andrade Schulz and his 70s-80s inspired sinister photographic universe! The 22 year old Mexican artist mostly works with fashion labels, fashion weeks, magazines, and musicians. Using his images to interpret his surroundings, he poses questions regarding social, religious, and sexual issues.
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ns, Fleetwood Mac, es.“
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Your photography is really cinematic. The atmosphere you create is incredible. Would you say cinema has influenced your perspective? A lot of things are reflected in my photography, cinema influences my everyday life, professionally and personally. So, yes, movies are always changing my perspective. What other influences do you have? I think it´s important to stay open to options, not just
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professionally but personally, people around me, music, activities, daily routines, etc. Music is always influencing the way I act, so many things happening all the time, people writing, singing, dancing, creating. What would be your favorite decade to live and work in? I feel that my work has a strong 70’s influence, tones, graphics, fashion, organic shapes, but personally I love 80’s aesthetics, geometrical shapes, strong contrasts with a bit more risky colors.
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Do you prefer fashion or portraits and why? I love both concepts, fashion photography and portrait documentation. Nowadays, I think that fashion is taking a more human direction, model representation, concepts, so I wouldn’t consider fashion photography without conceptual portraits facing it. You shoot a lot of film. How did that come about and what advantages does it give you? I shoot on film and digital, mostly digital now because I’m a bit disorganized so film can get a bit chaotic, negatives
everywhere. I do love film because it can be more spontaneous and unique, texture, colors, process, but my digitals get somehow analogue by physical manipulation of the images. Both have different results, depending on what your needs are. If you were to shoot a movie what would it be like? I’m obsessed with stop motion movies, all the manual work around it, small characters and mock-ups. I’d love to do something like that or something like Carrie, a pop culture hit.
Instagram @eugenioaschulz
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ON THE CONVEYOR BELT WITH
“That’s just who I am. That’s just me. So, I wouldn’t say it was planned out in any type of way. It’s just how I feel. This is how I go about pretty much my daily life.” 52
MATTIEL
Interview by Aysha Hussain @ayshashanta Photos by Kelia Anne MacCluskey, Press
With Mattiel Brown at the forefront, Mattiel comes complete with a band alongside Jonah Swilley, Travis Murphy and Jordan Manley. Good old fashioned retro rock ‘n’ roll chic endorsed by the likes of Jack White, Mattiel oozes substance in the raucous nature of the tracks, layered with an understated velvet-rich tone from the vocals. These blend to evoke an old-world storytelling that combines itself with what seems to have become a trademark Mattiel cheekiness. Second album Satis Factory continues Mattiel’s journey and take on a self-progression beyond repetition and fully realising your potential without settling. Outside of the music, Mattiel’s background in visuals come to play in the form of art direction and stylistic endeavours both in music videos and photo shoots. It is also refreshing that as the world dives into the throes of ‘woke’ culture and the derivatives that come with gender constructs, that this is just the way Mattiel feels in expressing herself. An authenticity to be and feel who you are, and a reminder that we all should reach for this as the norm. 53
KALTBLUT shot the breeze in pre-COVID-19 times (Dec 2019) with Mattiel Brown and Jonah Swilley from the band when borders were open for music, and the future was a different arena. Simpler times. How did you get into music and form Mattiel? Mattiel: I met Jonah [Swilley] and Randy [Michael] in 2014. I hadn’t really written anything before that and I had always wanted to get into music but I’ve never really either had the right resources or thought I could actually do it. It’s really all about meeting the right people. What has been your biggest challenges creating and working together? Mattiel: For me, in this industry, it’s like lending service into my gut feeling. Or doubting them or letting other people in the industry or at labels do so. It makes me doubt myself. I think that’s very challenging for me. Everybody has a sense of self-doubt and it’s just about learning how to squash it. Jonah: We work with other people, other creative people firing on all sides and ideas. It is getting over the trust of the group working with a crew, settling creative differences and meeting in the middle. Your last album Satis Factory is a great title and a cover. What’s the story behind that? Mattiel: The title originated from the song Millionaire [on the album]. As I put together the packaging of the album cover, I thought of the factory concept and split into two words. For me, it is repetition of the continuation of work and keeping the ball rolling, not getting too comfortable. A battle against becoming too satisfied. But that’s what I found in common with most other artists, that you can’t really stop. You can’t really finish and say this is good enough. It’s a constant manufacturing of work. I think that’s a good thing.
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What inspires you in your song writing, whether content or form? Jonah: Musically, for me, it is. But found these inspire a whole song, and if I can hear something in a new way, it helps me kind of create a landscape by composition. It’s up to you to make that. Mattiel: When we write a song, Jonah is writing the music primarily and I am interpreting that emotionally. Whether I want to put something on it to juxtapose the actual sound with what I’m speaking about or singing about, I want something to match up with the sound. I mean, that’s what is inspired. The vibe of what we are doing. Once it reaches that point, I have sources of inspiration that range from people and music to other writers. And what do you listen to? Mattiel: The music that I listen to is maybe other people wouldn’t expect me to. I don’t know if that really directly influences the music that we’re making right now, but music like European jazz, Pakistani pop from the 60s. But of course, we’re not making that. Jonah: I don’t really listen to a lot of music anymore I don’t think. I had kind of strayed away from that. I’ve got my band and my friends that do that around me.
How did going on tour with Jack White come about? Mattiel: We had a record out in America on Burger [Records] and they sent this record to Third Man [Records] and Jack’s nephew wrote about it on his blog. They then invited us to play at the record store in 2017 and a few months later we were on tour [with Jack White] for some US states. It was wonderful! In your music videos, like have a really playful element to it. Do you guys have much creative input to these? Mattiel: Every person that has made the video with me, I’ve worked with before. I was at a design agency for a while, so that’s where I met them. We had already worked in a studio for years prior to making those videos. I take on the role as a co-director and set design and I choose all the styling outfits. I’m art director, basically and I really enjoy doing that. I’d love to do that for other artists when I have time. Mattiel, in your style there’s a lot of gender fluidity, the blending of masculinity and femininity. Was this a deliberate choice? Mattiel: That’s just who I am. That’s just me. So, I wouldn’t say it was planned out in any type of way. It’s just how I feel. This is how I go about pretty much my daily life. Are there any collaborations in the pipeline or any sort of dream collaborations maybe you’d want to do? Jonah: There’s a couple of things on the table that we’re trying to figure out. It being the holiday, it’s a bit of a dormant period. But yeah, for next year [2020] I would have collaborations on. Cool and fun stuff. What can we look forward to from Mattiel in the future? Mattiel: I’d like to have a piece of holiday work in the making. I think that’ll be a fun thing to do. Also, it looks like a lot of touring. To be sure, in January, February, March, April, the US etc. I can’t wait for it. What are you most looking forward to when touring and being on the road? Mattiel: That’s a hard question because being on tour is not a creative act. It’s very much a lot of work. But the best times I have on tour are being close with the people I play music with and forming memories that way, having a good time and meeting new people. I also generally have a little bit of a soft side for Europe personally. Jonah: If we can get to into Japan and Australia that would be pretty cool. I like being in Europe and the UK, it’s also a blast. We’re pretty used to playing there.
Instagram @mattielbrown mattiel.com
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Always Yours
Beret - Ainara Antxia Pants - Eñaut Blazer - Scotch & Soda Blazer - Llamazares y de Delgado
Photography Victor Supertramp @victorsupertramp Photography Assistant Jennifer de los Mozos @jennmozos and Héctor Ges @hectorges Stylist Xènia Gabarri @eugene.ripa Stylist Assistant Erika Acosta @whoevererikais Make-Up Anna González @makeuplikexnnx Hair Ruben Mongés @hairbyrubmongs Set Design Anna Gustems @agustems.official Models Adrià @adriaaolveraa Marc @sooldado_13 Beza @kaydybrown From Blare Management @blaremanagement 56
Blazer - Scotch & Soda Pants - Fred Perry Socks - Burlington Shoes - Andrea Chenier Blazer - Llamazares y de Delgado Top - Twinset Pants - EĂąaut
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Blazer - Llamazares y de Delgado Top - Twinset
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Blazer - Scotch & Soda Pants - Fred Perry Socks - Burlington Shoes - Andrea Chenier Beret - Ainara Antxia Pants - EĂąaut Blazer - Llamazares y de Delgado Top - Twinset Pants - EĂąaut
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Dress - Angel Marco Top - Angel Marco
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Dress - Angel Marco Top - Angel Marco
Dress - Angel Marco Socks - Burlington Shoes - Andrea Chenier
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Top - Eñaut Necklace - To Garal Pants - Ainara Antxia
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Dress - Llamazares y de Delgado Socks - Burlington Shoes - Andrea Chenier
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Dress - Llamazares y de Delgado Coat - EĂąaut Pants - Llamazares y de Delgado Head piece - To Garal Socks - Burlington Shoes - Andrea Chenier Pants - Llamazares y de Delgado Suspenders - Scotch & Soda
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Dress - Llamazares y de Delgado Pants - EĂąaut Coat - EĂąaut Pants - Llamazares y de Delgado Head piece - To Garal Socks - Burlington Shoes - Andrea Chenier Pants - Llamazares y de Delgado Suspenders - Scotch & Soda
Suspenders - Scotch & Soda Ear piece - To Garal
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Shirt - Ainara Antxia
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Jumpsuit - EĂąaut Shirt - Ainara Antxia Pants - Angel Marco Socks - Burlington
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Between us by Daria
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Pietryka
Text by Marta Dziedziniewicz @dzydzolina
Between Us is the latest artistic project by Daria Pietryka, born in 1983, a Wroclaw-based painter, architect, interior and exhibition set designer. The subject of the show is human relations - a broad, multilayered and dynamic issue. Humans as social beings are entangled in a network of micro and macro relationships with themselves, with others, with the surrounding world. The relation itself is treated as a process, because our relationships are dynamic, they change, evolve, require work, sacrifice and attention. Neglected they get complicated or simply end. Pietryka carefully observes herself in the world, collects experiences, notes observations, questions and problems, and examines the emotions accompanying them. From that very moment images begin to appear in her head. It all starts with an experience, an observation and a feeling. Then it’s the time for reflection and sketches. Finishing paintings takes a lot of time and work, the artist changes them many times, applies subsequent layers of paint, interferes with the canvas with thread, sand, colour, builds a multilayer structure. Thus, another protagonist of the exhibition is painting itself, both in the context of skill and craft, but also as a form of complex narration. Daria designs interiors and architecture professionally. According to her, art is an inseparable element of architecture and design. She has been painting since she can remember and considers painting to be her first real passion. For Daria, painting is a kind of meditation, a journey inside
Between Us (Spring), 140x100cm, oil on canvas
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“I am fascinated by ambiguities. I strive for my paintings to be multilayered, both in a metaphorical and a formal sense. I think this is the key to the balance between form and substance that I am looking for. The stories found in my works are drawn from reality – from everyday situations, people, or nature. When painting, I translate them into metaphors, which I dress in colors, shapes, textures, shadows and half-shadows. I think art should be thought-provoking, so I am glad when the viewer interprets images in their own language. Then, what is personal to me becomes universal, through painting, and my work takes on layers and new meanings. It Daria Pietryka becomes alive.� 70
Wrestling, 90x90cm, oil on canvas
US, diptych 80x80cm + 55×80 , oil on canvas, 2019
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Together, 100x140cm, oil on canvas, 2020
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herself and another person. She paints what she cannot convey in words. Things that inspire her are life, experiences, places, traveling, books, and everyday life, which she does not consider dull or monotonous. Painting is her way of dealing with emotions and working out the world around her. It is closely connected to her thought process. In one of her interviews she stated that she would have to stop thinking in order to stop painting. In the series Between Us , Daria returns to the observation of herself and others and expands these thoughts by exploring the subject of our relations. Between Us is not an autobiographical exhibition, but it naturally draws on everyday life, which presents us with a great variety of themes: being a person in the world, in a community, in the family, in motherhood, in relationships, in friendships and with oneself, and finally being a woman in the aforementioned universe. There is also a subtle thread of our relationship with nature - we are part of the natural world and we need to connect with it, but entangled in modernity we often forget about it. In her paintings, Daria takes on these subjects and the emotions associated with them and celebrates the process, both in the context of human experience in the world and of her painting craft. She portraits love stories of a couple, which strike the viewer with sober look and matu-
rity. The artist gives up idealized visions in favour of an honest celebration of love as an art of choice, compromise, working on oneself and with one another, accepting flaws or limitations of one’s own and of others. Each love relationship is governed by its own rhythm, we attract and disgust each other, we set and push the boundaries, sometimes we live with each other and sometimes next to each other, waves of passion come and go. In such a dynamic scenery you have to be an alert observer and a participant at the same time. Losing oneself in relations and regaining oneself is a theme present in the paintings dealing with motherhood, in which Pietryka persistently avoids glorification. Her madonnas lose their heads, bodies and their own identity for the sake of the higher purpose that is new life, new person. This very painful aspect of women’s sacrifice, which is not talked about or considered the natural turn of things, resounds loudly here. The vessel of these micro and macro stories, experiences and emotions is the body. The body is what we have and what is familiar and close to us, it is our daily companion and personal territory, although the female body often becomes a battlefield for entire communities. For Pietryka, the bodies of her paintings’ subjects become the territory of research of painterly solutions. The skin that used to be pale, stone-like and matte in her earlier works, now takes on life and colour. Vague faces emphasize the universality of characters and experiences present in the paintings. Ambiguity plays an important role in the Between Us project, which is the fruit of insightful observations and deliberations, as well as painting experiments. Pietryka does not care about issuing opinions or commenting on reality in a specific way. She treats her paintings more as an invitation for the viewer to interpret freely and individually, as a feast for the imagination; thus her works are constructed with the aim of catching our attention. The elements of this strategy are the composition which arouses tension and anxiety, the applied colors and their contrasts, a multidimensional structure of the painting where one can see the paint work and numerous interferences in the canvas, elements of collage.
Instagram @dariapietryka_atelier
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daria-pietryka.com
Between Us (Red), 80x160cm, oil on canvas, 2018
I dissapear 90x80cm + assamblage 60x80cm , oil on canvas / own technique, 2020
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Romanian
masters Photography by Jennifer Pircalabescu jenezep.com @jenezep Model is Victoria Avram signed at Attitude Models @victoria.avram Make-Up by Mihaela Cherciu mihaelacherciu.com @mihaelacherciu Hair by Sebastian Sarghie jupiterproduction.ro @sebastian.sarghie Styling by Balsamo Francesca @balsamofrancesca
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Sweater - Sabina Pop Headpiece - Vergine Santa Frida Gloves - Vergine Santa Frida Dress - Vintage
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Blazer - Comme des Garcons Gloves - Ioana Ciolacu Headpiece - Vergine Santa Frida Earrings - The italian vintage shop
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Dress - Vladimir Sirbu Hat - Jacquemus Gloves - Ioana Ciolacu Earrings - The italian vintage shop
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Dress - Lanvin Gloves - Ioana Ciolacu Earrings - The italian vintage shop
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Earrings - The italian vintage shop Body - Ioana Ciolacu Scarf - Versace Blazer- Vintage
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Coat - Vladimir Sirbu Sweater & Gloves - Ana Capsali
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LATIFICATION by Babak Haghi @babak.haghi.artworks Dancer:Latif @latification Turkey, Istanbul, 2019
“I’m Babak Haghi from Iran.I have been researching and photographing about queer artists in Iran and Turkey around 4 years. Latif is a queer dancer who lives in Istanbul. I met him in Istanbul and did photography with him in Serkan Dance House. We designed styles together and he danced.” 84
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T S E U Q 20 H S A F T E ME
R R A B A N AN Interview by Marcel Schlutt @marcel_schlutt
It’s my pleasure to introduce you to style icon Anna Barr. She is a fashion editor at Fucking Young! and PAIRS project. One of the most important voices when it comes to supporting young designers. I had a talk with Anna about her career in the fashion world. And how does the Coronavirus lockdown impact her work as an editor. Did you always want to work in media? If not, what was your dream job when you were younger? 90
I never really thought about media growing up because I always had the idea that I had to be in New York to work in media. I also had a friend’s uncle put the idea in my head that I could grow up to be an air hostess because I was blonde and had long legs. So, my dream job was to be a trolly dolly and then as I got older, I thought screw it, any job that allows me to travel will do! What was the most valuable lesson you learned from the worst job you ever had, and what was that job? I’ve had so many jobs in many different fields, but the worst ironically have always been in fashion. I’m not going to lie, the atmosphere can be very toxic depending on the team, and
I haven’t experienced this anywhere else. The worst job has been where there were power struggles amongst team members, but it has taught me a lot about democracy and choosing the people I work with wisely, even if that means saying no to some projects that have big names and creative geniuses. The most valuable lesson I have learned, is that unless there is money involved, I won’t do something if I am not going to learn something new, because you can’t put a price tag on that. I’m so hungry to learn everything, I will do rigging and lighting because its new to me! What do you consider to be your first “big break” in your career? I suffered a bit from dyslexia and I was “creative” so my portfolio was always full of imagery not text. My first big break for me was when I was working in forecasting and they trusted me to write B2B forecasting analysis because I didn’t think I could write before. However, career wise,
but the characters of other people too. I’m so motivated by love and understanding love that its somewhat of an obsession. I read “Even Cowgirls Get The Blues” by Tom Robbins in high school and that was the book that made me want to travel and meet people, adventures in the lowest and highest places, but it was “Dune” by Frank Herbert that really made me want to learn and help me learn how to learn. What are the most common mistakes for Fashion Editors and how can we solve them? I think every Editor is different, but a mistake that many of us have is just meeting people who brag and name drop and its up to us to be confident enough to say if we don’t like it or not. Of course its hard when advertising is involved and you have to put your taste on the line. I think the best way to solve them is having to say no.
IONS R O T I D E HION
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What is your greatest strength in your role as an Editor? Every editor is different, I think in my case, my strength is that I have been in the same city for many years and have built a reputation and network. Many people want fast results, but Paris doesn’t work that way!
What is your greatest challenge? Paris also doesn’t have the money like New York and London, even if it is the fashion capital. I consult a lot outside of fashion and my biggest challenge is having people give a chance on me.
it was probably interning at Hermès RTW in the late 90s. I was still a kid and I didn’t know at the time the influential people I was with (Martin and Véronique) because there were only three of us interns and everyone was so nice. It set my standards early on, not just in fashion, but in everything in life. Veronique asked me what I wanted to do (and that could have been a proposal for me to say I want to work with you), but I was honest and said I wanted to travel, and she told me I would never regret it and after I graduated I moved to Japan for three years. It may have been career suicide, but I don’t regret it one bit! What’s the first thing you do in the morning to get your workday started? Every morning I read about ten different newspapers from very different perspectives. I can’t begin the day or digest anything in my own line of work without knowing what the world is going through at the moment. What do you get most distracted by at work? Probably by all the things that aren’t related to fashion that I’m fascinated with because I can see the correlation. What two or three books would you say have had the biggest impact on who you are today? I first read Milan Kundera’s The Unbearable Lightness of Being during identify with a different one. It has helped me not only understand myself
What’s your go-to method for winding down after a long day? I won’t lie, its probably watching The Daily Show.
What is the one skill you wished you’d learned before becoming an Editor? There is so much as an editor that you don’t learn at university or college. I actually wish, like many designers, that I learned how to put together a business plan and do accounting, because there are some shitty designers and “creatives” that get far in the industry just because they are good with numbers and writing shit down. How would you describe your job in five words? Creative, free, honest, aspirational, hard
How do you work during the Coronavirus times? How does the lockdown impact your work? I also lecture on fashion forecasting at several universities in Paris and consult, so most of my lectures have been cancelled for this year along with some creative projects I was producing for some French music festivals. In regards to my online work, with Pairs Project we struggle as we don’t have access to develop our 35mm film at the moment, with Fucking Young!, it’s a struggle to cover fashion while not knowing the future. We are all conscious of consumerism, the effect on the environment and now on people’s wallets as we enter recession. It’s up to not just us, but the 91
whole community to rethink the role of fashion and it’s supply chain as a whole. What is your part at Fucking Young! and and are you more into mens or womenswear? I’m the Global Content Editor at Fucking Young, so really whether its music or cinema, I have to think how it affects us in fashion. I’ve been more into menswear as long as I can remember. As a woman, menswear has always been more fluid. For years, I felt that womenswear designers always had you pegged as either the housewife or whore, it never represented what women actually are and wear. Womens is also unnecessarily too fast paced with trivial trends and relies a lot on “it girls” and influencers, which I can’t stand as most of those people already come from money and a planet that I don’t live on. I think things are finally changing though. Women are getting sick of the privileged shoving things down our throats. Let’s talk about PAIRS project.. What is Pairs project and what does it stand for? A couple of years ago I was very depressed in the industry and I read an article from Lars von Trier talking about his own depression. I remembered when he introduced Dogme’95 to challenge filmmakers through their strict rules and only through following the rules you can find the real story teller. I felt that fashion was obsessed with names from photographers, stylists to brands, so I wanted to approach fashion photography like Dogme ’95 and rewrite the rules. We chose 35mm photography so that way the photographers would have to capture the story on only one roll of film and not edit the photos whatsoever. We called it Dogme ’16. Why did you decided to work with analog photography only? I was frustrated when working in digital that the photographers couldn’t see the big picture and were would easily take 50-100 photos on one look, when I felt a good photographer could shoot it on less than one roll of film. Photographers to this day still think we are crazy asking for everything on one roll unedited, but what do they think that everyone did twenty years ago? Really, we aren’t doing anything revolutionary, we are just cutting out the bullshit. What are your future plans with Pairs Project? It’s a Project and it’s ongoing. We are doing more and more with musicians because we have found over the years that musicians come from a more authentic place. We need more brands to support our vision if we are to continue as an annual print zine, but I started creating zines when I was teenager, so I’m not afraid to explore different shapes, sizes and papers. I would love to do a full photocopied issue, preferably with someone’s spreadsheets on the back to up-cycle! How does being a young mother have changed your point of view on social media and fashion? First of all, I want to stay that motherhood didn’t shock me like many people I know outside of fashion. I was 92
already used to working with divas, having everything gone wrong, coming up with solutions, and working crazy hours! However, what really changed for me is seeing how babies are not born equal at all. It’s a myth saying we are, everyone comes from different economic and social backgrounds. Becoming a mother has really given me a perspective on the have and have nots. Additionally, I don’t know if my child will live to be thirty, that’s how serious climate change and politics are. So every little thing that fashion and social media puts out there, I now see through a different perspective. I won’t even write or cover anything Kanye West related for example. I think it’s dangerous and toxic not only when he speaks of his support for Trump but when he spoke against abortion without being fully educated on the topic. The list can go on and on. I am seeing so many dangers at the moment that sometimes I think I am going insane, but then I speak with some of my Gen-Z colleagues and they see it and know what I’m talking about and it gives me hope. What is the biggest challenge for you as a mother working in the fashion world? After becoming a mom, I discovered how many other moms there are in the industry and we don’t have more challenges than any other industry except that its hard to be competitive and have crazy hours when you have other priorities, but I don’t see it as a challenge, it just forced me to be more selective. Any wise words you wanna share? The industry is completely saturated, but what we need are people with solutions. We have major challenges ahead like climate change and we need good people to fight these battles. @annoula_b
www.pairsproject.com www.fuckingyoung.es
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A Tale Of Two Cities: An Interview With Krakรณw Loves Adana Interview by Nicola Phillips @nicphilf All photos by Sebastian Pielles @piellesshots
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After catching eyes across a crowded nightclub dancefloor Deniz Çiçek and Robert Heitmann finally plucked up the courage to speak to each other. Turns out their killer taste in music wasn’t the only thing they had in common, as the pair were quick to combine Deniz’s songwriting and vocals with Robert’s piano and guitar skills. It wasn’t long before they began producing guitar-driven electronic ballads with a dreamy melancholic edge under the monika Kraków Loves Adana. Fast-forward 14 years and the band have since joined the Italians Do It Better family – Johnny Jewel and Mike Simonetti’s notorious Italo-disco label formed in 2006. Infused with pulsating synthesizers and sparkling guitars their latest track is a homage to the bygone days of their youth, and those important lessons they learned along the way. What better time to catch up with the duo on what’s coming up next with Jewel and the gang. How did Kraków Loves Adana get started? Deniz: We met in 2006 in our hometown in a nightclub. Rob and I had been eyeing each other for months and then finally we both had the courage to talk to each other. It’s not the typical kind of discotheque where you would go, but those were the kinds of clubs in our hometown; where you would go to explore bands and music or see touring bands come to town. So that’s how we met. We were both in other bands and decided to try things out with just the two of us. Were you studying music at this time as well? Rob: Deniz played the guitar for years but besides that no, not really, no musical education just an interest in music to form a band since a teenager, stuff like that. And um, yeah, just exploring things. Deniz: It definitely shaped our identity. Our taste in music and going to concerts and stuff like that. Listening to a lot of independent rock, a lot of the lesser-known bands from the UK or US. What was it like growing up in your hometown? Deniz: Bielefeld was a great town growing up in because you’ve got all these bands coming into town and playing. I mean, now everything has definitely changed a lot. A lot of clubs
have closed. But, otherwise, when I was a teenager it was great. We always used to go out on the weekends sometimes even on a school night, but that was the thing you would do back then when there was no social media. Rob: Yeah, and Iike getting the free music magazines, watching who’s coming to town and then seeing, okay, can I go? Combined with going to record stores, listening to music... Deniz: Also checking out what the artists would wear and how they cut their hair and stuff like that. Definitely had a huge influence on us and our approach of how we do things now. Rob: You really often found yourself discovering things without being able to look up the band because there was no social media. It was like, okay, I’m going to the concert and I see what happens. Something that’s maybe not so possible today. What made you head over and settle in Hamburg? Deniz: Our first label was in Hamburg and we always went there to record stuff in the studio so that’s when we took the first serious steps of being a band and making a record and putting it out. Rob was also working at a record label there. How did you find working with your first label? Rob: I mean the first experiences were a bit mixed. I wouldn’t say it was really a label back then. It was maybe like people who wanted to start a label and we were there like one of the first bands and it was all developing so, at some point we knew that we were developing in a different direction and wanted to take things into our own hands for some time. That was when we decided to put out two records on our own, number three and number four [laughs]. But yeah, it was really a studying experience, To see how things are, how they work or how they might work. 95
“I want to make people dream and dive into a different world and for a second at least, lose all this anxiety and fear in the world that we live in right now” Now you’re with Italians Do It Better, does it feel weird that you’re kind of working with other people again and letting them take charge? Or is it more like a 50/50 thing? Rob: It’s really a relief! [laughs] It’s a total game-changer because they are all so creative people themselves and artists and everything is really nice. Are you working with other artists on the label? Deniz: It’s just with Johnny [ Jewel] and his wife Megan, who’s also in the band Desire. Those are the two main people there. How did you guys get in touch? Must be cool to be the first German band on their label! Rob: For us, we knew their art and music for years so we felt connected to them very early on, but just last year we reached out to them. We were at a place where we thought, okay, what’s next? Should we do another release on our own? Because we always figured it would be nice to have someone else in the creative process. I remember the first talks with me and Deniz where we were like... 96
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Deniz: “Who could we ask?” [laughs]. Rob: You know, someone that wants to be in the process and also someone that we fully trust. And I think it was Deniz who was like, “I think Johnny Jewell would be nice”. But we also like, “Yeah right, he’s Johnny Jewel!” Deniz: Yeh like, how could we reach out to him, you know? Rob: Some months later, Deniz was working on new songs and she found an interview with Megan, where she was talking about the process on Italians Do It Better and that she’s president of the label and she oversees all the business and there were some really nice thoughts. Things she said, how she’s doing it and like having Johnny in all the creative art process and helping him run the business and we thought maybe we should try and reach out. That’s when we sent them the demos and Megan said she really loved it and felt strongly about everything Deniz does and how she does it. And we took it from there. I never knew Megan and Johnny were such a power couple! Rob: Yeah. Megan is doing a lot of the business because there’s so much creative work that Johnny deals with. It’s so different from other record labels because it’s really quite a connection they have and how they do it. Has this signing affected the creative process of your new work? Does it take place mostly in Hamburg or in the US? Deniz: It’s kind of actually in between. I write all the main ideas for the songs at home and send Johnny the demos and then he’s doing his magic and I’m doing my magic. It’s a creative exchange. Rob: We send the stuff over as soon as there’s a structure in like a demo mode and often there are times where he’s already organised photographers and art direction ideas. Then the conversation starts with Johnny and Megan, like how they feel about it, how they like it and what they want to do with it. And then it grows. So it’s operated from Hamburg to LA via the internet for now. That’s a pretty cool connection! So musically, you’ve definitely changed direction from your earlier work. What shifted for you? Deniz: I just, I never wanted to make the same record twice. So I came to this certain point where I just thought, there is not much more that I can explore with the tunes that I already have and with the skills I already have since I come from a classical guitar playing background. And since I’ve always been a huge fan of Italians Do It Better and Chromatics but also a lot of 80’s music, it was kind of the next logical step to take to just dive into it and try things out with more synthesizers. Is there anything else that you’re experimenting with your upcoming work? Deniz: I think the next album is definitely much more whole. It’s like a fully formed “baby” in comparison to the records I did before because it was the first time where I really took a lot of time and tried out different approaches in the songwriting process with the themes that I explore. So I think it will be very interesting to see where this goes. It’s definitely much darker, but also it still has this melancholic dream-pop vibe that our music always had. I also read about how the single “American Boy” from your last album was a response to Trump’s America, what will your upcoming work be centred around? Deniz: I think it’s very difficult to write a political song that is subtle but still relatable for people that listen to it. So with “American boy”, I had this urge to write about it and put it in the song, but otherwise, I want to make people dream and dive into a different world and for a second at least, lose all this anxiety and fear in the world that we live in right now. So it’s definitely a different approach and less personal actually. I don’t write about things at the moment that I experience because I’m actually quite happy, but I think it’s actually the best place to be as an artist and then try to put everything else into the music. Like the darkness and the sadness and also the happiness. This definitely shows through in your videos, especially with “Follow The Voice” Rob: Well, “Follow The Voice” Deniz and I both directed it. It was really the first time where we had a list, a direction of every scene. We came really prepared and took our time to develop the idea and to really have the song be perfectly married to the visuals. And the best idea about the video came really by almost by accident. We had 99
the idea of pendulum and hypnosis with like, being “led by the voice”. As soon as you have something like this, like the one sentence or like the one idea that perfectly speaks to the song, we already knew, okay, this is going to be it. Then the other ideas followed and we already knew how we wanted it to look in our heads. We just called our friend who was a director of photography who we know very well, went into the studio and shot everything in one place over about two dates and then sent it to Johnny! He was very, very impressed. Something we learned from Johnny, not directly, just seeing how he is releasing things and what he says is like, it’s a nice thing to let the work and the songs breathe for a while and we don’t have to feel like we need to release something every month or have the typical release cycles. Ah, like the legendary “Dear Tommy” album of Johnny’s? Deniz: I think he’s just taking his time. Whenever it feels ready, you will release it. The problem with people is that, as an artist, as soon as you talk about a new record, people feel like they have a right to hear it. It’s just not that simple. Well, all good things come to those who wait!
On a recent Instagram post, Deniz shares: “I want to share with you MIDNIGHT MEMORIES - A Collection Of Demo Recordings, consisting of two yet unreleased songs that didn’t make it on our upcoming album and also the very first demo version of YOUNG AGAIN. This early version of the song transports all the desperation and sadness that I still feel today when I read the news. We live in such difficult and strange times right now and having more time than usual to reflect on life in general and what I created over the last couple of years, I wanted to give you some more music that I wrote in the past. I am not a person that reaches out to people, in private I’m actually a pretty cautious and introverted person but when I write or perform music I feel like I can let that go. To me making music means to create my own small universe, my safe space, even in times of suffering and uncertainty. It is one of the few things in life that gives me hope and the strength to go on. So with this, I want to give you a few minutes of distraction and maybe some hope to stay positive about the future. xo, Deniz”
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MIDNIGHT MEMORIES A Collection Of Demo Recordings krakowlovesadana.bandcamp.com/ Instagram @krakowlovesadana 100
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Drawing Berlin with
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h Xuehka Interview by Nicolas Simoneau @nicolas_simoneau
Xueh Magrini Troll, aka Xuehka belongs to the third generation of female artists in her family. Her mother and her grandmother are both painters and sculptors, so art was always really natural to Xuehka. Following the women of her family, she thoughts she had to study fine art, where she felt quite misunderstood and not really free. Xuehka later found in Illustration the perfect creative form for her. She loves to communicate and express really clear ideas with what she does, and in Illustration Xuehka found the space to do so. How would you describe your work in your own words? Raw, fun, free. What medium/tools do you feel most comfortable with when creating your work? Â I am really old school regarding my tools. I always have a sketchbook with me, where I allow myself the freedom to do whatever I feel like. My sketchbooks are like toilet walls, where I can go from deep existential thoughts, to the silliest joke or observation... from there I see what I would like to continue working on. I love ink pens and markers, and sometimes I combine that with digital coloring. Are your illustrations inspired by personal experiences or of friends/scenarios you know of? I get mostly inspired by my own life, but of course also from stories I hear, situations I see. Since the beginning of my illustrations, my own life and experiences have been the biggest source of inspiration. I feel like I can really speak about what I have experienced first hand. Lately I am noticing how this connection between my art and my life is becoming stronger, or how one is flowing more and more into the other. For example, the fact that I am always looking for moments to draw makes me live my life more aware. More aware of the beauty, the horror, the nonsense, the fun, the absurdity, the craziness, I also really enjoy doing collaborations and commissions, in which I can either combine my brain with other creative brains, or, for example while working for newspapers, try 103
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to find images to express certain political position or commentary about relevant subjects, like feminism, economics or racism … I find that really challenging and creatively super exciting. You’re based in Berlin now, but grew up in Bogota. How do both cities influence your work? I feel really lucky to have had the chance to live and grow up in such different cultures. I came to Berlin when I was 18 years old, and the cultural shock was really strong… I didn’t speak any german, and I didn’t understand anything else either: social interactions, bureaucracy, the weather … but now, being a bit older I feel like I can keep the best of my two worlds, and that reflects in my work too. I will never stop being surprised by this city, even though I can now call myself a Berliner, inside of me there will always be the tourist-me, amazed by the wonders and horrors this city has to offer. So I think I became an insider, with an outsider gaze, which gives a certain freshness to my work. Berlin has influenced my work, by allowing me the freedom of fully expressing myself. Also, my emotionality and my love and obsession with color comes definitely from my Colombian roots. What’s your favourite thing about Berlin? I believe Berlin is unique for its freedom, I think this is what attracts so many people from all around the world to come here and have the freedom to be who they really are. I cherish that a lot, and every time I go to other places I am reminded of that. It is still difficult almost everywhere else in the world to be “different”, to be a “weirdo”. Nobody is a weirdo in Berlin, and to know this gives me a lot of happiness and makes me love this city. What message do you want to share with your art? I use the voice that I found in my art to talk freely about all what I think is important. I talk about a lot of different things that might seem to others more or less relevant. But at the end of the day I think my main message is freedom. I really believe in the freedom of expression, and I hope this comes through and inspires people to express themselves , however they feel like doing it! Have you found any other work/artists to be really inspiring currently? I am listening a lot to Aldous Harding, I love her music and I am completely in love with her stage persona. I consider Flavita Banana, a Spanish cartoonist, to be right now a really smart, fun and pertinent voice, she is really inspiring to me. Otherwise, I really love the hole revolution wave happening in Latin America, specially the women movements related to this and the visual culture that is pouring out of this interesting moment of awakening: political posters, illustrations, esthetics, protest hymns, like for instance las Tesis from Chile and their viral chant “ Violador en tu Camino”. I think it is a really exciting, empowering and inspiring historical moment. 107
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“I believe Berlin is unique for its freedom, I think this is what attracts so many people from all around the world to come here and have the freedom to be who they really are..“ 109
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What is your ultimate goal? My grandma is 84 and is still doing her ceramics. I also really hope to be doing art forever, and to find new ways of applying my creativity. I am really open to collaborations and to incursionate in new fields. I think life in general, and therefore art, makes more sense when you are sharing it with people you love and admire. I would love to do murals again, stage design sounds super attractive to me, textile printing, to work with furniture, fashion, makeup maybe...? And of course, like every creative person struggling with daily life, I really hope to find the way of staying true to myself and to my art while getting out of it the financial income to live a decent life.
How do you spend your days now with the quarantine? I think all of us artist / designers / creators of some sort know how to get busy at home and are used to be spending days without going out, finishing projects and deadlines, anyway I think there is a different mental challenge in this whole situation. I try to make yoga or dance everyday, this makes me feel active and calms me at the same time. I am using this time to wear my favorite outfits, I think I would go crazy if I would just wear my pyjamas all the time... Looking good helps me feel good. I had a problem with video calls, but I am rediscovering them, this has a whole different value for all of us right now...the magic of the internet! I am talking regularly with my family and friends all over the world. I am lucky to share my place with my partner, we are enjoying this weird time together. The only thing that is really challenging right now, is the lack of sunlight in our place, but I try to go for a walk regularly. And of course I am drawing everyday, art will always save us! How is this situation is affecting you, and your work? In a weird way I feel more useful then ever in this crisis, I understand
Instagram @xuehka
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with a different light how creative people are so important for all of us, to bring colours in our life, to entertain, to give hope,to make us laugh, to bring different perspectives. I have been feeling really reflective about my life in general this days , I feel this is an opportunity to stop and observe; to fully understand what are our priorities, as individuals and as societies. This isolating situation confirms for me how meaningful are the relationships in my life. I am a really “huggy” person, and I really miss hugging my friends. Art is keeping me sane, but this is nothing new, art is helping me deal with the world since always, so this is just a confirmation of its power. My economic situation has always been uncertain and unstable, like for a lot of other artists and
creative people, so that aspect hasn’t really changed much. Anyway this time feels different, is a global uncertainty, which of course makes me worry sometimes. Luckily I live in Germany, I will apply for some financial help. I worry about my family in Colombia, over there is going to be a different story... What do you wish for the future? I wish that this experience will help us make the change that the whole world is obviously needing. I really hope we come out of this with a deeper collective consciousness, slowing down the crazy rhythm we were all in, being nicer to each other and to our planet . I believe priorities are being really clear right now, and I hope this will make us value them more, in every aspect of life. I hope we will make the right use of our privileges and vote different, looking for more human politicians, thinking about the well-being of a larger amount of people. I really wish we come out of this as a stronger, more human than ever, emphatic huge group of fellow human beings. On a more personal level, I really hope we will be able to enjoy a beautiful summer all together.
Instagram @xuehka
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Photography by Risha Kir @rishakir_inspo Model is Aslan by @lookmodels.ru Styling by Elena Laskovaya @laskovayastyle
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Hair and make-up by Natalia Guryeva @guryeva_natalia.br
Risha Kir is a portrait & beauty photographer based in Moscow, Russia. Risha started her career working in big international creative agencies developing communication & visual brand strategies. After receiving fashion education in Milan and New York, Risha naturally felt transition to fashion photography and launched her photography studio in Moscow to create timeless and emotive imagery.
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