Whether we mean to or not, we put a lot of pressure on our clothes. We expect them to define us but also shape-shift with our every mood. We want high quality but we aren't willing to pay for it. We demand industry-wide change but we insist that it happens overnight. Fashion is struggling to keep up. But what keeps people interested is newness, and the merging and spreading of different cultures.
As Yamuna Forzani, a Dutch brand that seeks to bring New York's ballroom culture to the edges of Europe, exemplifies: People who actually identify as queer, non-binary, or anything beyond convention already understand that fashion goes beyond the clothes we wear on our backs — it means proposing and experimenting with different ways of thinking, too. For the label's latest knitwear collection, Forzani collaborated with Queens-based photographer Sydney Rahimtoola on an editorial featuring creatives of the queer, Black, and Latinx communities. The shots not only showcase Forzani's clothes in an authentic space but a safe one, too, which is integral to the success of LGBTQ+ people in the fashion industry.
Of the shoot, the duo says their approach includes "gathering the ballroom children of the Netherlands — our friends and communities — and emphasising their idiosyncrasies through portraiture." The spring 2019 collection is based on founder Yamuna Forzani's travels in the U.S. and Japan, namely ballroom's birthplace, New York City, to get an original, firsthand take on its influence. For Forzani, ballroom was "created as a haven of free, self-expression that continues to serve as an ideology of utopia, inclusivity, and a safe space for the LGBTQ+ people of colour in the underground scene the world over."
Ahead, we spoke to Forzani and Rahimtoola about everything from what ballroom culture in the Netherlands looks like to how integral underrepresented minorities are to the mainstream tier of fashion — and what all of that means, clothing-wise, for those who just don't get it but genuinely want to.
Talk to us about Yamuna Forzani. What is its history? What does it stand for?
Yamuna Forzani: " My brand is about creating and manifesting my queer utopian fantasies. I’m a queer activist with strong ideologies in mind and I collaborate with like-minded colourful creatives. Photographer Sydney Rahimtoola is amongst the creatives I work with. She totally embodies the progressive ideas that I do and is full of positivity and love! This celebration is a multidisciplinary practice that combines fashion, photography, dance, installation, and social design through public inclusive events.
"What’s really important to me is, beyond making clothes and trying to sell them, is making spaces and platforms where people can get their fucking life! It’s really important for me to create a safe environment to show my work and to not take the ball culture out of the ballroom space; to really give back to my community and put on a ball — for us. It’s a collaborative effort that became something more than just my own ego and my own vision. It’s our vision."
Photographed by Sydney Rahimtoola/Courtesy of Yamuna Forzani.
When you say “the ballroom children of the Netherlands,” what does that mean? Tell us what you know of ballroom culture and how it exists/its influence in the Netherlands.
YF: "In the Netherlands, we have an established ballroom scene with members representing all different houses. Ballroom culture emerged in New York in the 1960s, birthed by Harlem's marginalised queer, black, and Latinx communities. In Europe, we honour the foundations of that by hosting traditional balls with all of the categories: fashion, beauty, body, sex, realness, and performance, which is where voguing comes into play.
"Even though you could definitely describe balls as a celebration, they’re also profoundly political; a safe space that, in many ways, needs to be protected. It’s still an underground community and the scene often travels far and wide to participate in them: I’ve competed in Tokyo, Osaka, New York, Paris, Berlin, San Francisco, and all over the Netherlands.
"In this shoot, we wanted to bring together the ‘ballroom children,' the members of the Dutch ballroom scene. They are my muses, my friends, and house members. We are real people from different backgrounds, with different bodies and identities, but we are striving for the same goals. We are all sisters and we wanted to celebrate that."
Photographed by Sydney Rahimtoola/Courtesy of Yamuna Forzani.
Neither you nor Sydney agree with how fashion is portrayed through imagery and media. Why?
Sydney Rahimtoola: "Fashion is an extension and mirror of what is trending globally and what matters at the moment for the masses. At this time, gender and racial identity and what it means to express the two are at the surface. In theory, that’s wonderful and fantastic. However, it’s good to question what space does fashion specifically serve. It serves the elite. I think that image and media are an extension of that problem which continues to exist. In this context, I believe it only scratches the surface, not exploring in depth how we can sincerely and visually represent certain communities that are extremely relevant. It’s all centred around visual advertisement (the cookie-cutter version of being ‘woke’). And likewise, not serving these communities.
"We can do better. Really, we should be hiring more community members that represent these themes. Maybe it’s a bit controversial to say, but I just think: what happens when certain forms of identities become less trendy? Just because it’s “diverse” does not mean it’s serving the “diverse.” The industry is capitalising on this. So, who is it serving and who is buying it? Are we just another statistic check so everyone feels good at the end of the day? When we see diversity on the runways, the videos, or the photographs, it is often the question of Who is this really benefitting? "
YF: " I've seen firsthand how elite, shallow, and cutthroat it can be. It doesn't have to be this way. I believe you can make beautiful clothes with heart; I would never want to lose sight of my integrity and compassion for others just for the sake of clothes...it doesn't seem worth it. I make clothes for queer people with queer bodies and I celebrate that. At the end of the day, it's about your intentions. For me, community always comes first.
"I cast all my friends from the scene and design outfits for them with their personality in mind. I instruct each model to take their time [on the runway] and have their moment to really show themselves (dance, twirl, do a dip, whatever they feel like in the moment; just exist and be themselves). I’m open to working with all queer people, all different models, shapes, sizes, genders, races, etc. I think it's important to realise that we really need to practice acceptance and love instead of just preaching it or using it as a marketing ploy or clickbait-style article headline."
Photographed by Sydney Rahimtoola/Courtesy of Yamuna Forzani.
What role does ballroom culture play in your creative process? How does it impact you designs?
YF: "My creative process has always been very queer with an unorthodox approach. But since I’ve been in the ballroom scene, it's switched up my whole world. I got into ballroom when a member of the Kiki House of Angels from Rotterdam came to an open casting of mine in school and started voguing. I couldn't believe my eyes. I had seen the documentary Paris is Burning a zillion times as a kid, but didn't know it was still going strong globally. After that moment, I dived into the scene and now proudly represent the Kiki House of Angels (in the Kiki scene) and the House of Comme des Garçons in the major scene.
"At the balls, my categories are Designers Delight, Best Dressed, and Bizarre. And I make costumes for my house members. Every ball, there is a different theme so it forces me to experiment with different materials and make silhouettes I have never tried before. My favourite category to walk is Bizarre, a category where you have to make a kind of installation on the body using unconventional materials (you usually have to make something that goes beyond looking like a human, which I love). Balls are a playground where I can flirt with different ideas and fantasies."
Photographed by Sydney Rahimtoola/Courtesy of Yamuna Forzani.
Why are underground communities, and the queer community specifically, so important to the future of fashion?
SR: " To think that the future of fashion will empower underground communities by providing them with more diverse platforms, agency, and resources can prove to be exceptional. In return, the queer community can navigate their identity in their own safe space, but also provide healthy ways to open these spaces to the masses. For example, commissioning more queer artists, queer artists of colour, women, trans artists, artists of colour (anything within this framework), or by placing them into more lucrative, influential roles in the industry.
"To us, being queer does not only exist on a gender-based, sexual based level. What it also means to us is rejecting heteronormative values as mainstream and proposing different ways of thinking. Being queer is being transgressive, using one’s local resources to create crazy things, community value, and total self-expression. Sure, it may sound weird to some people to think that this way of thinking can be queer, but this mode of expression has always been celebrating and navigating one’s identity in restrictive and narrow-minded societies."
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