Editors Diary

Nimo Hussein’s poem in our Complexd Women feature touches on female circumcision.

‘She knows of being sewn, torn, and sewn again,

Ripped open for his pleasure’

Statistics show that 140 million women have undergone female genital mutilation and 3 million girls are at risk of having the cutting every year. At the Endangered Species Summit, during International Woman’s Month back in March, I met two representatives of Forward UK. Forward works towards safeguarding and protecting the reproductive rights of African girls and women. They campaign against gender-based violence and raise awareness of female genital mutilation. The girls spoke to me about the continuous work they do with the organisation.

‘As a charity we have several different programmes – our programme in Africa sets up projects to combat female genital mutilation. I have spoken to females who have experienced this and I commend their bravery on speaking out about the issue. Sharing their stories helps them and others realise that what happened to them is not beneficial and to make sure that it does not continue to happen to future generations of women’

‘We speak to very vulnerable girls so it is important that they don’t feel like we are going to stigmatise them because they have undergone female genital mutilation. My mother even thinks it’s the right thing to do because she believes it will prevent her from committing adultery. The women who practise it genuinely don’t believe they are doing any harm or any injustice toward their children. They treat it has a tradition that should be performed on every young girl’

www.forwarduk.org.uk

I spent most of today sifting through our final content and pin-pointing pull out quotes for each feature. The most relevant point relating to popular culture right now was made by Sharon Haywood who openly shares her opinions on the female body, self-image, violence against women, and feminism. In her interview, which will be feature in next month’s issue, she says the following:

‘I look at Beyonce’s new video for her latest song ‘Girls Run the World’ It’s being touted as a power anthem for girls and women but throughout the video we are fed continual sexualized images of Beyonce and her back-up dancers. Either consciously or unconsciously, female viewers are going to end up associating their personal power with their sexuality, instead of their intelligence, talents or ambitions’

A part of me totally agrees with Sharon, which is why I try to focus on the talents and ambitions of women featured in Complexd. The other part of me just wants to join in on Beyonce’s ‘Girls Run the World’ anthem, a song which she came under fire for by a few feminist. Beyonce has such a wide fan base; can she really please us all? The overt sexuality in the persona of her alter ego ‘Sasha Fierce’ may be deemed unsuitable for young women but it can be very sexually liberating for older females.

I decide to sit on the fence about my opinions on this topic, but this weekend at a friend’s birthday celebration I met two die hard Beyonce fans who don’t! Meet Nimo Hussein (light blue) and Emma Parker (dark blue). They love them some Beyonce and refer to themselves as Beyonce ‘stans’. They know the words to every song, the dance moves to every routine and the little characteristics of ‘Sasha Fierce’.

Nimo in particular is a very outspoken young woman who enjoys expressing her views on women’s rights through her poetry for and about women. To me, she epitomizes the modern feminist so I asked her to share her thoughts on the ‘Beyonce as a role model’ debate. Nimo says:

‘Feminism and female empowerment does not have to shy away from sexuality. I am not less of a feminist for strutting on the pavement in my sky-high heels than I would be in DM’s and ”de-gendered” masks. Having said that, the point of the song and video seems to be lost by many people that wish to attack Beyonce for being ‘too sexy’. This isn’t about girls running the world half naked, it’s about girls running the world, full stop, in whatever we’re wearing, however we’re wearing it and regardless of what we are doing. We should be celebrating the fact that in an age that seems void of feminist sensibilities, we can still find commercially successful women waving the flag for women and girls who bring messages of female power in a world saturated in the masculine. I fail to see how the video or the song leads people to think that we rule the world with just our sexuality and those women and girls have no intelligence or worth outside of that. To me, it is about potential, about reminding girls and women that there is infinite power in being a woman, no matter what the world says! As a make-up and stiletto wearing self proclaimed die-hard feminist; it saddens me that we wish to overlook the empowering qualities of this song. I understand that we have a long way to go because women are still being bombarded with one version of the female ‘sexy’, but this song (and video) is about more than short dresses and sexiness; it’s a reminder of power and it’s a reminder of strength. Who run the world? Girls!

Nimo is a very talented Complexd Woman. Look out for a feature on her and her poetry in this week’s Complexd Woman profiles.

In London we are getting four seasons in one, so daily outfits have to be strategic and practical.  The day started off with a spell of sunshine but I was thankful for my tights and shoes when there was a continuous torrential downpour by the afternoon.

My mini satchel is always helpful on rainy days like today because it gives me free hands for umbrella control. My mum brought it on a trip to morocco and it has aged nicely over the 11 years I’ve had it. The magenta suede brightens up all black outfits and always gets compliments when I’m out and about.

Photographed by Frederique Rapier

This afternoon I visited the Graduate exhibition of my two friends who were studying  Textile Design at Chelsea College of Art. I’ve been listening to Jo and Debbie explain and stress about their final projects so it was nice to finally see it all come to life.  Both of these Complexd women have had vast experience in design, styling and retail which are central parts of the fashion industry. They brought together their skills and experiences and created designs and exhibition spaces that had a shop fit feel merchandised with enticing prints and pieces. These ladies put alot of work into their final project and exhibition display so Complexd will be keeping you posted on their progress.

Joanna Fowles – www.joannafowles.com

Tree branches used as clothing rails added to the organic feel of the prints

Hand-made tiling individually cut to compliment the palettes in the prints

A Complexd Australian model is the face of Jo’s collection of prints.  Click on the image to see Jo’s look book

Deborah Vesey – www.deborahvesey.com

Debbie donning one of her prints

A cute cropped print which I would like to get my hands on

A print inspired by a cross section of straws

Debbie’s rail display which was designed and welded under her direction

Click on the image to see more of Debbie’s prints

Today I was reviewing the Beauty + Body issue which goes live in July. A lot of the artistic nudes in this issue took me right back to my art school days when sketching naked ladies was my stress reliever. Each week I was always excited about what challenges the contours of the models body would bring. You never no how you are going to react when you’re faced with the naked body of a stranger. You actually do your best to avoid looking at their private parts as if it was forbidden and against their will. In this issue we interview photographers who aim to take away the sexuality from their female nudes. I learnt to do this in life drawing classes by blocking out the desirable vision that is sold of the female body and observing the quirkiness and character about the persons body.

I’m a big fan of Scandinavian design so when Danish designers Nicholas Fuhr and Julie Tommerup approached me for a potential collaboration with Complexd, I decided that our 1^st anniversary issue would be the perfect opportunity to do something a little different to our previous issues. The initial connection happened when I contacted Nichols about his abstract poster designs. At the time I was inspired by Rihanna’s – Rude Boy video which had just been released and I needed a graphic backdrop that complimented the styling of the shoot I was directing. Through the wonderful world of the wide web I found colourrain.com where Nicholas sells his bright and bold poster art. I asked Julie and Nicholas what they love about design and what they loved about designing Complexd.

Name: Julie Tommerup

Age: 27

Occupation: Graphic Designer / Art Director Assistant

Birthplace: Odense, Denmark

Current Residence: Amsterdam, Netherlands

My design philosophy…

I have always been interested in art and fashion so I knew that I had to do something creative. I am inspired by the creative people in my life, photographic exhibitions, books, magazines and nature. My design style is simple and very Scandinavian to the point where I try to do more ‘cluttered’ layouts because I think it’s important to be versatile as a designer. Sometimes I want to take the simple Scandinavian style and throw it in a dirty puddle just to make it rawer. I try to push myself as a female designer because I feel that men are bolder with their talent. Female designers are sometimes hard on themselves and more uncertain. Male designers have a characteristic about them…they feel they can do everything, so I keep my eye on them and act like a lady and think like a man.

On designing Complexd…

Complexd magazine is very original concept in this wide market. Composing content with women of all shapes and colors was so exciting! As a designer it’s nice to break away from the visual normalcy you find in most magazines.

Name: Nicolas Fuhr

Age: 29

Occupation: Graphic designer and Art Director

Place of Birth: Odense, Denmark

Current Residence: Amsterdam, Nederlandene

My design philosophy…

My design life started when my father realised that I was a lousy cabinetmaker but a talented designer. I am inspired by nature, clothes, magazines, buildings and also by the way people behave and interact with each other. I love mixing the old with the new when I am designing and I love to experiment with typography, forms and colours. I use a lot of colour but in a very controlled way.

On designing Complexd…

Complexd is a strong magazine.  It is not a trivial publication; it has a verse, chorus and solo. The articles were interesting so we wanted to compliment that with good fonts and the images were very strong so wanted the design to allow the images to tell the story.

On Colourrain.com…

Colourrain started out as a simple concept but it is growing each day. When I was at design school, I created a magazine based around the lifestyle in Amsterdam which I called Colour Rain. Colour Rain’s design was a mixture of patterns, colours and interesting typography. I had so many unique prints by the end of the project that I decide to build a website and sell them on-line. www.colourrain.com has been running for 2-3 years now and my customers are creative’s, non-creative, young and old. It appeals to a diverse range of people.

Check out how Nicolas’s designs were used for my Rihanna – Rude Boy inspired fashion editorial ‘Hot Like Pepper Pot’.

I am featured on the Caribbean Fashion Style Journal website in a new segment called,  “Island People Makin’ It Happen”. It’s a beautifully written article by the Editor Darcel de Vlugt which profiles  Caribbean people behind the scenes offering stories and advice for those wishing to pave their own way in the various fashion professions.

‘Kered Clement, is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Complexd magazine – an online bi-monthly magazine aimed at multicultural women whose beliefs, backgrounds, upbringing and ethnicities not only cross, but also blur, the lines of categorization. Complexd magazine is not for a specific minority, unlike so many others aimed at a particular ethnic group. This magazine brings all ‘minorities’ together with a range of topics that relate to each and every woman who identifies with more than one racial, ethnic group or culture due to her genetics or even due to her lifestyle, thereby making the minorities into a majority’.

‘Though raised, educated and currently residing in the UK, Kered – who returns to Grenada yearly – feels embraced by the Caribbean fashion industry for giving her the opportunity to build her network and show her skills as a professional and not ‘just another London art/fashion graduate’. What makes this venture even more admirable is that Kered has not pigeon-holed herself to represent the racial and cultural mix of the Caribbean alone. Complexd magazine, in the space of just one year, has gone truly global’.

Read the full length feature here

Images by Frederique Rapier – www.frederiquerapier.com

I am a visual person who finds the images before the theme or concept. I have collected thousands of tearsheets over the years and as the Complexd team were about to publish our  blog post today I spotted an image which I remember filing  7 years ago. The image is a photograph of Complexd Woman: Isamar Gonzalez, It was the cardboard case for a CD that came free with a newspaper. I adored that image, it was the model’s blossoming afro adorned with flowers and her expression of peace and tranquility that has stayed in my visual psyche for some time. Now I am able to put a name to the face, I wonder, who would have thought that years later I would be featuring that same model as a Complexd Woman. It’s such a small visual world! Read more about Isamar here

Image By Marko Macpherson