Despite the fact that the England women’s team are far more successful on the international stage than their male counterparts, football is a sport renowned for its dismissal and mistreatment of women. Sophie’s collection, whilst rooted in the history of football and with a firm sportswear angle, is an homage to femininity, abounding with pastels and metres upon metres of soft tulle. By reconciling these two elements, she shares a message that femininity and the ‘masculine’ world of football are not mutually exclusive.
Girls Don’t is another zine based around similar ideals but takes a different approach, addressing the expectations of being a girl, for example, as it says on their website, girls don’t ‘poop, have body hair, have a willy or cut their toe nails’. Founder/Editor/Curator Joanna Kiely says: “All of my personal work revolves around girls, satire, and sexuality so I thought why not curate some other people’s work around the same theme. I also wanted to do something to show girls they didn’t have to be exactly what society wanted them to be, I wanted to bring to people’s attention how plain stupid society’s standards are. I began requesting submissions in April 2014. I’m lucky enough to be friends with a wide variety of creatives and they all got involved as well as people who came across it online. It’s mostly women who contribute, but a few men too!” The first print run sold out quickly and Girls Don’t is now accepting submissions for Issue 2. Subjects to explore include body hair, sex, bathroom activities, hygiene, anatomy, respect, and reputations.
It’s exciting and encouraging to be part of a generation of women who, whilst still having to face issues both old and new, are so sure of their own strength and influence. The scope for spreading this message, whether that’s by initiating your own project or joining someone else’s, is huge. Of course, whilst I was feeling inspired by my peers and had all those aforementioned beautiful clothes just sitting on the rail in my office, I had to get involved and put some sweet, pink looks together…

