Their Gaze
Author: Miista
Tue Feb 15 2022
Four women cast their gaze on fashion and womanhood outside the confines of the capitalist fashion circuit.
Why should fashion be limited to closed circles, catwalks and a chosen few?
Fashion and photography are incredible ways to understand current affairs and the world around us. Why should fashion be limited to closed circles, catwalks and a chosen few? As the world around us changes and our lives become truly global, we no longer want to exist in that insular fashion bubble – this was one of the main inspirations behind Their Gaze, a sprawling photo series where we’ve asked four female image makers across the world we most admire, to interpret the feeling of future fashion and euphoria through our new womenswear collection. Our aim over the next month is to offer an on-the-ground snapshot of the true value of fashion in cities where the political situations are tenuous, free from click bait or problematic headlines – and we hope you’ll come along with us for the ride.
So instead of Milan, New York and Paris, our scene is Kyiv, Mexico and East London. This project started in cold and rainy December last year, where we started exciting conversations with photographers Mayan Toledano, Ruth Ossai, Julie Poly and Jamie Maree Shipton. We asked each photographer to capture the world they saw around them, and the multiple ways that fashion creates euphoria in the everyday. Over the next month, we’ll be sharing their incredible images, and their words and inspirations with you. First up is Julie Poly, who we just know our Miista OGs will love.
Julie Poly
Now, we’re friends with these incredible women, cooing over the whatsapp images they sent us mid-shoot, from a tree-lined street in Mexico City to a Y2K inspired bedroom in Kyiv. Over winter, we traveled the world with our new clique of pals — Christmas in Kiev with Julie Poly’s poodle (you’ll get to see her soon), beating the January blues in Mexico (cc Mayan Toledano), and getting to know our neighborhood in East London even better with Ruth Ossai and Jamie-Maree Shipton.
Ruth Ossia
"Photography can substitute real life, change real facts. Photography can entertain, educate, and give people emotions. You can tell the story and narrative with photography.” — Julie Poly
“The political situation affects my art practice directly. I think it’s in artists’ nature to reflect on the climate they live in” Julie Poly says of her images, which show a glossy 1990s lens on the crisis in Ukrainian femininity as a possible invasion by the Russian army threatens the country’s peace. Mayan Toledano describes her photo series for us as the sweet spot between “young womanhood, and the connections that are made between all female-communities”.
Mayan Toledano
We hope you’ll join us in this spotlight on how fashion happens across the world, everyday – from a styling trick handed down from mother to daughter in Ukraine, to the studio photography stylings of Nigeria. Euphoria, innovation and, most importantly, connections are created in these moments – and we just can’t get enough of that feeling. Plus, make sure you stay tuned for our limited edition Their Gaze publication which will be available at Miista.com. Part zine, part book, part manifesto, it’s where we’re gathering the work of these formidable women that we love so much, along with four essay profiles by writer Grace Banks on how these women captured the euphoria of the world around them, so far from the snobbishness of fashion’s supposedly important cities.
Their Gaze by Jamie-Maree Shipton
“Photography is a very 'layered' art”, Julie says of her craft – “it can serve as a document that reflects reality as it is. Also photography can substitute real life, change real facts. Photography can entertain, educate, and give people emotions. You can tell the story and narrative with photography.”. It’s the perfect sentiment to capture our aim with Their Gaze, a way to explore the world through female authored photography.
So turn on, tune in, drop out, we can’t wait to share this with you.
Julie Poly