GLAMCULT / 2016 / ISSUE 2 / #118 / EU

“Age ain’t nothing but a number.”

FREE 2016—Issue 2 #118

Glamcult Independent Style Paper

holy denim

Issue 2 #118 Update

Cult 8 Albums 11

Jake & Dinos Chapman 22 Sophie Hardeman 28 Hinds 32 Snakehips 36 Eliot Sumner 38

Platform

New Fashion Perspectives 12 Embody

Jean-Paul Lespagnard 14

Visual Essays

Telepathic... 40 I am idling...

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Interviews

Faustine Steinmetz

Plus

Stockists 54

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Colophon Editor-in-Chief Joline Platje joline@glamcultstudio.com

Art Director Marline Bakker marline@glamcultstudio.com

Creative Director Rogier Vlaming rogier@glamcultstudio.com

Graphic Design Glamcult Studio: Karen van de Kraats Rogier Bak

Fashion Editor Leendert Sonnevelt leendert@glamcultstudio.com Editor Kelsey Lee Jones kelsey@glamcultstudio.com Editorial Interns Maarten Heuver Michelle Janssen Sales sales@glamcult.com

Graphic Design Intern Mia Stevanovic Contributers Emily Vernon Ilaria Lorio Albarin Iris Wenander Jack Dolan Katrice Dustin Ruben Baart Photographers Alexandra Leese Ari Versluis Masha Mel Michiel Meewis Ina Niehoff Sophie Mayanne Yaël Temminck

Cover Photography: Masha Mel Styling: Tess Yopp Hair: Louis Ghewy using Bumble and bumble.—The Book Agency Make-up: Lucy Pearson using MAC Cosmetics Model: Primrose Archer— Select Model Management Suit Faustine Steinmetz Quotes Age ain’t nothing but a number.

— A aliyah Telepathic on the paranoid level.

— W illiam S. Burroughs I am idling, I have idled, I will idle.

— F. Scott Fitzgerald

Publisher Rogier Vlaming / Glamcult Studio P.O. Box 14535, 1001 LA Amsterdam, The Netherlands T +31 (0)20 419 41 32 rogier@glamcultstudio.com www.glamcultstudio.com Distribution distribution@glamcult.com For all subscriptions please contact Abonnementenland P.O. Box 20, 1910 AA Uitgeest, The Netherlands T +31 (0)251 313 939 F +31 (0)251 31 04 05 For subscriptions www.bladenbox.nl For address changes and cancellations www.aboland.nl Seven issues a year The Netherlands € 37 Europe € 59,50 Rest of the world € 79,50 Prices subject to change

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Subscriptions can start at any time during the year. Subscriptions need to be closed for at least one year and will be automatically renewed until further notice. Cancellations must be submitted written and at least six weeks before the expiry of the subscription period to Abonnementenland.

Changes of address must be submitted written at least three weeks in advance to Abonnementenland. © All rights reserved. Nothing from this publication may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher and other copyright holders. The publisher cannot be held responsible for damage done by incorrect provision of information in the magazine. The views expressed in the magazine are those of our contributors and do not necessarily represent the views of Glamcult or its staff.

ISSN: 1874 1932

Photography: Meis Belle Wahr & Jip Merkies—House of Orange Hair and make-up: Charlotte Niketic—House of Orange

WE Section ARE 501®

www.levi.com

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www.menatwork.nl Gc Interview

WE Section ARE 501® Anyone can make blue jeans, but Levi Strauss & Co. made the very first pair: the 501®. Ever since being invented in 1873, the jeans have not only grown into a cultural icon, but also become a canvas for self-expression. What makes these jeans truly special is the way they’re worn. Celebrating the godfather of jeans, Glamcult joins forces with Levi’s and Men At Work. Inspired by the Levi’s S/S16 campaign—starring real people with real stories to tell—we captured the ones who don’t just wear and sell the innovative jeans, but make each pair their own. Let us introduce you:

Who: Anno Location: Amsterdam My personality in three words: Ginger, social, energetic I want my jeans to be: Rough and tough In my 501® I like to: Explore new cities

Who: Bruno Location: Alkmaar

M y personality in three words: Crazy, friendly and energetic I like to wear my jeans: Rolled up In my 501® I feel: Free and relaxed

#liveinlevis

Who: Diwa Location: Rotterdam My ultimate pair of jeans: Comfy, skinny and casual In my 501® I feel: Myself The real denim feeling: Confidence

Who: Romy Location: Eindhoven In my 501® I feel: Confident The thing I like to do most in my jeans: Dance

T he real denim feeling: Any day in the Netherlands when the sun is shining

Who: Kelly Location: Amsterdam M y personality in three words: Wayward, colourful and happy In my 501® I feel: Always in style I want my jeans to be: Worn out

Who: Ferdinand Location: Amsterdam Daily habit: Being creative My ultimate pair of jeans: Rigid, dark, slubby The real denim feeling: A canvas for life

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share yourGc 501® story Interview

Cult

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And after school they still rule, 2016

3 Bad Education, photo: Hyein Seo

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Maxime Cardol

S/S16 collection, photo: Filip Custic and Kito Muñoz

Hyein Seo 4

Feeling the Ceiling, 2015, courtesy of Silberkuppe Berlin

Heridadegato

S/S16 collection, photo: Madeleine Morlet

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Anne Speier Marie Yat 1

With a youthful take on fashion and beauty, Dutch-Canadian Maxime Cardol gently captures the persona behind the facade. The self-taught photographer found her way to ­fashion via journalism, where her­­­ ­a bility to capture realness in an otherwise staged setting may have begun. Mainly working with natural light, Cardol captures both the raw and delicate nature of daylight. Her images often have a tension to them, as if the model just took a breath and was caught in a moment of arrest. Some models seem unaware of Cardol’s presence, while others look back at her intensely.

Working as an assistant to Dutch fashion photographer Nicky Onderwater (Vogue, Glamcult), Cardol discovered that teamwork plays a key role in creating an image. The collaboration between photographer, stylist and model can lead to unexpected ways of perception. We, for one, like to ­p erceive the world through this lens.

By Iris Wenander www.maximecardol.nl

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Korean-born designer Hyein Seo may have graduated from the Antwerp Royal Academy of Fine Arts in 2014, but her widely broadcast opinion is that art schools, in general, suck. Her most recent collection, Bad Education, is all about “bad” girls who get kicked out of school. Shouting her anti-education slogans from the rooftops, Seo valiantly incorporates them into her designs.Who better than RiRi to wear these statement pieces? The designer ­o bviously knows her market; her designs are stripped-down but inspired by radicalism and extravaganza. With bucket hats, bomber jackets and the ultimate white socks + flip-flops combo, her look is complete. Seo is currently working on her hotly anticipated A/W16 collection, and told Glamcult her lookbook is almost ready to hit the web. Keep an eye on this rebel heart.

By Maarten Heuver www.hyeinseo.com

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Heridadegato can be literally translated from Spanish as “cat’s wound”. Caustic and evocative implications have always been present in Spanish cultural imaginary—just think of Surrealist art, the avant-garde cinema of Luis Buñuel or the sarcastic pop representations of modern life by Almodóvar. Madrid label Heridadegato and its aesthetic— which falls somewhere between irony and decoration—can definitely be inscribed in this colourful tradition.

Founded in 2012 by design/life duo Jacobo Salvador and Maria ­Rosenfeldt, Heridadegato is somehow chaotic yet tidy. Salvador and Rosenfeldt have found the key to mixing together different ages, gender types and references in their designs, with a few essential characteristics: deconstruction, theatrical inspirations and playful draping. Just like a cat’s scratch, the clothes are spontaneously cut and reconstructed with feline irreverence, creating something unexpected and precious. By Ilaria Lorio Albarin www.heridadegato.com

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German-born artist by way of Vienna Anne Speier (pronounced Anna) is most notably known for her large-scale black and white works, the aesthetic backdrop for exaggerated, cartoonlike scenarios. Speier’s images are caricatures of celeb patterns, making use of silhouette paparazzi cut-outs of enfants terribles such as Justin, Britney and Eminem. Or Lindsay Lohan, whose ginger locks add a warm tonality to a collage, as well as Rihanna, who is mostly captured after hours, adding nightfall’s darkness to Speier’s images.

Taking her work to a new dimension, the artist recently presented a solo show, titled Feeling the Contemporary, at the always-cool Silberkuppe gallery in Berlin. The display included threedimensional sculptures as well as paintings, and featured a standout piece of floor-to-ceiling, stone-effect creatures, including one that was simply (but charmingly) titled Feeling the Ceiling (2015). Oh yes, we’re feeling this contemporary! By Kelsey Lee Jones

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Originally from Hong Kong, after graduating from Central Saint Martins Marie Yat took her first steps in the fashion world with an internship at the ateliers of Hussein Chalayan and Yang Li. While still following courses at the peerless London college, Yat started to develop her own underwear and loungewear label. Her designs are characterized by a duality, bold and gentle at the same time, seeking a synthesis between female lingerie and unisex underwear. The seamless jersey pieces, made in natural fabrics like cotton and silk, underline the search for a comfortable and uncompromised style, which is the signature of her minimal approach to underwear.

Knitwear, modernity and bondage merge together into a soft androgyny, built through a colour palette of light pastel tones. Old fin de siècle lingerie is translated into simple and clean lines, galvanizing contemporary silhouettes and refining the tomboy attitude of the looks. By Ilaria Lorio Albarin www.marieyat.com

Cult 7 Film still from Lonely Without a Company, 2015

Young Man Red III, 2014, courtesy of Gemeentemuseum Den Haag

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Micah Hesse

Jesse Wine 9

Bonne Suits x Piet Langeveld collection

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Selfie: Jender An0mie

Photo: Filip Custic and Kito Muñoz

Bonne Reijn + Piet Langeveld

Chromosome

An0mie 6

Inspired by fellow artists such as Karel Appel and Alexander Calder, Britishborn artist Jesse Wine creates his own, modern take on ceramics. Wine lives and works in London and graduated from the Royal College of Art (RCA) in 2010 with an MA in fine art. He creates all of his pieces by hand — literally channelling his feelings into his work.

The young artist doesn’t want to create domestic wares, but claims a place in the world of contemporary art by experimenting with different techniques and glazes within ceramics. During a study exchange to New York, Wine became obsessed by the potential of clay to tell his highly personal story.

That’s why his current exhibition, Young Man Red, gives an actual glimpse into the life and heart of this red-haired talent, who is dusting off outmoded connotations of clay. By Maarten Heuver Until 16 May 2016 Gemeentemuseum, Den Haag (NL) www.jessewine.com

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Economists are such romantics...

Well, at least in American artist Micah Hesse’s highly political piece Lonely Without a Company, they are. The seven-and-a-half-minute-long video fascinates with its simultaneously poetic and concrete view on economics, linguistics and humanity. By blending animation with reality, Hesse creates an equally surreal and real space where the metaphorical meets the literal. And as they meet, they make tiny shifts in meaning along the way.

Time is money, but is it really? Little is known of Hesse, except that in his work he manages to capture the ambiguous relationship between growth and happiness as well as the juxtaposition of power and powerlessness. Using video, CGI and 3D tracking to meticulously illustrate concepts that would otherwise go unseen, Hesse will likely continue to take us into unknown realms of thought. Let’s all become members of the free association-association.

By Iris Wenander www.micahhesse.com

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An0mie’s feed is keeping us scrolling!

It’s all femme with an extraordinary touch of adolescent-meets-adult on this IG account; Jender has a disinterest in anything conventionally masculine and fights for the right to be herself. The self-proclaimed “queen of south-east London” is managing life between paying rent and creativity, and has decided she exclusively wants to have fun. A good thing, if you ask us. Jender’s on a quest; she’s tired of the lack of fabulousness in high-street trends and takes fetishwear, lingerie, trash and vintage to her very own levels. Fast fashion has made people lazy to true style, she argues. Repeatedly her looks get glances from “basic” folk. But, she argues, she is just as desensitized to the way she looks as they are. Her message to all girls out there? “Don’t make yourself small for someone else! Recognise when people interrupt you, invade your space, and take it back.”

By Michelle Janssen www.instagram.com/an0mie www.jourjender.tumblr.com

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Amsterdam-born go-getter Bonne Reijn has taken over the streets with his so-called poor man’s suits. Formerly working as a stylist for the likes of Patta, Indie and Glamcult, Bonne now dresses an army of Amsterdam’s finest and works together with young, outstanding artists. Among them is Piet Langeveld, his female style-god counterpart and a visual/digital artist, who brings out the bleach for this special team-up presented by Glamcult. Answering to the Normcore movement with downto-earth vigour, Bonne argues that the exhausting overproduction of clothes and the need to be “in” fashion deprive a person of true personality. Toning your outfit down leaves room for smart styling. His suits are made for everyone and devoid of class or gender codes. With Piet Langeveld adding a unique pattern of acid to 25 denim suits, we once again see a ’90s revival coming alive. Rapture, be pure.

By Michelle Janssen

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Chromosome: a fashion concept fostered out of the necessity of a small group of people to launch to the market a series of novel ideas that fall away from most common standards. First up, the usual standards of ageing are subverted, as the elderly or “anti-fashion characters” become Chromosome’s brand image, as do small boys appearing as models in their powder-pink lookbook. Here’s a real (and great) case of age dysphoria. The designers are most interested in the people whose social values are not identified within the fashion realms, as well as the nonunderstanding of fashion by these people. Their authentic simplicity and their essence are found to be charming. Clothing the elderly, for the young, this artistic brand project is all about an essential message: getting old does not prevent us from being unique and special. By Kelsey Lee Jones www.chromosomeresidence.com

www.bonnelife.com www.pietlangeveld.nl

Gc Update

Cult

By Katrice Dustin Photography: Takanori Okuwaki Styling: Kusi Kubi (Tzarkusi) Models: Daniel and Emanuel—FM London Images courtesy of Bullett Media

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Daniel W. Fletcher

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You’d be hard pressed to walk through an up-and-coming neighbourhood in any major city in the Anglosphere without observing ample evidence of rapid urban restructuring. By acknowledging gentrification as a consequence of contemporary capitalist society, menswear designer Daniel W. Fletcher is using fashion as a medium for silent protest.

Growing up in Chester, north-west England, Daniel W. Fletcher originally had his sights set on a career in acting and recalls his foray into fashion as that of a quasi-accident: “I can always remember being interested in fashion growing up, but I didn’t really realize that it was fashion. I was the kind of kid that liked to match his socks with his T-shirt.” After spending a year abroad, Fletcher made the decisive move to London, where he undertook a foundation year at Kingston University.

But it was his subsequent enrolment in the menswear BA programme at Central Saint Martins that he credits for forming his independent streak.

“You’re not spoon fed anything [at Central Saint Martins]. They want

you to learn from your mistakes and go out and find things on your own,” he insists.

After presenting his debut graduate collection last summer, Fletcher quickly caught the attention of renowned retail powerhouse Opening Ceremony, who picked up an exclusive capsule for Spring/Summer 2016.

With a steady stream of fashion design graduates growing in volume every year, Fletcher is acutely aware of his luck and feels humbled by the opportunities afforded him: “I doubt I would be doing this if Opening Ceremony hadn’t approached me. At that time, I had no idea about line sheets and wholesale mark ups, let alone production. They guided me through a lot of obstacles.”

When researching his first collection—a no-nonsense fuse of traditional tailoring and fine-tuned streetwear featuring mink-collared polo shirts and playful silk pyjama sets —Fletcher looked to the streets of his first London neighbourhood, Peckham. One of the UK’s most ethnically diverse areas, Peckham has seen perhaps the most

noticeable shifts in its urban landscape in recent years. “It had gone from being associated with Only Fools and Horses, to cocktails on top of car-parks. That brought on redevelopment plans which didn’t consider the long-term residents of the area,” Fletcher tells Glamcult. Fashion, after all, is a sign of the times, and this is exactly what Fletcher is determined to prove. “Visually, this change is reflected in the collection through the mix of traditional British clothing and sporting garments. You see that exact kind of mix in areas that go through periods of social change, and where different cultures and styles are becoming intertwined.”

Fletcher also cites the melancholy boys who fill the pages of Alasdair McLellan’s 2014 photography book, Ultimate Clothing Company, alongside the early career of Saville Row’s late master tailor, Hardy Amies, as two crucial sources of inspiration.

Although new to heading his own label, Fletcher is far from naive when it comes to the inner workings of the industry. Having held positions

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at both Lanvin and Louis Vuitton (the latter of which he continues to design leather goods for), the young designer was able to clearly distinguish the unique differences between the two French houses. “Lanvin is very hands on, with all of the designers jumping on a sewing machine to try things out,” he divulges. “Whereas at Louis Vuitton there are a lot more boundaries because there are so many house codes. But the archives are so extensive that I’m never short of inspiration. It’s interesting to try and come up with new ways of using different elements of the brand’s history. ” Despite a packed calendar of flitting between Paris, London and New York being “such a blur”, and consequently resulting in the start to what is shaping up to be his busiest year yet, Fletcher remains focused on the learning process and is as eager as ever to try new things in order to push himself forward: “After looking at securing more stockists for A/W16, I want to try and understand the production and business processes of running my label a little better. I’d also really like

to work on some collaboration, such as footwear or eyewear.”

With interest in fashion reaching an all-time high, coupled with a dizzying influx of young brands being thrust ever more into the spotlight, Daniel W. Fletcher realizes that the game has undoubtedly evolved. “Now, anyone can set up a Square-space shop and sell their product directly to their customers. So starting a label is completely different to when someone like McQueen was doing it. It would be interesting to see how he would have done it today.” On that same note, Fletcher realizes that “the pressure on designers to produce more collections than ever has become way too much”. But while condemning the system’s flaws, he remains optimistic. “I do think new designers like myself, as well as big brands, have a lot of sway to change this.” www.danielwfletcher.com

Albums Liima

Niki & The Dove

Lust For Youth

Anna Meredith

Dinner

ii

Everybody’s Heart Is Broken Now

Compassion

Varmints

Psychic Lovers

4AD

TEN Music Group

Sacred Bones

Moshi Moshi Records/PIAS

Captured Tracks

If you were wondering where the guys from Efterklang went, don’t worry; they didn’t split up. In fact, they formed a new band along with Finnish percussionist Tatu Rönkkö (aka the human drum machine), and called it Liima.

The group’s debut, ii, is inspired by their nomadic origins, and is a result of the original band concept of collecting and recording true organic sounds. With the ensuing array of densely layered instrumentals, the album takes you through the feelings you’d imagine during a hot day in water-surrounded Madeira, to a cool day taking in the fresh air on a cold mountaintop. The album peak comes early with the track Amerika, and another top moment is Roger Waters, an ode to a famous Pink Floyd riff (although it sounds nothing like the prog-rock of the ’70s). Not to mention that adorable goat on the cover sleeve. By Kelsey Lee Jones

The track list of Niki & The Dove’s new record reads much as if the artists had their hearts broken, went on a far-away holiday, got very drunk and danced all night. Not particularly in that order. The duo from Stockholm— nominated for the BBC’s Sound of the Year in 2012—present Everybody’s Heart Is Broken Now, shooting for the heart with their self-defined music genre, “Cupid”. Between the lines of indie and electronic, the sound landscape of the record is much more acoustic and less ethereal than its predecessor, yet Niki & The Dove strike the same chord and again mesmerize the human psych. With Malin Dahlstrom on vocals and Gustaf Karlof on production once more, the new sound is groovier and sometimes melancholic, yet shimmering with sunlight. Get ready for the highs (and beautiful lows) of summer. By Michelle Janssen

Danish trio Lust For Youth, lead by songwriter Hannes Norrvide, deliver hands down their most danceable album to date. That’s not to say they’ve done away with the dark, gothic soundscapes we know and love; in fact, the sinister undertones on Compassion only surface more vividly from the driving beats and eerie moments of euphoria. The production on Lust For Youth’s new record also elevates the band’s sound into a new stratosphere of epicness. Of course, some will lament the passing of the more lo-fi approach on their early cassette albums but there’s no denying the new sound is altogether more mature and fully realized. The instrumental cut Easy Window is particularly haunting, drum machines and guitar jangle sinking into cavernous reverb. Sudden Ambitions is more driving and anthemic, while Display sounds like a forgotten new-wave ballad.

Compassion sees LFY fully realizing a creative vision that has been a long time in the making and as such, is a very satisfying listen. ­

By Jack Dolan

The many musicians who say their music jumps genres merely tackle proverbial puddles compared to Anna Meredith. She vaults over entire oceans with her barrage of sound.

The UK-based composer, writer, producer, performer and all-round face of getting-shit-done blows minimalists out of their saddles. We’re thankful she found time (somewhere) to release her debut album, Varmints. Just add this to her towering CV of projects, collaborations and residencies with more highlights then this blurb allows, and Varmints certainly doesn’t disappoint. Meredith invades then persuades with her 11 tracks of instrumental and electronic adventures. The album kicks off with Nautilus, a modern armoured march. Envision North Korea taking over Shoreditch. But don’t be fooled by confident first impressions, as vulnerability and a riot of emotion regulates the pace, from the pensive vocals in Dowager to journey-like electrica in The Vapours. Varmints will elevate, dismantle, love you, leave you and bring you along for a riot so escalating that you’ll shamelessly opt for another round. By Emily Vernon

It’s never entirely clear whether to take Dinner seriously or not. Anyone who’s seen the Danish producer and singer on stage knows the ironic awkwardness that floods from the stage during his ritualistic performances. Following three promising EPs released between 2012 and 2014, Anders Rhedin’s debut album is now finally here. Mixing ’80s (disco) synths, ’90s euro dance, today’s retro-infused imagery and Dinner’s friendly-giantvoice, Psychic Lovers holds the middle ground between a doom-and-gloom church service and the physical sensations of Snoop’s Sensual Seduction.

The album has already received a few vital stamps of approval, with Mac DeMarco summing it up as “great face, great body, great tunes”. Glamcult would like to opt for the producer’s own definition, which comes a little closer to the product. “It’s like sexual Christian rock, really. But without all the Christianity.” Holy (mind)fuck.

By Leendert Sonnevelt

Coves

Logan Takahashi

Fatima Al Qadiri

Bleached

Haelos

Peel

NoGeo

Brute

Welcome the Worms

Full Circle

1965 Records/PIAS

Ghostly International

Hyperdub

Dead Oceans

Matador Records

Lies, seduction, disappointment, loneliness and bad relationships.

Coves, the London via Leamington Spa duo, light up our day once again. Multi-instrumentalist John Ridgard and singer Beck Wood deliver Peel, their latest album since 2014 debut, Soft Friday. It’s as much a nod to innovative producers like Joe Meek, Phil Spector and Martin Hannett as an album about love.

Minus the actual love part. Peel tells stories of modern relationship fails and follies you can either sulk about or use to count your happy blessings.

“See nothing but thunder in my stormy eyes,” Wood declares during Stormy, a song about the frustration and excitement attached to having no clue what someone is thinking. Yes, Coves does employ some overly used metaphors that give the album a widely appealing aftertaste by the finish. But as See Me Love Me is one of the most romantic tracks—which isn’t saying much—among a sea of jaded lyrics, they mask it well with bitterness and fiery vents. By Emily Vernon

On the heels of Teengirl Fantasy creating a six-track soundtrack for Opening Ceremony, here’s another exciting moment for the lauded act: the duo’s Logan Takahashi releases his first solo album. Comparisons to TGF seem inevitable, but NoGeo should certainly be seen as an individual entity. A—revised—review by THUMP sums up how difficult it is to fathom the record’s range: “A previous version of this article stated the title was a reference to the ’80s arcade system Neo Geo. It is instead a reference to the 1987 album by Ryuichi Sakamoto. The article also stated that the vocal sample was Indian in origin. It is instead taken from a recording of a Romanian folk song.”

Minimal, unearthly yet very layered (much like the work of the influential composer it references) NoGeo is somewhat like entering a game without end. You’ll probably never get to see all levels, but it’s unearthing the fun that counts.

By Leendert Sonnevelt

To “just” explain what Fatima Al Qadiri’s work sounds like doesn’t do her justice.

The New York-based musician and visual artist, who recently collaborated with J-Cush, Asma Maroof and Daniel Pineda under the Future Brown moniker, hit the scene in 2014 with Asiatisch, a meditation on China and Orientalism.

She’s now releasing her new solo album, Brute. The cover sets the tone with a Teletubby in riot gear, an original work by Josh Kline. Just like the artwork, the record addresses issues of authority—the relationship between police, citizens and protest, for instance—and themes of rage and despair, paranoia and surveillance.

With an ominous start, Al Qadiri leads her listeners into a confronting but dystopian take on electronic music (with a futuristic finish). Our vote might come in somewhat expectedly, but Glamcult nonetheless endorses another round of Fatima.

By Michelle Janssen

If you aren’t familiar with them yet, garage-pop-rock trio Bleached is made up of LA-based sisters Jennifer and Jessie Clavin, plus Micayla Grace.

With their ambitious second ten-song LP, these girls once again embrace the darker side of life. Recorded at Sunset Sound with producer Joe Chiccarelli, Welcome the Worms presents a smarter, heavier, emotionally deeper Bleached while keeping the band’s origins of cheeky, Californiapunk in the foreground. Bleached paints a rash picture of Los Angeles: the life of eye-rolling caused by dating men in bands, dirty Sunset Boulevard and futile drunken nights in a star-struck hole. Their sound is amped-up in a ’70s kind of way, with fuzz-sprinkling melodies supporting singer Jennifer Clavin’s tuneful report on crazy nights of “sugar-drenched conversations”, whiskey and sour candy. By Maarten Heuver

With just a few songs to their name, London’s Lotti Benardout, Dom Goldsmith and Arthur Delaney have just released their debut with Full Circle. Having only been around since 2014, it’s hard to compare Haelos to anything, but if pushed, we’d have to say they come closest to being the sound of the future. The LP is a mix of trip hop and celestial electronics, their sound a musical translation of each artist’s individual diversity. Lyrically, Haelos are ambiguous and sometimes melancholic— yet together with their faint beats they create a meditative vibration, almost like the faint tones are caught mid-air. Full Circle is best defined as an awakening, or as Dom perfectly describes it himself: “It’s dark euphoria.”

Be sure to check out the band’s Tumblr, it’s an alternate universe.

By Michelle Janssen

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Gc Update

New Fashion Perspectives With spring in the air, we bring you a fresh look at the current fashion ecosystem. In collaboration with Dutch curator Hanka van der Voet, this April Glamcult presents New Fashion Perspectives. Focused on overthrowing standards and shifting borders, the 10-day exhibition stars the fashion trailblazers who are shaping the future. Meet them in the heart of Amsterdam as they share new vantage points in everything from Social Design to New Materiality and Body Politics.

The fashion system as we know it is in a moment of flux. In the midst of a gamechanging technological revolution, greater consideration is being given to the craftsmanship safely tucked away at fashion’s heart, while designers and consumers are increasingly questioning the emotional value of fashion. When we consider the developments in the fashion world within a wider social context, we see how the 2008 economic crisis acted as a catalyst for the end of the postmodern era and its corresponding irony. The consequence was a yearning for sincerity, as well as a desire to imbue a deconstructed world with new

meanings—be they vague, fleeting or surreal. This new direction can perhaps be best described as the beginning of meta-modernism.

Young designers entering the fashion world are challenged to reflect these developments, finding new positions within a changing system. They’re looking further than the limited possibilities currently on offer, drawing their audiences into critical thinking—as well as design process—emphasized by storytelling.

The new generation is seeking a much broader view, finding out what it really means to be a fashion designer. Questioning and shifting the borders plays

an important role in this process. New Fashion Perspectives presents the visions of young fashion designers who are shaping the future system. The large-scale exhibition will be divided into eight subthemes: Sustainability, New Technologies, Craftsmanship, Body Politics, New Materiality, Wonderlust and Social Design. Each theme is connected to three or more designers, all of whom have recently graduated.

Lisette Ros

New Fashion Perspectives is on view at Looiersgracht 60, Amsterdam [NL], from 15 until 24 April 2016.

Photo: Lotte van Raalte

Sistaaz of the Castle, photo: Jan Hoek

Duran Lantink

Social Design: Dutch performance artist Lisette Ros approaches all her work with the question “Why are things the way they are?” Seeking to confront people with their personal realities and their routine behaviour, everything she does seeks to break down codes. She always uses herself in her work because she sees it as useful for her own personal development. The recent work Intervening Space, for example, involved weighing in on the conventions of a boring office space to comment on the collective act of sitting and how it’s killing us—like the new smoking (!). This took the form of an exploration of how it really is to sit for eight hours straight, on the same chair.

Body Politics: Working in collaboration with photo­ grapher Jan Hoek, Dutch designer Duran Lantink’s most recent project, Sistaaz of the Castle, was an examination of the colourful looks of transgender sex workers on the streets of Cape Town, South Africa. Working with local sex workers’ organisation S.W.E.A.T gave Hoek and Lantink the opportunity to meet and collaborate with the transgender support group Sistaazhood. The result was a series of photographs and a fashion collection around the women’s exuberant personal style, and their ability to make the liveliest creations from anything to hand.

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New Fashion Perspectives Fatma Kizil

Charlotte Tydeman

Craftsmanship: Exploring distortions of desire and the search for oneself, Dutch designer and graduate of the Willem de Kooning Academie Fatma Kizil has crafted a collection inspired by the customisability of men. I Am Under Construction is all about people in the digital world who know no boundaries in deforming their bodies.

The shapes are inspired by fictional future prosthetics and installations, the dimensions of the deformations created on her own body—by the judgment and reactions of people around her.

A woman like me, 2015, photo: Masha Mel

Graduate Collection, 2015, photo: TARONA

Body Politics: Central Saint Martins graduate and former Alexander McQueen intern Charlotte Tydeman excites with her unconventional yet feminine silhouettes. Foam bodices, powder-pink tulle nightgowns, bright-red ruffled skirts and white feathery slippers all come together in a ’50s-inspired symphony. But instead of the narrow waists and full skirts commonly associated with that time, Tydeman sends her models out on to the runway looking like twisted ladies; some of them almost resembling some kind of beautiful but deadly jellyfish. Glamcult especially appreciates how this designer’s overly dramatic shapes and sizes put a larger-than-life question mark behind formulaic femininity.

MADODA, photo: Anouk van Kalmthout

Gino Anthonisse

Wonderlust: Polish native Marta Twarowska came by way of Belgium to study at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp. Her distinguishing style is characterised by the eclectic and experimental: “I never close myself into one box.” Don’t Grow Up It’s a Trap is about staying young and fresh forever by tapping into the heart of our ­i nner child.

Primitive childlike drawings feature in Twarowska’s exaggerated textile layers, while her most recent collection Coo Coo Bananas plays with colour, silhouette, gender and ethnical dress. Her designs are originally based on the construction of a male suit, yet fitting all genders through adopting a small waistline and the wide shoulders details known to womenswear.

Coo Coo Bananas collection, photo: Kris De Smedt

Marta Twarowska

Wonderlust: Gino Anthonisse is a Dutch menswear designer and graduate of the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague. As a designer, Anthonisse is always searching for wonder. He believes that we think we know everything nowadays, and this mind set is reflected in our everyday lives. Because everything in life is declared and already has a reason, real wonder no longer exists in out society any more. Anthonisse likes to reflect on this by combining classic garments and ethnic elements with odd materials, techniques and accessories.

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Gc Platform

Words by Leendert Sonnevelt

Embody by Ari Versluis

Jean-Paul Lespagnard Anyone keeping track of our Embody series with photographer Ari Versluis up to this point knows that the liaison between a designer and his or her “muse’” is always a surprise. Whereas Demna Gvasalia put forward his solo partner-in-crime Lotta Volkova, and Gosha Rubchinskiy brought a hot squad of boys, our next-up designer is taking a different approach. Photographed with an assemblage of 35 (!) people, Jean-Paul Lespagnard demonstrates what his practice is about. Customers? Friends? Fans?

Supporters? Lovers? “Actually, it’s a bit of everything. I like to be surrounded by strong, enthusiastic people. I’m all about high energy.”

Diversity, as used in fashion, is a somewhat problematic term. Aside from being over-used, it’s often inap-

propriately employed to explain away things that really aren’t justifiable. Seeing the above shot, we don’t have to explain that in Lespagnard’s case diversity is the real deal. Not to forget his insurmountable, healthy dose of imagination. Bringing together Colombian-Mexican rap culture with the Maronite Church he encountered in Yucatán, Lespagnard entitled his latest collection Cheese on Fleek.

“I envisioned this mix: a Maronite girl going to the city, meeting Colombianos, and organizing a gang to sell cheese. But it’s not really about one girl; it’s about someone I create in my own fantasies.”

Lespagnard would like to stay far away from the “muse” moniker.

“I’m selling clothes to girls who are 20 and women who are aged 75; I go from size 34 to 46!” He continues: “This might sound pretentious, but in French you speak of mode de vie. I’d like to design that way instead. When I’m designing I’m thinking about being

joyful. There’s no age, no size, no gender to being joyful.” The designer’s practice doesn’t acknowledge limits.

Previously collaborating with a butcher, and more recently with the famous chocolatier Jean Galler to create Easter eggs, Lespagnard reaches far beyond his discipline. “Just look at Patrick, my graphic designer,” he points out. “He’s doesn’t come from a fashion background. I take him out of his box and put him in mine. My pattern designer works in theatre, so what she thinks about is movement. I’m the one who brings it all together and knows what the clothes are going to look like in the end. But even I can be surprised by the way my collection is styled, moments before the show.

That’s something I like.”

A self-described soldier, dependent on his fellows for staying alive, the relationship between Lespagnard and “his people” is essential. If he could dress anyone specifically, it would be the Queen of

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Thailand back in the ’60s. But also, he admits, there’s one living person he is devoted to. “Jennifer Lawrence!

The way she speaks and acts, I love her.” The artist would never design just for the actress, however: “She can be one of many...” Much like J-Law is the—credible—Queen of Change, Lespagnard’s work is that of a bright and ever-changing chameleon. “In fact,” he concludes dryly, “if this photo were taken in Paris rather than Brussels, it would look completely different.”

Embody is an ongoing collaborative project by photographer Ari Versluis and Glamcult, exploring the relationship between influential contemporary fashion designers and those who influence their work. Stay tuned for more. www.jeanpaullespagnard.com www.ariversluis.com

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Interviews

By Kelsey Lee Jones Photography: Masha Mel

Styling: Tess Yopp Hair: Louis Ghewy using Bumble and bumble.—The Book Agency Make-up: Lucy Pearson using MAC Cosmetics Model: Primrose Archer—Select Model Management All clothing Faustine Steinmetz archive and S/S16 collection

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Gc Interview

It all began with a humble pair of blue jeans, and now Faustine Steinmetz’s name is on everyone’s lips come fashion week. Known for its inspiring approach to the fashion presentation (think: peep shows and ­Salvador Dalí), the label stands out for its passionate approach to preserving real craftsmanship, and its “handmade artisan basics” are the result of transforming the iconic into the unexpected. Glamcult caught up with the French belle behind the eponymous London-based brand, talking hand looming, denim dreams and Insta-famous pooches.

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Faustine Steinmetz

When did you first find your connection with fashion design?

Probably when I was around 14 and I started cutting up all my jeans to turn them into other pieces of clothing.

I looked terrible but that was probably the start…

How was it coming to London ­a fter living and studying in France?

It was quite exciting. I’d grown up watching all those old Disney movies that were set in London so it always

felt like quite a magical place. After interning, I’d felt for a while that coming to London and getting to study at Central Saint Martins under the late Louise Wilson was vital for me if I wanted succeed in this industry. Both she and the school had such an amazing track record at the time, and many of the designers I looked up to at the time had come from there.

Preserving craft is at the heart of your label. What does true craftsmanship mean to you?

For me, true craftsmanship is caring about the item you’re working on, it’s about having passion for what you’re doing.

You like to share a lot of details of how each item is made. How important is it to you that customers see the process behind making a garment?

I like the idea of people knowing exactly where the piece has come from, which I think is important as I don’t think a lot of people stop to think of that

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when they’re buying a piece of clothing. I also like the idea of people having a personal connection with the piece.

We’re currently working on ways in which we can become more transparent and show more of the story behind the making of each piece. We also write the name of everyone who made the piece on the label so that people know exactly who made it for them.

Tell us about your own personal wardrobe…

I like the idea of minimal buying;

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Faustine Steinmetz I try to only ever buy items that I plan to keep for ever, so I usually have to save for a while before I buy anything. I’ve always been like that but looking at it now, for me there’s just so much waste.

Clothing has become so cheap that I think a lot of people just don’t see any value in what they’re buying any more.

When you start looking at the amount of clothes that never get worn after being bought in a store it’s quite shocking to think of the people who spend so much time making all those clothes.

Why do you prefer “presentations” to catwalk shows?

We’ve never really been about “the look” but more about the final piece, so the catwalk has never been that appealing to me as I feel like that’s really all about the girl. I find presen­ tations to be a better way of showing the world what I’m trying to create and have it be a much more engaging experience for the people who attend.

It’s funny, when I started people were always coming to tell me I would get to do catwalk soon. Very few people seem to understand that it was what we wanted to do and in a way it was always our end goal. It feels now like more people are looking at presentations as equal to a catwalk with more and more people choosing to show this way.

Could you tell us a little bit about your dogs? They seem to pop up in many of your photographs. Do they spend a lot of time with you at the studio?

I have two dogs, a Cocker Spaniel called Lily and a Pomeranian called Buzz. They come to work with us every day so they’re always here when people come to visit the studio and tend to get photographed quite a lot.

At the moment Buzz holds the record for most likes on Instagram between the two of them; Topshop posted an image of him that ended up getting 75,000 likes, along with a few comments about how he wasn’t really a dog but a cat… www.faustinesteinmetz.com

Do you have any favourite pieces you’ve created under your label?

I think the mohair jeans we made for our first collection will always hold a special place in my heart. I really love the way they look but it’s more that they pretty much are the reason why I started the label.

What draws you to the handicraft approach?

It’s my take on luxury, having someone spend time making a piece just for me feels really special to me.

What’s the story with your beautiful loom?

It was quite an impulsive purchase.

I was in a store in North London one day and I saw this wooden loom and decided I really wanted to try and learn how to weave.

What do you like so much about denim?

I like the codes, I like that I can play around with denim, it’s so recognizable to everyone and it has such a different meaning to us all so I find it very inspiring.

How do you stay inspired creatively?

I think I’m quite new to this, so staying creative hasn’t been a problem so far. I still have tons of ideas that I’ve never had the chance to do yet.

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Forehead (Tragic Anatomies), 1996

By Kelsey Lee Jones

Collapsing optimism in the face of hell and phantasmagoria, the work of ’90s Brit-art duo The Chapman Brothers is like a compendium of bad thoughts. Glamcult spoke with one half of the double death’s head following the launch of Fucking Hell—their new Amsterdam shop. Jake Chapman takes us through their infernal oeuvre spanning 20 years, sibling ribaldry and the art of contradiction: “It’s art that’s as shitty and filthy as the shitty filthy world.”

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Zygotic acceleration, Biogenetic de-sublimated libidinal model (enlarged x 1000), 1995

Jake & Dinos Chapman

They may be more self-proclaimed OAPs than YBAs (Young British Artists) these days, but Jake and Dinos Chapman, also known as the Chapman Brothers, are still getting up to their trademark art world perversions. Sometimes. Glamcult caught up with one half of the socalled “Brothers Grimm” following the launch of their new Amsterdam pop-up store in collaboration with Galerie Gabriel Rolt. Aptly situated amid the crimson glow of the Red Light District, the Fucking Hell shop is both an art exhibition and gift shop, where visitors can buy mini artworks and even get an original Jake Chapman drawing as a tattoo. “It’s new, but there’s no explicit strategy involved.

No interest in e-commerce. We have a website [selling miniature artworks], but its more webshite than website,” insists Jake.

Meanwhile, back in their native UK, Jake & Dinos made their debut appearance on Tatler Magazine’s “The People Who Really Matter” list this year. For those unfamiliar with this said list, it’s possibly one of the most schizophrenic around, comprising

623 people. But that’s not what makes it so bonkers—nor is it the fact that Tinie Tempah sneaks in among a top 40 primarily comprising royalty. The true curve ball is the fact that Jake ranks so much higher than Dinos. Jake figures: “It reads like an assassination wish list of all those provisionally nominated for the firing squad ‘come the revolution’…”

Curious about how it all started, Glamcult asks Jake what it’s really like to make art with his brother, and how it first came about. “If we were plumbers working together we might have killed each other by now, but the nature of making art allows for siblings to work together without murder being the inevitable outcome.”

The working relationship began in 1991, soon after the brothers graduated from London’s Royal College of Art. “The decision to collaborate was partially motivated by the sheer boredom of being so under-stimulated by the RCA,” confesses Jake. They’ve since twisted out an impressive and hellish oeuvre, which the art world has rapturously embraced—although Jake is underwhelmed: “Looking back

at our extensive body of work is a little like looking back at holiday snaps, which is always unrewarding and makes you wonder why you even bothered taking a camera on holiday. Looking back at our work is exactly the same.”

The Chapman Brothers are skilled in pushing buttons, and they’ve been doing so for the past 20 years with their distinct brand of gleeful negativity, crushing all optimism that gets in the way. Their work is heavy, somewhat challenging.

But if there’s one takeaway, it’s that they’re out to underwhelm expectations by producing work that fails to live up to any moral code; they’re in no way interested in conforming to society’s notions of the appropriate.

Through an array of phantasmagoria, they reach an infernal tableau, often dealing in stereotypes, hijacked codes and symbols (swastikas next to smiley faces) and sublime images of mortality. Much has been said about the dichotomy between horror and hilarity in relation to the Chapman Brothers’ work. They’re serious about humour, seeing laughter as a disruptive

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force that has the power to shatter rigid structures of self-control. The brothers believe the world is indeed comic, but the joke is on mankind.

Similarly, if you’re not able to laugh at this work, then perhaps the joke’s on you. “Those who are shocked by the work are already predisposed; it’s something they bring with them,” declared Dinos in an In Your Face interview with SHOWstudio in 2011.

“What exists, exists in the mind of the viewer, not in the object.” The artists are interested in how far they can go in squeezing erroneous interpretations from their audience.

The first work the Chapmans created as a duo was a nasty wall text in mud, and a wholly unholy version of Goya’s The Disasters of War plate, made by mutilating toy soldiers until they conformed to each of Goya’s 83 notorious etchings.

“Sacrilege!” cried some. They’ve psychedelically defaced genuine Adolf Hilter watercolours, entitling the results If Hitler Had Been a Hippy How Happy Would We Be. Death threats from Neo-Nazis became just one of the extreme reactions.

Token Pole, 1997

Jake & Dinos Chapman

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Yin + Yin, 1997

Jake & Dinos Chapman

Hell (2004) and its successor Fucking Hell (2008) were collections of nightmarish effigies depicting bloody war scenes as a hellscape cast inside glass vitrines, some arranged in the shape of a swastika. Fucking Hell was a reincarnation of the original Hell, which was lost in the so-called “Saatchi fire” (2004) that destroyed many famous works (including pieces

by Tracey Emin) stored in an art depot.

Oh, the magnificent synchronicity: hell goes up in flames (you couldn’t make it up). Just as synchronized as the fact that as we write this feature, BBC Radio 4 has released the satirical drama, Burn Baby Burn, which jokes that Saatchi himself was to blame.

Some of their most recognizable works are undoubtedly the Chapman Brothers’ child-like mannequin creatures, which they call “organisms”.

Anatomically transgressive, we see the crashing together of things that really don’t belong together and are left with problematic objects. An Italian children’s rights group branded their Piggyback (1998) statue “paedopornographic” and the tabloid press dubbed “paedophile art”.

The brothers themselves see them more like multidimensional accidents— like “Pin the Tail on the Donkey” gone wrong.

Another exhibition title, Bad Art for Bad People refers to a current in modernity. “The tendency to assume that a work of art should impose an idealistic version of the shitty filthy world was undermined by the proposition of a new form of art that was as shitty and filthy as the shitty filthy world—an art that eschewed beauty and talent and craft and all of the things embodied by enlightened teleology,” explains Jake. Bad people?

“Well, ‘bad boys of British art’ is an optimistic piece of journalistic shorthand. No, we’re not bad people at all.” Reputations aside, the brothers are very much engaged with the arts community and with activism. A few years ago they rallied support for protesting art students angered by the government and the media response to them, and by the notion that education was becoming a privilege and not a right. “The Can’t Pay Your Fees, We’ll Pay Your Fines campaign was assembled in

response to the UK Conservative Party’s attack on state education,” Jake explains. “What drove us to launch it is a sense of pure unadulterated hatred of the Conservative Party and anyone who sympathizes with them.”

This summer the Chapman Brothers have been invited to create works for the Whitechapel Gallery Children’s Commission. Some may wonder: how does one go from creating art that (in their own words) is not intended for children, to making something that seeks directly to engage with them? “Contradiction is an underrated facet of artistic agency—especially ours,” explains Jake.

“Having said that, the project was nothing to do with assuming we were making art. The only person making art was ‘I’, because ‘I’, unlike the children, am an artist. When a child writes a poem, lamentable as it invariably is, it is less than moronic to call them a poet.” Or in other words: “Hothouse progeny need to be defended from the emasculating mediocrity of their parents, or from the idea that art somehow expresses

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a ‘positivized naivety’ that artists and children share—embodied by some essential metaphysics.”

Chapman’s response? “Anyone selling it should have their eyeballs dipped in sand before being rammed up their arseholes!”

On that note, ‘All hope abandon, ye who enter here.’ In true Chapman style, the Fucking Hell shop in Amsterdam runs for an indefinite period (and may or may not be open by the time this issue is released). Catch them if you can. www.jakeanddinoschapman.com www.fuckinghelldasshop.com

Fuck Face, 1994

Jake & Dinos Chapman

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By Michelle Janssen Photography and styling: Lara Verheijden + Mark Stadman

Hair and make-up: Celine Bernaerts for Dermalogica—House of Orange Models: @1994roby, @hemaarhoedan, @lalala_lo_ra, @patrickcramer_ (Tomorrow Is Another Day), @rick_no_e, @rickystaggs, @rigonnystuger, @sofieschwab All clothing Sophie Hardeman S/S16 and A/W16

Sophie Hardeman is turning the world of denim upside down—sometimes quite ­literally. Breaking all conventions, the Amsterdam-based designer takes everybody’s favourite fabric and transforms it into deconstructed, gender-fluid clothes that couldn’t be further from your trusty 501s. She slayed at the recent New York Fashion Week, turning the runway into a dance floor (99 Red Balloons, anyone?)—in the process making Kylie Jenner her most ­famous fan yet.

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Gc Interview

Sophie Hardeman A recent graduate of Amsterdam’s prestigious Gerrit Rietveld Academie, Sophie Hardeman chose to study fashion because it is, in her words, “the most catchy and adaptable visual language”. That adaptability is directly interpreted in the versatility of her clothing, made for all and sundry, high and low. Her graduation collection, Out of the Blue, was promptly selected for Lichting, a catwalk competition presenting a selection of carefully picked graduates from all the fashion schools in the Netherlands. Despite not winning, Hardeman came to the attention of online fashion social network VFILES in New York, thanks to the power of Instagram. She’s without question on the ride of her life, and with her collection still physically in New York, ­H ardeman’s mind has already left Amsterdam. “I’d really like to go to LA. I lived there for half a year once, but it’s a potpourri of people and you have to rediscover it all the time.”

After graduation and before New York Fashion Week, Hardeman’s approach to fashion saw a smallscale but standout manifestation in ­A msterdam—a last hoorah, perhaps: “I really felt like creating, so I made a capsule collection more or less. I didn’t show at Amsterdam Fashion Week but at Fanfare, an old takeaway restaurant. I didn’t want to do another catwalk presentation, but something accessible to everyone. Everyone should be able to come, to see the clothes from up close, and enjoy Blue Curaçao and French fries!”

But back to those LA nights and the call from VFILES that changed every­ ­­t hing. “They wanted me to show in New York and I needed to arrange models, so they organized a street casting.

Most of the designers weren’t happy because of course only B-models showed up, blogger kids with pink hair. I thought it was super cool. There were also two very little people and a rather fat old man.” For Hardeman, who prefers to cast her models on the street and always brings a diversity of people and energies on to the runway, this was par for the course. She’s already infamous in Amsterdam for casting club icon ­G ertjan Franciscus and a range of the city’s coolest kids.

“Gertjan has been with me from the beginning. He also came with me to New York, actually organizing crowd funding through Facebook to pay for his trip. Within a day he got the job done. Working together with him has been amazing and he totally understands which direction I want to go in.

There were a couple of shows where stylists wanted to put their own touch on his make-up but he was like, ‘Nobody touches my hair!’ I really don’t have to look after him.”

And what of the clothes with which Hardeman is grabbing the in-

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dustry’s attention? Her conceptual take on denim challenges the public’s perspective by putting a question mark behind contemporary ideals of beauty and fetishizing the abnormal. And while that may seem revolutionary, it’s really a return to the core symbolic meaning of denim, jeans having always been a symbol of change—from women trading their skirts for denim in the ’70s to workwear replacing suits. Denim’s history is equal to freedom, yet today it often adheres to certain standards.

Hardeman aims to pierce through that conformity, in part with inspirational images of people ripping out of their jeans. “I make things that are super familiar, but just a tad different. In my first collection quite literally everything was out of proportion and inverted.

The following capsule collection was more about discomfort: jeans that don’t really fit and skinny jeans that give you a fat, jelly ass. The discomfort and the misfit make it a little enticing,” she explains. “Some things aren’t as obvious as they seem. There’s a particular image of everything and there are many unwritten rules of what’s normal or how someone can look good.” Seeing a thong through tight pants is just one example of Hardeman’s own takes on enticement, but her work includes denim in all shapes possible—disproportionate, deconstructed, bleached, cut and flared.

In a shopping-obsessed culture that needs a break from the need to be on-trend, as well as the mindless consumption of clothes that feeds a terrifying system of production, pieces with a deeper meaning are both needed and appreciated. Like other “unfashionable” clothes being reclaimed—think: Vetements’ taking a DHL tee to the catwalk—Hardeman reuses normative clothing and recycles the concept, rolling right into today’s zeitgeist. “It’s a philosophy of ideas.

People buy an item and thus they buy ideas, it’s something symbolic. I think mass production is disgusting. Apart from people having more knowledge about fashion and H&M introducing a so-called more sustainable line, people are more open to a more sustainable manner of existence.” Making use of recycled denim, the designer expresses her vision in a responsible way. Describing her new collection, to be shown at NYFW again, as her “save-the-worldcollection”, Hardeman hints at a heroinspired theme. Picture: young talent flocking together to embrace her genderless, conceptual clothes imbued with new meanings. Does that make her brand unisex? “It’s uni-sexy,” she concludes. www.hardemanonline.com

Sophie Hardeman

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By Emily Vernon Photography: Ina Niehoff

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Hinds, Hinds, Hinds. If you didn’t get the memo, everyone loves this all-female ­garage-rock foursome. While they’ve ­already charmed the world with their ­don’t-give-a-shit, do-everything-possible attitude, they’re just getting started. In ­between release-party-hopping for their ­debut album, lead singer and guitarist ­Carlotta Cosials caught up with Glamcult for a conversational round trip about what it means to be “rock and roll soldiers”.

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Hinds

Hinds (fka Deers) bring back that youthful culture lost to everyone who takes themselves too damn seriously.

The spontaneous perfection of this Madrid-based ensemble reassures us that you don’t need to look your best to be your best, and that songs governed strictly by harmony—or key—are as flat as a boring conversation. Before their 25th birthdays, Carlotta Cosials, Ana García Perrote, Ade Martín and Amber Grimbergen learned that life has three certainties: best friends, bad days and opinionated onlookers.

Even fearless, DIY-spirited rockers experience down moments. Like all of us, they too are subject to negative energies—but for them, there is the music: “I think about Bamboo or I think about the album and I think this is worth it, completely worth it,” Cosials confirms. And for those other off days

or disastrous gigs? “You look to your sides, and you look at each other, and it’s like, at least I’m here with my friends.”

It’s this best-friend phenomenon that makes Hinds both unmistakable and irreplaceable. Rock royalty like The Libertines, Glass Animals, The Vaccines and Black Lips—bands Hinds have supported over the last few years— clearly agree.

The bond between Cosials, Perrote, Martín and Grimbergen is strengthened by disparity. For every personality type, there’s a Hinds’ member. Perrote is the most secure; Grimbergen “super transparent” and Martín “more balanced”. And Cosials herself? “I’m not going to talk about myself because I think it’s going to be weird,” she says. Fair enough…

The (now) quartet began as a duo comprising Cosials and Perrote.

A cocktail of breakup gloom, beach

getaway, two guitars and no Wi-Fi ignited the girls’ interest in starting a band in 2011. It gave them a new purpose—not to mention a new ­p astime, since neither had previous experience. Fast-forward three years and the pair exploded on Bandcamp after releasing Demo with tracks Bamboo and Trippy Gums. Martín and Grimbergen joined soon after on bass and drums respectively, to expand Hinds’ sound.

Before your jealousy bubbles over at the fact that they went from beach guitar-strumming to SXSW, Glastonbury Festival and Festival ­I nternacional de Benicàssim, heed their warning: “All our heart, all our sweat, all our time—even money— and all our brains have been completely, totally in this album, for this album, to this album,” Cosials explains.

Leave Me Alone, their debut album

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released earlier this year, backs up the investment with attitude. As the ­t itle suggests, the girls don’t want to be bothered by anyone. If you have a suggestion for Hinds on how they can be more this or more that, the hotline is not open for your calls.

As the first Spanish band to take over one of Glastonbury Festival’s main stages, Hinds have reason to celebrate. Madrid’s thriving garage-rock scene doesn’t usually draw much international fanfare— although it was this tight-knit community that practically raised the members of Hinds. For instance, Diego Garcia, front man of The Parrots, not only produced all of their tracks but also joined Hinds with his full band for joint projects. We hope some of the girls’ favourite Spanish bands, including The Parrots, Mujeres, Los Nastys, Lois and El Ultimo Vecino, will benefit from

Hinds

the door they’ve propped open.

Leave Me Alone is as much a modern anthem as it is a vintage collec­ tible. The sound takes you back to 1960s chill town or 1990s raw rock with songs like San Diego and Castigadas En El Granero. The album arouses the urge to either go on a summer road trip or leave your desk job (if you have one).

But the subtleties in the lyrics ground their music in the contemporary. Indulging such details seems, to Cosials, like “uncovering a magic trick or something.” So we’ll leave the sorcery behind and focus on the process.

“It’s weird because inspiration has nothing to do with how many hours you spend working on the thing,” Cosials begins.“Sometimes you have it, sometimes you don’t. So when you’re in a rush and you really need a chorus for tonight you’re fucked up. You’re fucked up.”

When Hinds’ popularity in 2015 left the girls with a 133-gig schedule, not much time remained to create Leave Me Alone. Cosials and Perrote waited until returning to Madrid to cook up the lyrics for the entire group. A state of urgency emerged for three reasons: 1.) The studio booking in April 2015 was set; 2.) Not everything was finished; 3.) Emotions eventually evaporate. “We didn’t want to lose the feelings we had and we just wanted to use them,” Cosials says. “[If] we were feeling more sad, or more furious, or more tired or just jet-lagged or whatever, we just used it in the writing.”

Back in Madrid, the original duo took bits of their lives and shaped them into something tangible.

First things first. “We talk about the images we want [in Spanish]—if we want to be super focused or if we want to be super general and more

poetic or if we want to be more dreamy or more realistic.” Nothing is off limits for Cosials and Perrote, including more intimate thoughts. “If I’m feeling something, I’m telling Ana. And if Ana is feeling something, she’s telling me,” Cosials admits. Sharing helps the girls avoid the “big artist ego” that can so easily cut through a group of young musicians. Translating your emotions from Spanish to English, then to lyrics and finally to a track with instrumentals and structure, is more comparable to cooking than baking: it’s exact… enough. However, the result does not always turn out golden on first attempt.

When Hinds came together to finish Garden, a track from their latest album, something wasn’t right. After nine hours spent searching for a chorus, half of the band called it quits. At 10pm, only Cosials and Perrote remained to give it one last go. And by midnight,

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in a cloud of exhaustion, the duo succeeded. “When your body is super, super, super off, and it’s only your mind and heart working, I don’t know why but I guess your senses are weaker, so you just open yourself more easily.”

Cosials sums Hinds up flawlessly when she talks about role models.

“We take a little bit of other people and I think that’s cool, because in that way you’re not trying to imitate anybody, but at the same time you’re making your own path.” Hinds are more than just a debut album. They represent a jamboree of fresh air that shows the world that, when it comes to their life and their music, these girls really do know best. www.hindsband.com

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Oliver: top Cottweiler James: shirt Berthold

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By Ruben Baart and Michelle Janssen Photography: Sophie Mayanne

Styling: Hollie Clark

Snakehips Lovingly adopted by Tumblr and YouTube communities, Snakehips’ credibility grows stronger every day. The London duo’s latest single, All My Friends—released with Tinashe and Chance the Rapper—steadily holds its place on top of the charts, and in just four short years Oliver Lee and James Carter have made a name for themselves by exceeding the limits of electronic R&B. With a first album on its way, Glamcult had the pleasure of meeting the light-hearted boys.

Mick Jagger aside, the first thing “Snakehips” calls to mind is probably flexible yet awkward dancing. It’s also the exact response you can expect from your body when listening to this duo’s tracks. According to James Carter—dubbed by many one of the finest saxophonists of our times—the origin of their name lies with Lee: “He had this old pair of jeans that were a bit too tight. His friends used to get him to pull them up and do a funny dance—and thus Snakehips was born.”

If dad dancing named them, it was fate that brought Lee and Carter together. The pair met while on separate business trips in 2012 at a sake bar in Hong Kong, and continued talking about their mutual love for music on a flight back to Los Angeles.

Once back in London, the two hit it off in the studio and have been collaborating ever since. Their first remix, of Wild Belle’s It’s Too Late, went viral and in 2013 they released first single, On & On, on their own record label, Hoffman West. The rest is history. Suffice to say, they’re probably responsible for those tracks that come up in random YouTube mixes and have you hitting “LIKE”, dragging you into a virtual world of addictive beats that run through all their productions.

Snakehips seem to be on top of everything that’s now and so it’s of little wonder that almost all their songs get picked up by widely endorsed YouTube channel Majestic.

Their style might be best described as a mix of electronic R&B and summery vibes, and finds its influence in ’90s hip hop, disco and vintage soul. Often nostalgic, their tracks nevertheless remain firmly planted in the digital age, with their electronic bleeps and shimmering synths.

“We borrow from the past to make music for the future,” Carter declares.

There’s often a vocal aspect on top of Snakehips’ beats—which is not uncommon in electronic music.

Where they do defy convention, though, is in the importance they place on those vocals: “We definitely get put into the electronic and dance music camps, where a lead vocal is not always necessary, but we like to bring classic songwriting and mix it with these contemporary genres.”

From remixing existing songs to working together with the coolest kids, Snakehips has evolved into an esteemed producing duo, with the seal of approval from everyone from Lorde to Years & Years. While this is no doubt thanks, in part, to the power of internet fame, they’ve also built experience around solid musical foundations: “Both of us have a strong musical background,” says Carter.

“Ollie played the saxophone and I played the drums for years. We both dabble on guitar and piano too.

Both of our parents are really into music as well, which was definitely a blessing growing up.” Carter continues: “My dad used to take me to

Ronnie Scott’s [legendary jazz club in Soho, London] as a child. I remember I used to be fascinated by the musicians, but then I’d always fall asleep halfway through as we went to the late shows!”

It’s safe to say that last year was a crazy good one for Snakehips.

Not only on account of extensive touring through the US and Europe— with the one and only Major Lazer— but also solidified with a nomination for “Best Newcomer” at the MOBO Awards. It becomes especially evident that these boys are enjoying the ride when we ask about their plans for collaborating with different artists and dreams about playing with live bands: “We’d love to and will do it at some point. We’re just waiting for the right time. At the moment it’s just fun going around the world throwing parties and just spinning fun tunes.” All of which makes “now” seem like the exact moment for them to drop their long-awaited album. Yet they remain tight-lipped no matter how hard we squeeze. For now, it seems, they’re channelling their energy towards future collabs: “Ollie really wants to get in the studio with Azealia Banks,” says Carter. “We have to make this happen somehow!” Which leaves us to seek comfort in 2015’s Forever Pt.2 EP. While they have a clear approach to their working methods, part of what makes Snakehips so good is their flexibility and adaptable

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vibe. “We usually rock up to sessions with some song ideas and beats and then go from there. If they’re feeling something then we’ll go with it, but if not we’ll start something new.” This attitude extends to their success and goes beyond the often-restricting form of self-producing and the fear of becoming monotonous. Instead, they see the power of collaboration.

Snakehips surely know how to create sexy summer vibes. Whether in bed, bath or beyond, they’ll provide uncomplicated tunes to accompany your booze-infused Saturday nights, as well as lazy Sundays. Where will they be ten years from now? “Hopefully somewhere sunnier!” Until then, they’ll continue translating sun flares into music. www.soundcloud.com/snakehips

Gc Interview

By Kelsey Lee Jones Photography: Yaël Temminck

Eliot Sumner After a few years spent anonymously in the underground scene, Eliot Sumner has shaken off her former “Coco” moniker to reimagine both her self and her sound. New album Information is full of dark undertones, hinting at both Kraftwerk and krautrock, with some stalker songs thrown in for good measure.

“It’s desperate, emotional and aggressive.”

Eliot “Coco” Paulina Sumner (1990) signed with Island Records at the tender age of 17, releasing a series of Scandi-pop-influenced records under the I Blame Coco signature. Some eight years on, Eliot Sumner (now known as) chats to us about escaping the shackles of her past and her new incarnation. Proud of the music she’s made of late, she takes ownership by putting her real name to it. Melodically enlightened—and perhaps a touch more worldly wise—Sumner is conscious now that she sabotaged her own career, by being too doe-eyed and unsure of what she really wanted: “I just wasn’t into it. I was unhappy. I’m much happier with what I’m doing currently.” With that happiness comes control, and “a real direction, a plan and a concept”.

Sumner’s spirit is more upbeat these days, despite her pensive (but oh-so-attractive) aura. Curious about the evolution of her sound, Glamcult asks about the last few years. “I’ve been working on projects in the underground scene that have helped me grow as a musician. I’ve kept it anonymous for the past three years which has been very liberating, creatively,” she explains. The debut album, titled Information, marks a new sense of maturity. The sound remains in the electronic realm but is now shaded with a darker edge—think: a throwback to Nick Cave, her teenage love, yet with a rush influenced by

the propulsive motor rhythms of Kraftwerk and the lustre of 1980s synths.

Textually, the album is made up of sombre lyrics. Eponymous title song Information sums up the whole album for Sumner: “It’s desperate, emotional and aggressive,” she says. The eerily titled I Followed You Home, meanwhile, is a stalker song—“I like to write from a dark place”. Inspirations for Sumner’s new sound include Krautrock and “a lot of electronic music like Legowelt, Blue Daisy, Nils Frahm and Pye Corner Audio”.

With eyes like twin planets and a face as beautifully stern-looking as Sumner’s, it’s no wonder the fashion world is fascinated by her as well. KTZ snapped her up as part of its model cast for the label’s A/W16 menswear show—leading the catwalk in a headto-toe biker look, fiercely androgynous.

The timing was apt: in December 2015, Sumner revealed that she doesn’t feel the need to identify with a particular gender, eschewing any kind of label.

In spite of her fashion-world prowess, Sumner prefers to dress down and shun the glamour; she lives in her KTZ tracksuit bottoms, often in black, with her skin bare and hair natural.

Brooklyn, New York is home(ish) to Sumner, who spends her time between Williamsburg and the family abode in Wiltshire, England, where she grew up. Perhaps unsurprisingly given her musical family (her father is Sting—yes,

the Sting), Sumner found her guitar hands by the age of just six (one of four instruments she currently plays), and today you’ll catch her performing live on dad’s vintage bass. The artist’s family is clearly behind her with love, but she makes it very known that she is out to ossify her own style—and nobody else’s. So in other words, the less mentioned about her dad, the better. Growing up, music was always practiced sub rosa, a secret not because she was afraid her music would be compared to her dad’s, but because music was a place that she could escape to, fearing that if she let anyone else in, they would ruin it.

Today—much to the gratitude of her fans—she’s finally ready to share that secret world.

Coco and the Ladyboys was Sumner’s first band, and her earliest formative punk CDs—by Pink Floyd and the Sex Pistols—gave a shy girl something to identify with. Her first favourite song was Ian Dury’s Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick, and she’d like to literally hit people with her drumsticks while singing along. Perhaps her knack for writing songs grew though the obsession with the English language she discovered as a teen. Fascinated by how words work, her favourite authors include Aldous Huxley (for whom her cat is named) and TS Eliot (the inspiration for her own name).

Sumner found herself far less content

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at school than when playing guitar and piano—alone—or wandering the family’s woodland estate. While growing up, Sumner confesses to feeling “emotionally extreme”, and struggled to govern her moods and their unpredictable swings—which is why she is so grateful to have music in her life, a channel for all those feelings to become something positive and creative. “I need to make music, it’s my creative outlet,” she says simply.

Physically, boxing has become a new cathartic hobby that helps fend off panic attacks.

Despite the obvious shadowy feeling of Information, we can’t ignore the element of hope that runs through too. Perhaps it’s inspired by her journey into self-knowledge. “The album is emotional but in my own way of being emotional. It’s never apologetic,” Sumner explains. Feeling no need to apologize, she has embraced her true self. Now she thrives on her own feelings of anxiety, treating them as a creative catalyst, finding comfort in the discomfort. The place where she feels insecure is also where she finds peace. www.eliotsumner.com

Gc Interview

Visual Essays

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Gc Interview

Wilson: red jacket Hardy Amies Libaan: navy jacket Ed Lee

Wilson: top Dior, glove Cornelia James

Libaan: green jumper Kenzo, Wilson: red jumper Contemporary Wardrobe

Wilson: coat Ed Lee, waistcoat Contemporary Wardrobe, trousers McQ Alexander McQueen

Libaan: shirt Contemporary Wardrobe, scarf Xander Zhou

Wilson: suit Hardy Amies, top Ed Lee, shoes Clarks Originals

Libaan: jumper Jac + Jack, trousers Contemporary Wardrobe Wilson: top Contemporary Wardrobe, trousers McQ Alexander McQueen

Photography: Alexandra Leese—Saint Luke Artists Styling: Charlotte Roberts—The Book Agency Hair: Louis Ghewy—The Book Agency Make-up: Jessica Taylor using MAC Cosmetics Models: Libaan and Wilson Set design: Derek Hardie Martin Assistants photography: David Mannion and Tristan Fennell Assistants styling: Issy Martin and Phoebe Salmon

Aneliese: body American Apparel, necklace stylist’s own Right Ella: jumper American Apparel, shirt Hugo Boss, tie ASOS

Aggie: top Capezio, jeans April77, scarves Rockins

Rowena: dress Diesel

Ella: jumper and necklace Chanel Right Aneliese: shirt and shorts By SUN

Photography: Michiel Meewis—Cake Film & Photography Styling: Tom Eerebout Hair: Kiyoko using Bumble and bumble.—SANO Make-up: Dora V. Simson and Shelley Blaze using MAC Cosmetics Models: Aggie—Next Management, Aneliese—Profile Model Management, Ella and Rowena—Models 1 Assistant photography: Thomas Chatt

meet the new

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Stockists Acne Studios www.acnestudios.com

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American Apparel www.americanapparel.com

Dior www.dior.com

April77 www.april77.fr

Ed Lee www.ed-lee.com

ASOS www.asos.com

Faustine Steinmetz www.faustinesteinmetz.com

Berthold www.berthold-uk.com

Hardeman www.hardemanonline.com

Bumble and bumble. www.bumbleandbumble.com

Hardy Amies www.hardyamies.com

By SUN www.bysun.co.uk

Hugo Boss www.hugoboss.com

Capezio www.capezio.com

Jac + Jack www.jacandjack.com

Chanel www.chanel.com

Levi’s www.levi.com

Clarks Originals www.clarksoriginals.com

MAC Cosmetics www.maccosmetics.nl

Contemporary Wardrobe www.contemporarywardrobe. com

McQ Alexander McQueen www.mcq.com

Cornelia James www.corneliajames.com Cottweiler www.cottweiler.com Diesel www.diesel.com

Rockins www.rockins.co.uk

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CHARLOTTE TYDEMAN, A WOMAN LIKE ME, 2015 | PHOTOGRAPHY BY MASHA MEL