Bowie’s Berlin
On the 8th January 2016, we lost a true hero: David Bowie. As the world grieved, we headed to Berlin with director Matt Lambert, to pay homage to a city that was home to Bowie in the 1970s, and a place where he made some of his greatest songs. Meeting people inspired by Bowie to be themselves, in the city where he once lived, we celebrate the legacy he sadly left behind.
Worn in: Charles Jeffrey Loverboy
Welcome to the world of Charles Jeffrey – the Scottish born, London based designer behind iconic LOVERBOY nights at VFD and the fashion line of the same name. Meeting fashion’s favourite club kid and his friends, we enter a universe where nightlife and fashion inspire each other, in this paint-spattered film directed by Bunny Kinney.
Beyond Beauty with Grace Neutral: South Korea
Tattoo-covered alien princess Grace Neutral took us to the underground scene in Seoul where it’s illegal to be a tattoo artist. Grace explored the billion-dollar beauty industry and the pressure to be perfect for young Korean women, as well as meeting tattoo artists and inked young people defying conservative expectations. Grace met a young woman revealing her tattoos to her family for the first time and experienced first hand the disapproving attitude to tattoos from the general public; exploring the meaning of beauty in South Korea and what it takes for people to really be themselves.
Rejjie Snow, Keep Your Head Up
We headed to Los Angeles with Rejjie Snow, the Dublin born rapper making waves in music. Starring model and photographer Braina Laveina, and directed by Tom Ivin, we interrupt a photo shoot, where tattoos melt and faces glow in a gravity bending pastel coloured romp around downtown LA.
Exploring London’s DIY Zine Revolution
Print is still very much alive in this very special short directed by Joe Ridout. We meet Ione from Polyester, Char and Bertie from Mushpit and John and Joe from LAW, the DIY magazines defying the move from the real world to online, proving that nothing is better than a magazine you can have, hold, and keep forever.
Global Street Style: Kiev’s New Ravers
Ukraine’s 2014 revolution left Kiev’s youth with nothing to wake up for, but nothing to go to bed for either. Cxema is the ultimate techno rave, set up in Kiev by Slava Lepsheev, and re-introducing clubbing to a city where nightlife was destroyed by crisis. With designers like Gosha Rubchinsky putting a spotlight on Eastern European street fashion, in the first episode of our Global Street Style series we headed to Kiev to meet the youth of the city, as they get ready to go crazy at Cxema.
i-Cons: Vivienne Westwood
Vivienne Westwood is the ultimate i-D icon, the schoolteacher turned punk queen, who is still dominating after 40 years in the industry – as well as trying to save the oceans and the world at the same time. In the second episode of our i-Cons series, we follow i-D cover girl Vivienne’s journey, from Teddy Boys, to punks, pirates and protest – and everything in between.
Summer of Love: London
The Pulse shootings in Orlando shocked the world and threatened the safe space that nightclubbing represents for the queer community. In London, queer clubs are rapidly closing – recently we have lost The Black Cap, The George and Dragon and The Joiners, to name but a few. Here we meet best friends Sam, Zoe and Jordan, for whom queer spaces are a place to grow, feel love, support and have the freedom to express your-elf and be whoever you want to be. The first of four episodes in our Summer of Love series, this is a love letter to queer clubbing, and how it brings friends together.
Gurls Talk with Adwoa Aboah
Adwoa Aboah is the model, actress, activist and cover star of The Female Gaze issue, on a mission to get girls talking about everything from periods to addiction with her initiative ‘Gurls Talk’. Adwoa went to LA to meet strong, inspiring young women who are fighting to change assumptions about gender in the city. From young activists protesting to de-sexualize the female body with #freethenipple (which was ironically given an adult rating by YouTube), to powerful strippers at Cheetah’s Hollywood owning their sexuality and female bikers taking back the male-dominated roads, we went on a Gurls Talk journey of discovery and empowerment, directed by Eloise King and made by an all female crew.
i-D Meets: Hari Nef
Hari Nef is a model, actress and activist and also the first trans woman to be signed to IMG models – an inspiration for young people everywhere and showing how in 2016, it is possible to be multiple things at once. Celebrating the 40th anniversary of punk by modelling vintage looks, we spoke to Hari about getting her big break as a fashion intern, as well as youth culture in the age of the internet. Instead of asking “why me”, Hari asks, “why not me?”.
Credits
Text Lily Rose Thomas