Polyester zine Issue One

The Launch Issue

Brie Moreno

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Welcome to Polyester Polyester is a celebration of all things trash, kitsch and camp. A backlash against the fashion industry’s infatuation with understated and over conceptualised minimalism, Polyester aims to prove that this subculture is both an informer of fashion and has an equally intellectual underpinning. We’ve all grown up on the Internet so much so that the lines have blurred between our IRL and URL, but here at Polyester we noticed that what we’re reading about

Images: www. Pixel-galore.tumblr.com, www.thedollpalace.com

online is barely penetrating the real world. Other publications may touch on it, featuring our leaders in an isolated feature or themed ‘girls’ issue, but we all know our interests are worth so much more than that.

We want to be recognised as real human beings offline and online, not just ‘digifeminist’ or emotional and hormonal young adults using the Internet as a way to let off some steam. We want the internet generation to know their online posts about bullying, racism, sexual orientation, and other social politics are worth much more than 1,000 notes on Tumblr, they should be publically written in newspapers and pasted on walls around the city so people who don’t use the internet know who these many individuals are. Polyester aims to lead the change in youth culture and society. We wish to educate and celebrate our culture by embracing the crazy!

EDITOR

FEATURES EDITOR

Ione Gamble

Afi Baaqi

ART DIRECTOR

JUNIOR FASHION EDITOR

Kayla Martinez

Jilian Banjoko

FASHION EDITOR

CONTRIBUTING EDITOR

Rosie Williams

Claudia Walder

COPYRIGHT & DISCLAIMER All rights reserved. No part of this publication msy be reproduced in whole or part without written permissino from publishers. © 2014 Polyester. The views expressed in Polyester are those of the respective contributors and Editor, and are not necessarily shared by the publisher. These parties cannot be held responsible for them.

Cover by Arvida Byström

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The first time I saw the comic book Emmy I was left amazed.

Its accessible drawing style encroaches on your memories, comparing itself closer to your battered edition of Garfield as opposed to the heady, polished works of Marvel. The characters are sweetly deformed, acting out sickly narratives of awkward, adolescent dramas. It felt painfully recognisable and personal, even in the eyes of a comic book virgin.

Emmy is the brainchild of Josephine Mairead King Edwards, more infamously known on the Tumblrsphere as JMKE. At the age of 19, Josie is an established comic book artist and illustrator, whose comics sit in stores across America. Her most poignant creation Emmy tells a tale of the green teenage elf, whose fucked up encounters are very much an autobiographical account of Josie’s life, and that of her friends. “It is totally autobiographical, with a few twists. It’s about all the awkward moments in my life, stuff I have heard people say, all the boyfriends I have had. I just exaggerate features I think are funny about someone and turn it into a character.” With the delicious authenticity of her characters and the addictive nature of the book itself, it’s surprising that Emmy wasn’t always a budding seed in Josie’s mind.

“I think it seems isolating and alienating for young girls thinking about comics. There is a gap

I am attempting to fill in

the market in terms of

things that are relatable

in this interest for young women” The independent publisher, Space Face Books, approached Josie after they saw a 6-page comic she had designed for friend and comic creator Simon Hanselmann. “Space Face got in contact with me saying they had seen some of my comics and thought they were funny and liked the art style. They gave me 3 months to create something and told me they would publish whatever I came up with. It was high pressure but I didn’t let that worry me, I just wanted to get it done so I didn’t lose the opportunity. I curated it whilst studying for my A Levels, I sent it back to them and they printed it with no problems.”

When talking of her publisher, Josie is keen to highlight how male-dominated the field of comic book art is. “I’m pretty sure I am the only or one of few girls who has been published by Space Face Books. I definitely think there is a big lack of female comic artists, because when people think of comics you instantly get the whole kind of macho, superhero type stuff that comes to you and girls aren’t able to access stuff that they can relate to. It seems alienating for young women thinking about comics. There is a gap in the market in terms of things that are genuinely

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relatable for us as opposed to stuff that is simply targeted at men.” Josie is part of a community of female artists using ‘unconventional’ mediums, to connect to their peers. Male driven forms of media, whether it is porn or comics, are no longer so isolating for curious female teens.

An honest exploration of complex themes such as drug taking and masturbation is refreshingly portrayed in Josie’s artwork. Drawing on memories of early teen-hood, where emotionally triggered bouts of narcissism and impending feelings of doom are the norm, Emmy wittily deconstructs the psychology behind a “dick pic” and references the modern phenomenon of ‘substance shaming’. It would be naïve to ignore the therapeutic essence of her narratives, as each strip is a revival of real life occurrences. In her words, “it is turning them into a joke. I’m not making fun of those experiences- it’s just being able to look at them and say ‘that was funny’ as opposed to ‘that was haunting.’”

In many ways Josie is her own hero, while her comics exist without any outward patriarchy, it is Josie’s main aim to inspire other girls to discover comic book art and express themselves in whichever creative way they see fit. Without Tumblr, Josie would not yet have felt the impact her work has already had on other girls; this communicative fan base is essential to the progression of her work. “I pretty much owe everything I have done now to the Internet, all of my opportunities have been through the Internet, I developed my drawings by putting my awful ones up online when I was 15, getting feedback and developing.

Literally everything that I can do now is from the Internet, so when people say, “you spend too much time online”, it depends how you use it because it has totally improved my life in a sense.” Despite this,“I would say that there are cons to putting my work up on Tumblr, because the only way you can judge how good it is by the amount of notes. It turns into a weird popularity contest.

When a drawing gets like one note it’s really heartbreaking because you have worked hard and people don’t appreciate it.”

We can all attest to the negative elements of social media, web personas and the absorbing addiction of our Tumblr homepage; and Josie is eager to highlight her desire for a future community that exists outside of the virtual web. “Everything moves so fast all the time so

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“I am interested in the link between magic and women in terms of the treatment of witches in the middle ages.”

I doubt Tumblr will still be the platform for artists in the future. When I’m 28 I fucking hope I’m not on Tumblr. I hope I have a real life community that I can get feedback and appreciation in a real life sense rather than to rely on little notes to make me feel good about my work.”

In the upcoming year Josie will be moving to Australia to collaborate with Simon Hanselmann, whose comic series Megg, Mogg & Owl was an unmistakable inspiration for Emmy. Referring to some of her other influences, such as Daniel Clowes and Todd Solondz, Josie is consciously looking to develop characters and stories that are less autobiographical than Emmy.

I imagine she’ll jump this hurdle with ease, as her imagination is already a sparkling cauldron of ideas. Other than new fictitious stories, we sit with bated breath as the sequel to Emmy has been confirmed. “Space Face have asked me to do a sequel so when I find time I am going to write that and I’m going to make it longer and double it to 40 pages.”

There is no doubt that Josie’s ambition and rapid development will make her a big name in the future, she’s definitely already worth a Tumblr stalk.

Words by Claudia Walder

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Sweet Notings

Images: http://fuckyeah-pixels.tumblr.com

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Concept and Styling by Alice Whiting Photography by Benjamin C . M. Backhouse Food Styling by Laura Rogers Assistant; Claire Pearson

The 90K Gang

Beneath the clutter of awkward penguin memes, screenshots of movie scenes, and gifs of food floating in space, there’s a group of Tumblr users who’ve created a group called the 90K Gang, with all members sharing a common interest of fashion.

The fashion ringleaders of Tumblr are eager to educate the average Joe’s and Jessie’s about the ins and outs of the fashion industry, and would rather tell you about their latest online purchases than cyber bullying tweens. Sharing images of models misbehaving, designer collections ranging from Celine to Maison Martin Margiela and images of people using illegal substances are only a few of the ways the 90K gang are hoping to make their mark on the Internet.

The 90K gang should be noted as a threat to all you Tumblr users who think gaining 100k followers in one night is an easy task. Don’t label them as a group of fashion bloggers, although they’re dedicated to the conversation around the topic of fashion, the gang believe they approach fashion writing differently. “You should be able to review an entire catwalk show in one sentence, a relatable gif or a thoughtful selfie that shows emotion”, says Aneka, better known as anekatips on Tumblr.

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The gang is currently on hiatus and coming up with a new way to display their interests that will include daily webcam chats with their followers.

The online collective is made up of 23 members, and anekatips describes the group as a new voice for all fashion bloggers. “We’re trying to become a new collective of fashion bloggers. We choose to be arrogant and sassy when answering questions sent by our followers because fashion shouldn’t be taken lightly and seen as just being cool. It’s something we all find serious and believe it should be reviewed in the context of history and iconic designers who have paved the way for trends”

Images: 90k-gang.tumblr.com

Fellow 90k member Lada, whose url name is pornfortheblind says, “Shit like the Jeremy Scott and Moschino collaboration is why I’m so happy the 90k gang exists. Basic bitches troll the Internet thinking it’s the hottest thing to hit the fashion scene, but it’s not. The collection is literally a hot mess. I wouldn’t be surprised if Jeremy Scott actually deep-fried some bags in McDonald’s greasing pans to find some inspiration. Just ew.”

Their edgy and cynical online personas are feared and worshipped by followers in the real world to. A member from the group has brought her online cred to the streets to show everyone what having 15k followers is all about. Julia Katherine, better known as incanti on Tumblr is the fashion aware feisty version of Daria mixed with a bit of Regina George. She could qualify as a runner in the selfies olympics as she’s able to hold emotionless facial expressions in photos that express pure attitude. A solid member of the 90K Gang, she has been approached IRL and referred to as incanti. Guys have also sent Julia photos of herself with their own cum on it and her inbox is full of heart filled messages about her followers personal lives. Julia finds everything weirdly flattering and says, “a memorable story

from a follower who constantly sent me messages was when he went dumpster diving and found two kilos of candy as well as a whole heap of strange lit erotica’”. Memorable indeed, I would have asked for his number, not!

The 90K gang aren’t using their online space to promote fashion label handouts or gifts either. Almost all of the members of the 90K gang are employed and save up their own money to buy Givenchy, Alexander Wang, and Vliger & Vandam. So before you start thinking that you really relate to what the 90k gang stand for and want to join their group, Julia’s final words for Polyester readers is “Get on our level and stop dressing like Paris Hilton circa 2005.”

Words by Afi Baaqi

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My Girl LolLipop

Hair by Sharmaine Cox @ BLEACH LDN Featuring Maria Pizzeria, Marlowe Tatiana grandados/lorde inc, Hevin Sener and Arvida Bystrรถm

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Arvida

Byström

We all know why Arvida Byström is important. Her pastel perfect photography deconstructing the feminine gender code made us all question why we were so freaked out about growing armpit hair, getting our period, or secretly wanting to keep our My Little Ponies.

Images: pixel-galore.tumblr.com

She may have gained her fan base online, but Arvida’s success doesn’t end there, with her work recently being featured everywhere from Rookie and Vice to Swedish clothing company Monki. Arvida’s also Meadham Kirchhoff’s muse, has her very own dress named after her, and was even credited as being extremely important to the thinking behind their Spring/Summer 2012 collection- and yes- that is the collection we all wish we all owned every single piece from.

The Kinderwhore, Riot Grrl inspired collection in which each item was named after a female idol, from Courtney love to Madonna and Arvida, an icon in her own right.

After moving from her hometown Stockholm to London, an experience that she says has bagged her more jobs both in England and Sweden, Arvida set up Gal Space. “Me and Hannah got the studio six months ago now and it was more like ‘we actually have a studio on the bottom floor, we could start to have shows or something here.’”

Arvida uses to Gal to exhibit both her own and others work, host pop up shops and generally hang out with her friends. It’s basically the space we all dreamt of having since tweenage-hood, from its pink floor to the neon lights. Now Arvida’s curating Gal solo and striving for a more communal feel, “I think it would be really nice to do some workshops here. It’s just like I have a space, I want other people to be able to use it as well.” It’s this community driven atmosphere that removes

Gal from other galleries and exhibition spaces. If you’ve visited Gal then you’ll know and understand that the movement is way bigger than something reduced to a fad- a patronisation that Arvida is endlessly tired of, “The media just want to find the trendiest people instead of presenting it as a movement, which it is for me and a whole load of other people.” Despite criticising those that restrict her work to something existing in isolation online, Arvida is quick to praise the girls within her online circle, expressing that she experiences, “a sense of girl power and supporting of each other even if its just by re-blogging each others posts.

Instead of being way jealous we are being inspired by each other. I find it really supportive.”

IRL Gal regulars include Beth Siveyer of Girls Get Busy Zine, Maria Pizzeria, Vanessa Omoregie and designer Ahida Agirre. All practising different artistic mediums, this is a group of young A model since she was 16, Arvida was dropped from a commercial agency because “my hips were a bit too big”. Now with anti agency- an agency for ‘people who are too cool to be models’-she still finds her

relationship with modelling problematic “The whole premise of me being a model now is that I’m still considered to be ‘street casted’”.

Despite being a fairly generic model in terms of proportions, she finds herself considered ‘edgy’ due to her pastel hued hair and hairy armpits. Arvida has previously blogged about her moral struggle when taking on modelling jobs, a frustration that’s apparent when talking to her, “themed models are still a problem because then they are just themed. Presenting certain type of people as breaking the mould results in the audience seeing it as a contrast instead of seeing it as something that should be as common as the norm. Just fucking make people of colour or people that aren’t size two in shows more often.”

Arvida aims to break away from these norms through her artwork, “I would like my work to present an alternative option from the status quo. Anything is an option and you don’t have to stick to what you see. That’s usually how it goes, you want to become what you’re used to seeing in the media. I want my art to develop a new norm as opposed to just questioning these pre existing ideals.” She uses colour as a tool to highlight the messages within her photography, “I think colours can make things accessible.

What I like about colour is the kind of immediate reaction it spurs. People wont love all my aesthetics, but even that is a reaction to my use of colour”. Its hardly surprising that Arvida places her use of colour on an equal par with the importance of a shoots concept, claiming that within her work, one would not work without the other. Attributing her love of all things pastel to being brought up in a westernised traditional girly environment that bred a love for princesses, Arvida doesn’t understand the tendency to pressure girls to throw out their toys. Resenting the fact that when a girl expresses girlish femininity she’s called a Lolita, whereas a boy playing video games is seen as totally normal.

called out for cultural appropriation to the stream of essays on racism, feminism and intersectionality filling up your dashboard, its this peer education that makes us more self aware than any generation before us. This is apparent in the way Arvida approaches her work, and she’s quick to recognise the own issues within her new venture Gal Space.

When discussing how she chooses artists to exhibit at the gallery she expresses, “its hard because obviously I want it to be diverse with lots of different people exhibiting. I find that quite difficult- basically its mainly white people approaching me”. Self aware and totally endearing, its hard to believe Arvida’s claim that she was a horrible person growing up.

Her photography is constantly questioning. It’s an element of her work that’s easy to forget about whilst endlessly scrolling through Tumblr striving to re-blog the prettiest pictures. But it’s this constant reclaiming, questioning and redefining of gender ideals that makes her so interesting, both as an artist and a human being.

Words by Ione Gamble

“I think

colours can make

things accessible. What I like about colour is the

kind of immediate reaction

Developing your work- or your identityonline often leads to a serious of unlearning problematic ideas. Its something we’re all familiar with. Through a cycle of being embarrassed the first time you were

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it spurs.”

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CLOTHES MINDED

Asudari “

Gemma Goldstone “No-one is willing to push the boundaries anymore.�

Luke Anthony Rooney “A girl who has balls -that’s really inspirational.”

FAYE L FRASER “I’m a little bit messy as a person and it gets reflected in my work.”

All clothes by Ditzy Doll

Photography by Ione Gamble Styling by Rosie Williams Introducing Rae and Joe @ Leni’s

THE REVOLUTION WILL BE BLOGGED

For a teen girl, her bedroom is her sanctuary and the space in which she experiences the most creativity. Nope, its not school that gets us most inspired, or taking a walk, or visiting somewhere totally awe inspiring, or any of that shit. It’s our bedrooms. Even

college, as it always has been

if the majority of time spent

traditionally. Our online friends often

in them is watching Netflix for

fill the gaps that exist in our lives, an

twelve hours straight.

idea that stylist Maria Pizzeria strongly relates to. “I love being surrounded by

Bedroom creativity used to

people that love to discuss stuff and

be confined to just that, our

that I can learn from. I didn’t really

bedrooms. But now we have the Internet. Where the Riot Grrl’s had to set up physical spaces to share ideas, we now have forums and blogs.

Where zines used to only circulate within restricted friendship groups and mailing lists we can now share our publications with the click of a mouse and through our bigcartel accounts. Online artist and Tumblr personality Molly Soda credits this accessibility as the key to the online community, “The basis of digital

have those kinds of friendships when I feminism is access. It

was younger in my hometown. I am so

becomes easier and

happy to meet all the youngsters who

easier to collaborate

are awesome and eager to change

and talk to other cool

the world. It makes me feel pretty

girls on the Internet.

positive about the future”.

You can hit up virtually anyone you want

Our bedrooms usually breed

to collaborate with,

creativity, but now the tables have

whether they respond

turned and artists are looking inside

is up to them, but you

our four walls as a point of subject.

have the tools.” It’s this

Where we used to be embarrassed

change in the way we

of our poster-laden rooms we now

share information that

embrace them, no matter how many

has allowed feminism

posters of embarrassing boy bands

to become a discussion

may adorn our walls. The Haven

that no occurs before

Project is made up of two students based in London photographing

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young women’s bedrooms, with

their aim being “promoting strong younger women who are unafraid to speak out for what they

“All the people working online are amazing. I

believe in through their chosen medium.” It’s not

love how the Internet showcases amazing

just third parties such as The Haven Project that

creativity, everything is acceptable online and

have become interested in girls environments,

this acceptance has begun to trickle in to the

increasingly more of us are turning the cameras

real world sooner and sooner. The Internet gives

on to ourselves and creating art using our own

me courage.”

webcams, an idea that Molly Soda is obsessed with, “I like the intimacy of a girl’s bedroom. I’m

It’s no secret that women have been largely

very interested in the way people- specifically

invisible in the majority of subcultures

girls- perform for their webcams in their rooms.

historically. The fact the movement is both

It’s like a specific level of comfort yet total

largely online and made up of young women

vulnerability because you have the intention of

is due to this shunning from traditional

putting this video you recorded or this selfie you

textbooks and academic writing. It’s hard

took online even though you did it in a private,

to disregard work that’s being produced in

safe space.”

a space where everything is documented, in the same way that we can’t ignore those

Being the first generation to grow up with

traumatising tagged photos the morning

social media as an integral part of our

after a night out, academics can no longer

lives, we’re no longer looking to celebrities’

silence the change women are fuelling within

exclusively as our idols. What started with

society. Their ideals may be belittled and

envying Myspace famous personalities has

scrutinised, but the combination of talent

grown in to a generation of girls looking

and power in numbers is hard to ignore

up to real life young women with an active

entirely, and the now the media is taking

online presence. Being an online celebrity

note. Collin’s has been featured in the New

is no longer as easy as knowing how to

York Times, Fashionpirate works for Teen

HTML code your profile page and having

Vogue and Maria Pizzeria is a PR goddess.

the best coon tails on the web, the second

The revolution may have begun in our

wave of online personalities have more

bedrooms, but now we’re leaving the

merit than the ability to create the perfect

confines of our four walls, and we’re sure

eyeliner flick. They’re photographers such

making an impact.

as Petra Collin’s, founder of The Ardorous, feminist Vlogger Celia Edell i.e Ceedling, queer feminist fashion blogger Arabelle Sicardi i.e Fashion Pirate and many more.

These are women who aim to change the agenda within fashion and culture. This shift in who we look up to also allows us to interact with our idols, most of these women have their Tumblr inbox’s open.

This accessibility doesn’t just work in artists who want to collaborate with each other’s favour. Fans can now send these women a message as easy as we all interact with our Facebook friends, leading to an open forum to discuss all facets of culture. Pizzeria manages to sum up the sense of community and strength within the subculture

Words by Ione Gamble

“I love how the Internet showcases amazing creativity, everything is acceptable online and this acceptance has begun to trickle in to the real world sooner and sooner.”

perfectly,

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Illustration by Jessica Butler

So Bad It's Good

As three cinema-obsessed girls we decided to create Reel Good Film Club, a film club that seeks to screen films that celebrate racial and cultural diversity whether they are hidden B-movies or Hollywood blockbusters. As we’re normally busy talking about whether Chris Pratt is cute or not we decided to be professional and have real discussions about the all- important questions of film via Facebook chat because we’re lazy and modern. Here we talk about TASTE. Is there such a thing as good or bad taste when it comes to film?

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Grace Barbe-Plentie: I really think that there’s a hierarchy of bad taste, but it doesn’t really make any sense? John Waters and Russ Meyers and stuff being at the top, and then things like Walking on Sunshine right at the bottom.

Maria Cabrera: I totally agree actually but then you have to really separate what these films are.

I mean people like Waters and Meyer make trash films and are deliberately using shock value in their films eg poo eating. Then you have “bad” films that are viewed critically as simply guilty pleasures.

Grace: But how do you make the distinction initially, do you look at reviews before?

Or do you agree with someone like John Waters who says “to understand bad taste one must have very good taste”?

“In a way that’s kind of why trash is such a great genre! Made to irritate and annoy people – SO COOL! I get really happy when a trash films makes me feel uncomfortable.”

Lydia Heathcote: For me I do just generally go with my own judgement but I definitely think that at 16 I was a lot more critical and selective about what I would and wouldn’t watch which is a shame.

Maria: I think I had the same phase as you.

When I started getting into films I was watching loads of trashy cult films and I kinda wish I didn’t because I think sometimes the more you watch, the more critical it makes you.

Grace: I think that’s the trouble with trashy films that are trying to homage old ones - unless you’re really self-aware and knowing of all the conventions of trash and B movies, not everyone is going to get it.

Maria: In a way that’s kind of why trash is such a great genre! Made to irritate and annoy people – SO COOL! I get really happy when a trash films makes me feel uncomfortable.

Lydia: There’s something really satisfying knowing you reacted and understood what they wanted you to. As if it was just made for you.

Maria: I kind of get the same satisfaction from watching Hilary Duff films though- but whenever I say that people think I mean it ironically.

Lydia: I don’t know, I think there’s something more acceptable about kid’s films because people automatically attach nostalgia.

Grace: That’s true! Although I’ve found that people always like to attack grown women who like Disney films?

Maria: Yeah that’s a thing! Like a category on Tumblr or on lame memes.

Grace: People stereotype them as being uber feminine and portray them as dumb; I’m guilty of having done it myself.

Lydia: I think my problem lies in that if people want to immerse themselves in a fantasy world where everything is sugary, why attack them for it? Nobody attacks horror buffs!

Grace: what do you guys think makes a guilty pleasure?

Maria: It’s definitely the ones that have been made completely seriously without any awareness of how silly or over the top they are.

Grace: Yeah I definitely think that the best “bad” films are the ones that think that their plot totally makes sense and it is totally fine - like New York Winter’s Tale which I STILL haven’t seen! “Flying horse? Will Smith as the Devil? Time travel? Colin Farrell? Yeah let’s totally sell this as a normal straight film” Lydia: THE ROOM. Grace: The Room is a weird one because it has no stars, no big budget, no big name director, so there’s no real “excuse” for people to watch it.

Maria: “It’s just so bad is good”. I kind of think he has invested in this whole character and in 30 years time he’s gonna come out and confess that it was all a joke and he will receive and Oscar for being the best actor of all time.

Lydia: I kind of hope that that’s true?

Illustration by Clio Peppiatt

The Cat That Got The Cream

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Since her graduate collection in 2013, Clio Peppiatt has been the new designer to watch.

A year on from receiving much critical acclaim for her final university showcase ‘Sweet Demon of Youth’, the twenty something has followed in the footsteps of other London based design marvels such as Ashley Williams and Claire Barrow.

Launching her own womenswear label to a wave of admiration, and acquiring fans in everyone from Hunger Magazine to Susie Bubble.

With a penchant for exploring feminine stereotypes and youth culture, Clio specialises in hand crafting garments that make women feel sexy and strong. Clio’s AW14 collection ‘The Cat that got the Queen’ took inspiration from beauty pageants in order to construct a critical debate within the series on what it means to be girly, to be empowered or to be sexual. Exploring and contrasting complex themes within a collection is obviously something Clio feels passionate about. “Although there are really girly, youthful elements to this collection I wanted it to centre around celebrating women. I combined all of these different interpretations of what femininity is in order to create a more multifaceted result than what is often presented to us in fashion or by the media.”

“I combined all of these different interpretations of what femininity is in order to create a more multifaceted result than what is often presented to us in fashion or by the media.”

Clio’s graduate collection was an intellectual reflection on the demonization of youth culture, with comparative highlights on innocence and frivolity. Using hand drawn illustrations- a recurring detail throughout Clio’s work to date- she playfully layered images of burgers, bling and marijuana leaves to create her own army of rebellious street kids. Clio is keen to highlight another undercurrent within the collection, “Fashion in itself is very youth obsessed which is quite sad. There are some exceptionally dressed slightly older women, for example Princess Julia and Daphne Guinness both always look so beautiful.”

A rebellious attitude underlines all of her work, and in many ways she’ s encouraging a new generation of women to question the social order and break the mould. Being more or less a one-woman show, Clio has faced multiple hurdles in order to become successful. “The ultimate challenge has been finding enough hours in a day to get everything done. When you’re first starting out you really are doing about eight people’s different jobs, it’s a steep learning curve and at times a little overwhelming.

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My collections always end up including very laborious, intensive techniques, whether it is embellishment, hand embroidery or crochet. I love all of those sorts of crafts but they’re very time consuming.” Clio adds, “I’m also currently taking fashion business courses, I want to learn how to be the best business woman I can be as well as developing creatively.”

While her work ethic and lovely character all allude to her being anything short of an inspiration, Clio marks out other designers she admires, continuing the sense of female community seen at the heart of her projects. “I love clothes that explore textile innovation. Claire Barrow, Cassandra Verity Green and Barbra Kolansinski all do this to perfection in my mind, albeit in very different styles. The graduate collection that really stuck in my mind this year was that of an Antwerp MA student called Virginia Burlina… if you haven’t seen it yet you need to look it up! It’s the most beautiful combination of delicate colours and fabrics with really bold embellishment, it’s completely gorgeous.”

From the latex heart bra, to the saccharine faux fur coats good enough to be buried in, the entire AW14 collection is so desirable that not even Clio could foresee the demand.

She reassures us that expanding her online shop will be her next big move. “As my AW14 collection was my very first proper full collection after graduating, I was really unsure about how it was going to be received or whether there would be a demand for online sales – so it has been a really pleasant surprise. All my AW14 handbags are going to be stocked online from mid October alongside some exclusive unseen AW14 faux fur accessories, just in time for Christmas.”

With London Fashion Week fast approaching, Clio once again is taking a more strategic move in choosing not to show on the runway, and instead investing in a look book, “so it can reach a wider audience and have more longevity.” Collaborating with a stylist and photographer, both of whom shall remain nameless for the time being, Clio is keeping everything hush hush like the bona fide businesswoman she is. Managing to squeeze a little out of her, this is what we can expect from SS15, “Without giving too much away it’s a lot of rainbow, sass and sparkle. I love the 70’s and there are big references to that.” It already sounds perfect to us.

Words by Claudia Walder

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DICKTIONARY irl \ irl is an abbreviation for In Real Life.

That guy is such an idiot irl.