Fashion has a “thing” for sisters. Ruth and May Bell; Olympia and Edie Campbell; Bella and Gigi Hadid. And now, Jess and Reba Maybury — the bewitching sisters who have the industry under their spell. Decamping from their provincial hometown of Woodstock, Oxfordshire (Reba first, Jess soon after) in search of somewhere that wasn’t “so closed minded,” the pair found themselves in London. Jess, 23, and Reba, 26, have become the posterchildren of a cerebral, modern beauty. The two have inherited the features of many iconic faces that have existed before them. Looking at the two conjures images of Juliet in Man Ray’s Fifty Faces series, the portraits he made in dedication to his wife in the 40s and 50s. Add the steely gaze of Bianca Jagger and the subversive quality of Kristen McMenamy, and you are somewhat close to accurately describing the electric energy of the Maybury sisters.
Despite being three years apart in age, the sisters look so uncannily similar that you’d be forgiven for thinking they were twins. The two share similar traits: almond eyes, long dark brown locks, and angular faces, but there are quite distinct differences between them too. Reba draws from the stylings of “power bitches” past. Think equal parts 80s goth, Chaka Khan, and 60s Catherine Deneuve brought together by an extensive collection of vintage dresses (the result of hours trawling on eBay) and signature oxblood lips with an exaggerated cupid’s bow. Conversely, Jess is rarely seen with makeup on outside her work as her model — letting her empyreal skin be the focus — and has a more pared down method of putting her look together.
Born to a Pakistani mother and a Welsh father, Reba and Jess’s early years were spent firmly in each other’s pockets. Their earliest memories include Reba holding her ear close to her mom’s stomach while she was pregnant with Jess. Jess, meanwhile, remembers Reba “trying to ram me into a wall.” As a teenager, Jess collected photos of her friends and played around with Barry M makeup as she found out who she was — eventually identifying with the strong female frontwomen of the Riot Grrrl movement and female-led post-punk bands like ESG and The Slits, as well as drag icon Divine. Reba looked to the late Prince as her inspiration. “I love him. I always have and I always will. I even had a shrine for him above my bed as a teenager,” she laughs. Despite their differences, together the models have become muses to a wealth of London’s young design talent. Jess, a regular face in the presentations of Claire Barrow and Marta Jakubowski, while Reba donned a curly brown wig and cardigan fused with felted tights for her friends’ Rottingdean Bazaar’s latest showing as part of Fashion East’s presentation this January. “I met James Theseus Buck and Matty Bovan on my first day at Central Saint Martins, and now we are friends for life!” Reba says about having some of London’s most exciting designers on speed dial.
Reba applied to CSM to study Fashion History and Theory after growing up peeling through the pages of i-D and The Face in her teens for sartorial inspiration. As part of her course’s requirement for work experience, Reba contacted Sang Bleu, the iconic tattoo shop off Dalston Lane that also has a printed publication and a clothing line under its umbrella. “When I wrote for Sang Bleu, I had an interest in anyone who displayed an absolute eccentricity from the corporate norm,” Reba explains. She went on to edit their in-house magazine as well as releasing 2015’s Radical People, a newsprint zine chronicling the stories of what it means to be radical and politically charged by 50 activists, writers, and performers that she fittingly released on the day of the 2015 General Election. Since then, Reba has founded her own publishing company, Wet Satin Press, that explores “capitalism, masculinity, and eccentric sexuality.” Its latest release is her first novel, Dining With Humpty Dumpty; which she describes as “a modern day tale of a Robin Hood-esque dominatrix engaging with a Tory with a feeding fetish” that she launched at Bridget Donahue Gallery in New York. It discusses in detail Reba’s dealings as a dominatrix, which she uses to aid her anthropological interest in class, fetishism, and power roles. “I’m hoping to continue investigating mundane male heterosexuality in more fantastical detail next year,” she quips.
Jess is indulging her interest in photography and slowly revealing the fruits of her labor via Instagram. “Me and my boyfriend are finishing off our contribution to the next issue of GUT magazine and then I’ll be starting work on a short film about older women who go out and love clubbing,” she says. “Apart from that, I am just trying to take as many pictures as possible of people I find interesting.” Jess looks to subcultural pioneers for influence. “I loved reading the memoirs of Viv Albertine and Leigh Bowery. I also like spending as much time as I can watching the work of female writers, directors, musicians, and artists. I watched the 60s drama A Taste Of Honey recently, which was written by a woman, and it really moved me — it reminded me of my Grandma’s life.” While the girls have already been shot for a Lanvin campaign by i-D‘s main photographer for The Creative Issue, Tim Walker, and Jess has walked the runway for Acne and Gareth Pugh, they remain pragmatic when talking about the glamor and trappings of the fashion industry. “Anyone can buy the latest fashion, but true style is intrinsic and impossible to duplicate. I just like to think about how different garments signify gender and class and how my ideas about these things are always evolving,” Reba says. Jess adds, “To me, fashion has actually always seemed quite unobtainable, as it’s made for wealthy people, but style is something that anyone can create for themselves and not just limited to the privileged few.” Jess and Reba are emblematic of exactly the sort of young females we should be championing: empowered, outspoken, and smart. As life in London becomes increasingly frustrating and economically challenging, the pair offer sage advice for those who are trying to keep the city one of the most exciting places in the world. “The present can be pretty grim, but knowing that people have, and always are, fighting for a more equal future soothes me,” Reba reflects. “It’s just important to remember creativity may create a facade of safety for middle class people with arts degrees, but it ain’t saving homeless women made vulnerable and in danger by the Tories anytime soon!” Jess concludes: “With everything going on in our current political climate, I think we need compassion, respect, and understanding to help us get through life. The amazing, intelligent, and like-minded women who are pushing boundaries and creating powerful work about race, gender, and politics inspire me everyday.”
Credits
Photography Tim Walker
Styling Max Clark
Text Lynette Nylander
Hair Shon at Julia Watson Agency
Make-up Lucy Burt at Bryant Artists using Chanel Rouge Coco Gloss and Les Beiges de Chanel
Nail technician Jenni Draper at Premier Hair and Beauty using OPI Nails