PHOTOGRAPHER ANNIE REID - HAIR JOE KELLY - WORDS FREYA MCGUINNESS
Dream duo photographer Annie Reid and hair stylist Joe Kelly team up to capture model Freya McGuinness at Forte Model Management.
Aside from modelling Freya is a Social Anthropology and Sociology student with a keen interest in sustainability and the environment. Read on to hear Freya's thoughts on the importance of wearing clothing with a conscience and some steps that we can all do to create social change such as raising awareness, creating conversations and buying into slow fashion.
Words Maisie Daniels
There is an art to dressing yourself. The fashion industry can be overwhelming and there are a multitude of social pressures that can go into deciding how you want to dress and what makes each person feel confident and up-to-date with trends ranges from person to person. I believe that what you wear represents who you are and I see myself as someone determined to reflect my values through that medium. Studying Social Anthropology and Sociology at university, I am incredibly interested in other cultures and the elements that create social change. We in the West have so much, whereas other cultures are struggling even for the basics and the changes in environment affect them the most. My generation is at a turning point, especially environmentally, and I want to be proactive in creating a sustainable way of life.
To accomplish this, I stopped buying from fast-fashion brands a few years ago and now focus on choosing smaller, independent brands that either promote up-cycling or re-sell vintage items. I think there is something to be said for wearing pre-owned and used items. Not only are many of them very unique, but I like to think they almost had a life of their own and were special to someone before me. Being one of six sisters, I’ve always had hand-me-downs, so this probably influenced my love of vintage pieces! Slow fashion item are often made with more care and are made to last. As many of my pieces are from different decades I’ve found them as a great conversation starter. This is a good way of spreading the word as people ask about them, rather than me lecturing them on sustainability!
I am intending to start a brand with my friends with this in mind and we have been trying to think of innovative ways of ensuring the sustainability of our products, whilst simultaneously creating something new. Up-cycling clothing from eras we love would have a relevant role as it would also provide us with the building blocks for different lines or items. Picasso said “lesser artists borrow, great artists steal”, but I like to think we would just be inspired and would save a lot of material!
