Ethereal songstress FKA twigs just released the latest issue of her Instagram zine, AVANTgarden, and it delivers a seriously out of this world take on 90s club kid style. The whole thing was shot in New York City and it stars alien beauty phenoms, Hannah and Raj, of Fecal Matter and A$AP Rocky, fresh off their “Fukk Sleep” video collaboration.
“Welcome to AVANTgarden,” the issue begins. “Fresh out of a government testing facility, alien princess, FKA twigs, takes New York City by storm. Let’s join her, shall we?” Next, twigs offers some timeless style tips, touting crowd-pleasing rhinestone eyebrows and announcing the time of death on glam prom hair: “Blow outs are so 80s!” Club veteran and makeup legend Kabuki did twigs’ makeup, in homage to penciled in brows and sheer lip gloss. Kabuki also did the very 90s Jeremy Scott spring/summer 19 show, where Offset notably rocked a pink Pikachu sweater on the runway and Scott’s own makeup personas and gender-bending club looks served as inspiration, making himself a sort of “meta muse.”
Throughout the zine, shot by Orograph, we see twigs in an array of bedazzled looks, wearing Stephen Jones, Donatella Versace, Nasir Mazhar, and archive Dior. “One of the main inspirations was my favorite [John] Galliano Dior collection, Fall 2003 — it’s the perfect match of soft and hard-core romance,” her stylist, Matthew Josephs told Vogue. Some of the pieces, including the dimensional-cut yellow jacket, the floral latex headpiece, and the pink ruffled coat were sourced from the collection. The xerox-style Project X zine, circulated at parties and clubs in the late 80s and early 90s, also served as #inspo.
AVANTgarden launched in October 2017, and its twigs’ innovative platform for exploring all things music, art, photography, fashion, and beyond. Previous issues featured the beauty of braided hair and transformed twigs into a superhero named anomalie, set in a dystopian universe. It’s a gift to the internet. See the full zine for yourselves, below.