In conversation with .. 5!

“Queer women
in history haven’t
properly been
acknowledged or
represented.”
Did you always want to work in fashion?
I wouldn’t necessarily say fashion, but
definitely the craft behind it. I’ve always
been drawing, doing illustrations,
working with my hands since I was a
kid. I went to a theatre school when I
was younger for several years and there
was one play where we had a seamstress
who made our costumes and we could go
into this huge wardrobe to find stuff to
develop our own character. That’s when it
all started. I understood that I wanted to
be more behind the scenes.
Growing up, did you see yourself in
fashion, especially when flipping
through magazines?
No, I would say that I didn’t really care
for fashion magazines, but I remember
the start of bloggers, how people were
posting their styles. There was this site
called Hel-Looks from Helsinki all about
the styles from the streets of Helsinki, it
was more interesting for me to see how
people were putting together their own
looks than the perfect world created in
the magazines. I used to also look at a
book by Pierre et Gilles, it was an amazing
world to see! Full of colours, queer
personalities and fashion. It’s an art world
on its own.
Queer women love fashion, but in many ways, they are invisible in the
industry. Do you feel there is a lack of representation and what that
stems from?
There’s definitely a lack in fashion, but also overall from series to films
in what the rest of society learns what queer and butch women look
like. People have developed a very stereotypical image. Queer women
in history haven’t properly been acknowledged or represented. There
aren’t many books, especially photography books from that time. It also
comes from the era of cross-dressing, trying to look for the opposites of
gender which made you either femme or butch. Today there is a much
broader way to identify. There are still lots of stereotypes in fashion, and
unfortunately, it is still very much male-dominated in fashion. There are
many gay men in high positions and great designers but I would definitely
love to see more women and queer women behind the scenes get more
representation of how we look and what we like to wear.
I know lots of women in fashion and queer women, but when it comes
to actually holding the title of designer, it is still dwarfed compared to
men.
When I was researching female designers through history, most of the
women I found identified as straight, especially straight white women.
Obviously, I have queer female friends in fashion but in the lesbian
community its not something that many women are interested in because
the fashion industry tough. With a lack of representation, it’s quite hard
for a queer woman to get up.
Do you feel there is an objectification of lesbianism in fashion?
Definitely, it’s not like for straight people you go and ask them about their
sexuality and if it’s correlated into how you dress. When it comes to queer
women, it’s like an exotification, that its something interesting and stems
from the male gaze rather than the female gaze.
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