Kijuan fronts our latest story 'Packing for Ibiza' where London-based photographer and director Lily West takes inspiration from a 2005 Vice copy she picked up in a junk shop a few years back. West explains: "It had a fuzzy neglected toy bunny on the front. The advertisements in there were the uncovered and un-glamorised era of the 2000s, the Skins-esc fluorescent leg warmers and Ibiza vests - advertisements for skate and surf fashion brands. The edition featured weird and random write ups about pet cats that were sold on eBay, bum soaps, dog home surgery's, girls and their pets in their bedrooms.
So many odd stories partnered with old images around from the web, this era was when the internet was very much new, it opened up a whole can of worms for me. Obviously the whole Y2K era is very much done but the 2005s to the 2010s in the UK is very much not yet delved into, no one quite yet is walking round with neon plastic shutter sunglasses. So we wanted to set Kijuan's bedroom into a 2010 world. Thinking about boys of that era in their bedrooms with ripped out magazines of Mila Kunis holding a Bunny Rabbit, couple of game boys and some rugby books compared to the now social media ridden Tik Tok culture and how its impacted the way in which they develop into young adults. How there's way much more fluidity and freedom to be yourself but on the other hand so much more comparison, expectation and over stimulation. How would Anwar Kharral be now if he was born in 2004 and would he still be into Tequila, Lupe Fiasco, breasts and X Factor, or would his ForYou page on Tik Tok influence him to be the worlds coolest e boy?"
Brands featured SCRUFF STUDIO; TIT 4 TATS; Nii HAi
