Dutch photographer Desiré van den Berg has spent the past seven months traveling around Asia. She lives in Hong Kong at the moment, but when she was in Tokyo, back in December 2013, she met Hina, a 23-year-old who works at a trendy Tokyo boutique called Baby Shoop. Hina's shop has the tagline “Black for Life.” She describes its products as “a tribute to Black culture: the music, the fashion, and style of dance.”

Hina's appearance is also loyal to what the Japanese call "B-style"—a contraction of the words "Black" and "Lifestyle" that refers to a subculture of young Japanese people who love American hip-hop culture so much that they do everything in their power to look as African American as possible.

I called up Desiré to find out more about her time photographing Hina and her gang.

VICE: How did you meet Hina?
Desiré van den Berg: She appeared in a documentary about B-style a couple of years back, which I happened to watch. This is what got me interested in the culture. It took a lot of effort, but I eventually got in touch with her on Facebook, through other B-stylers. I said I wanted to take photos of her, and she actually thought that was pretty cool. It was all a bit of a hassle, though, because Hina and the other B-stylers didn't speak a single word of English. We needed a translator both to make an appointment and at the actual first meeting, too.

How does that work in terms of translating rap lyrics?
Hina speaks some English but not fluently. She does like to use some English slang when she speaks Japanese with her B-style friends, like finishing a sentence with "man" or using bad words like "motherfucker" jokingly.

I know Japan is full of weird subcultures, but how do you explain this one?
There are things like the Harajuku Girls, which I guess are rather normal but some are complete excesses. B-style is the sort of thing you would find on wtfjapanseriously.com. Hina often goes to New York, and she idolizes America. Japanese TV is full of American films and commercials and that must be a reason, too. She sees America as a kind of promised land.

Hina at work

Is B-style big in Japan?
No. It's pretty small; you don't really see it on the streets. You really have to look for it. According to Hina, it was bigger a couple of years ago—now there are only a few die-hards left in each city. It's definitely not mainstream, and maybe still to small to even call it a subculture.

What do B-stylers like Hina mainly do?
Hina, for example, visits a tanning salon every week to darken her skin. I was surprised these tanning salons even exist, because in Japan it is a classic beauty ideal to have your skin be as pale as possible.

Just to be clear: Hina is 100 percent Japanese and naturally has pale skin. She is only dark because of the sunbed and the use of really dark foundation. B-stylers also listen to hip-hop, and visit special African hair salons to get braids or curly hair. These salons are usually found in Tokyo's ghettos and are run by small African communities. Hina wears colored contact lenses: they are a lighter shade of brown to make her eyes seem bigger.

The crowd at a B-style event. Boys also tan their skin in order to look darker and less "Japanese."

Do B-stylers get together, or does it mainly exist online?
There are special B-style events where primarily Japanese youth breakdance and dance to hip-hop and R&B. Even though the event attracts mostly Japanese people, you hear a lot of typical slang. I went to one of those events and had the feeling that all of a sudden everything had come together. I got the sense that it's a bigger group than I'd imagined.

Are there people who believe this to be inappropriate?
Apparently not in Japan, but in most comments underneath videos on YouTube you see fierce reactions. Many seem to feel the Afro-American typecasting is all wrong. Hina and other B-stylers are not really aware of this.

Baby Shoop's tagline "Black for Life" printed on a T-shirt

And what do B-stylers' families think of their lifestyles?
When I was in Japan I realized that it's considered really impolite to stare. You see the weirdest people on the streets, but no one stares, not like the way they can in the Netherlands, where I'm from. It's easier for people to be who they want to be. Hina's parents are fine with it. Her mom sees it as a phase that will pass. Even though many Japanese feel right at home in the mass, it is still a land of extremes, which manage to coexist rather well.

You can see more of Desiré's work here.

Earring model's own, Tiger of Sweden T-shirt

PHOTOS BY AMBER GRACE DIXON
STYLIST: SAFIYA YEKWAI
Hair and makeup: Phoebe Alana Brown
Models: Angus McGuinness from Models 1 and Sebastian Ahman from FM

American Apparel T-shirt, Gymphlex sweater, Sandro shorts, Timberland boots

Earring model's own, Agi & Sam pants

Christopher Raeburn sweater

Craig Green shirt, Alan Taylor pants, The Kooples shoes

The Kooples top, American Apparel jeans

Christopher Raeburn sweater, Agi & Sam pants

Liam Hodges sweater

Agi & Sam pants

River Island necklace, American Apparel vest, Neuw dungarees

Last week was fashion week in Sydney, and while the local ladies were glamming it up in whatever they bought specially for the occasion (an alarming number of birkenstocks with socks apparently), and comparing who had the best ombre colour, across town a more diverse event was going on.

On Friday Sydney hosted Australia’s first Indigenous Fashion Week, showcasing the work of artists and designers from thirteen different indigenous communities across Australia and the Torres Strait Islands. With runway shows, panel events, and a market stall set up in Town Hall, the event was an opportunity for designers and aspiring models, some of whom had never visited the city before, to network, meet buyers and strut their stuff in some awesome outfits.

Along with professional models, both indigenous and non-indigenous, the festival featured a selection of competition entrants who were chosen from across the country to learn about the business. Marlikka Perdrisat, one of the models, grew up in a community that had just three houses, outside Broome in Western Australia. She said her only exposure to fashion was the magazines other girls showed her at boarding school, and those never had indigenous models. “You see what they want, and that's not black,” she said. “It's a hard industry, and it's particularly hard when your look isn't mainstream. We want to make our look mainstream.” Claire Cooper from Byron Bay spent her childhood in a combi driving all over the country. Now she's having meetings with Victoria's Secret reps.

Grace Lee's designs were one of the highlights, and one of her dresses was worn by supermodel Samantha Harris during the show. Grace had found herself in the final year of a university degree without quite knowing how it had happened or what she would do next. Lacking direction and passion she took a trip with her grandmother to the Torres Strait Islands and connected with family she’d only ever heard about (her Grandmother hadn’t been back in fifty-seven years). While she was there she watched the old men weave together palm leaves to make the decorations used in traditional ceremonies. She had some lessons and then moved to Melbourne to study design, wanting to incorporate what she'd learnt into contemporary fashion. 

Four years later Grace has launched two fashion labels and, using traditional weaving techniques and a process of trial and error, discovered the perfect lightweight materials to bring to life extraordinary designs inspired by the ceremonial dress of her people. They're complicated – one of the necklaces she designed uses nine metres of cotton rope woven together.

Margaret and Gloria Torren, and Janelle Duncan from Casino’s Aboriginal women's artist group Wake-Up Time in the Bundjalung region have been working with local weaver Katrina Kelsey on a project to recreate designs that were common up until the 1870s. The Wurra Wurra, Boombi and Dulloom bags are being made based on documents and samples found at the British Museum – our colonial forebears had a habit of taking culturally significant artefacts back to the motherland for 'safekeeping'. The ladies also do some pretty cool silk prints, and while they were happy to see their designs worn by the models, their highlight was the ripped male models in nothing but indigenous printed briefs.

Hanes underwear, Aish scarf, Doc Martens sandals, Lucy Folk necklace, New York Costumes bunny head

Since Easter is on 4/20 this year, here's a trippy reimagining of Jesus' special day!

GIFs by Mike and Claire

Ammerman Schlösberg dress, Andrea Doria bra and panties, Vintage shoes, New York Costumes bonnet

Wildfox sweater, vintage overalls

Ammerman Schlösberg dress, Andrea Doria bra and panties, Vintage shoes, New York Costumes bonnet and cane

Wildfox sweater, vintage overalls, socks, and shoes, Clyde hat; Ammerman Schlösberg dress, Andrea Doria bra and panties, Vintage shoes, New York Costumes bonnet and cane; Hanes underwear, Aish scarf, Doc Martens sandals, Lucy Folk necklace, New York Costumes bunny head; Hanes underwear, A-Morir sunglasses, Wanderluster necklace, Arielle de Pinto bracelet, Angel Wings from Oriental Trading Co.

Special thanks to New York Costumes

Extra special thanks to Valley Shepherd Creamery for loaning us a three-day-old baby sheep

Photo Editor: Matthew Leifheit

Creative Director: Annette Lamothe-Ramos

Stylist: Miyako Bellizzi

Makeup and Hair: Silvia Cincotta

Models: India Menuez, Jack Waters, Kelvin Goncalves, Peter Cramer

Mike and Claire are interdisciplinary artists based in NYC. They are currently juniors at School of Visual Arts, and you can look forward to seeing lots more of their work on this website in the coming months. 

Every day people send us emails about their terrible fashion lines and abstract rap music videos, but today God blessed us, and we woke up to an email about “Baby Love,” the artist Actually Huizenga's brilliant new music video set to a Cicciolina cover from the upcoming Viking Angel EP. The video combines iconic Easter symbols—eggs, bunnies, and Jesus—with blasphemous images, like footage of Cicciolina. “I wanted to make something that made me happy the way Victorian, romantic Easter cards, 40s holiday-themed pin-ups, and Cicciolina, in all ways, make me feel,” Actually told us. After watching the video on repeat, we can assure you that she succeeded and her Easter bunny mindfuck will make you feel like an Easter-themed, Italian porno.

4/20 might be a one day celebration for most girls who like to pretend they smoke weed on the regular. But for those ladies who incorporate weed into their daily lifestyles, you are the coolest babes of all. A sexy girl is one thing, but a sexy girl who can roll a joint better than a boy brings it to a whole new level. Stoner girls can get blunted with the dudes, roll up joints with the homegirls, or simply chill at home, taking bong rips to the face.

I've been a stoner most my life and love me a stoner babe. Here's why.

CHILL
Keeping it low key is a must for a stoner girl. She’d rather stay in and smoke with friends than go out. The only way to convince her to leave her apartment is if she knows she can light up once she gets to her destination. Chilling is her favorite word, and if she can’t chill, she’s not having fun. Others might call her lazy, but she doesn’t give a fuck, she's happy being high.

DOWN
Though a stoner babe prefers to keep it chill, she is always down for whatever. She never has a solid plan, and she likes to go with the flow.  She’ll never say no to a joint, and as long as there’s weed, she’ll be around to smoke it. She loves a good adventure 

HAPPY
She’s so sick, because she’s a sexy babe who likes a good laugh. Since she’s always high, she has a continuous smile on her face that never goes away. When she’s out at a party she’s not another miserable chick looking for attention, because she’s having too much fun giggling to herself. 

There’s no one particular stoner style, but there are common elements stoner girls share that define their look—style is effortless to a stoner babe. She resembles the perfect mix of comfort while remaining feminine. Her flair is reflected through her individual character, making her distinctive from the rest, and her getups stay constant from day to night because she’s too high to change.

Here are a few unspoken guidelines that are unstated but understood in the stoner babe community.

BE COMFORTABLE
Being comfortable is the most important rule about being high. This babe is all about keeping it chill, and the chiller the outfit, the chiller she feels. There’s no reason to ever feel uncomfortable—feeling awkward throws off her vibe. Girls who dress uncomfortable are girls who aren’t mellow like the stoner girl. Sweatpants, hoodies, and house shoes are essential to her loungewear lifestyle.

KEEP IT SEXY
Though being comfortable is key, it’s not cute to look like a homeless hag. To balance the look, there needs to be at least one sexy element. Looking hot is all about layering. Throw on a slip dress, add an oversize hoodie, swap out the house slippers for some sneakers, and then you have put together an ideal stoner girl fit. If you already have the sweatpants on, then pair the sweats with a baby tee and keep those slippers on, girl—or skip the pants completely and wear a flannel as a dress.

WEAR THE RIGHT SHOES
Fuck the stilettos—it’s time to get high. Stoner babes don’t wear uncomfortable shoes, because they’re on a constant mission to find cute places to toke up. Rooftops, alleys, and parks are the last places you want to be wearing shoes you can’t run in. 

KEEP IT NATURAL
No, I’m not talking about your pits. Stoner girls don’t have time to concern themselves with being high-maintenance. They have more important shit to worry about, like getting ripped. Who needs glossy lips when you already have glossy eyes?

BE PREPARED
Everyone loves a home girl who’s prepared. Stoner babes have all the tools at all times. Having a bag big enough to carry all the essentials needed for an outing is key. A stoner girl's bag consists of a beverage for cottonmouth, snacks for the munchies, lighter, papers, and of course a personal stash. 

Follow Miyako Bellizzi on Twitter

Photographer: Carolline Mackintosh

Model: Fani Segerman 

Stylist: Fani Segerman

All clothing sourced and sold by CWB 

Timberland jacket, vintage t-shirt, ASOS jeans, CAT boots, vintage scrunchie, earrings from Ridley Road

PHOTOGRAPHY BY TOM VAN SCHELVEN
STYLING BY KYLIE GRIFFITHS
Photographer's assistant: Jack P Johnstone
Stylist's assistant: Ella White
Hair and Makeup: Lydia Warhurst using Bobby Brown, MAC, Nars and Bumble and bumble
Make-up assistants: Esme Carpenter and Lucy Davis
Props: Marisha Green
Nails: WAH Nails
Models: Mimi from Nevs, Vanessa David from D1, Vanessa Lee from Elite

Top by Adidas Originals by Jeremy Scott, shorts from Beyond Retro, Vans trainers, Nike socks; Moschino swimsuit and Adidas slides; Lonsdale t-shirt, Nike shorts and trainers, '47 Brand hat

Moschino swimsuit, vintage scrunchie

Vintage Reebok sweatshirt from Nordic Poetry, Adidas tracksuit bottoms; Adidas tracksuit, H&M top, boxers from Walthamstow Market

Adidas jacket and trainers, skirt from Nordic Poetry, earrings from Ridley Road; Tommy Hilfiger jacket, Topshop shorts, necklace from Ridley Road

Vintage Fila jacket from Radio Vintage, Lonsdale tracksuit bottoms, Reebok trainers, necklace from Ridley Road; Champion t-shirt, vintage Replay dungarees from Nordic Poetry, vintage scrunchie, earrings from Ridley Road, Timberland boots, Nike socks

Converse trainers, vintage scrunchie; Bench gilet, Carhartt shirt, ASOS tracksuit bottoms, Gogo Philip earrings; Lacoste playsuit (in the background)

Topshop jumpsuit, Gogo Philip jewellery; jacket by Stella McCartney from Liberty, vintage scrunchie; Moschino jacket, vintage scrunchie

Do you remember that bit during the last presidential election where Mitt Romney was covertly recorded telling an audience of millionaires that he wasn’t going to work for the poorest 47 percent of Americans? Those who, he complained, “are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them”?

It felt like a big gotcha moment, because after months of meaningless, media-trained soundbites and talking his way out of an opinion, slick Mitt was revealed as the dressage-horse-owning Dickensian capitalist we all knew him to be. This was the true Romney, a man who couldn’t even be bothered to fool those irksome povvos into voting for him. For one brief moment, America saw Romney how he liked to be seen among his fellow lizard people.

But, in the UK, they don’t need spy mics to discover what the upper class think: They just read Tatler, a brazen document of Britain’s true class system. It's a lifestyle magazine for people who know what "truffle consomme" is and what you're supposed to do with it.

These, for example, are all genuine Tatler cover lines from the past few years: “Britain’s Prettiest Schoolgirls,” “The New Faux Poor: The Rich Pretending to Be Broke,” “Jaunty Hats Make Everything Better,” “Oh Hell! It’s Ski Season... Again!” “How to Get Your Son into Eton,” “How to Date a Lord,” “The Most Highly Prized Prostitutes in the World,” “Eton vs Harrow, Who Wins?” and my personal favorite: “How Many People Should You Know?”

This is a magazine written for a tiny elite of old money aristocracy and the shamefully wealthy. A spread on watches in this month's issue began at $75,000 and worked upwards from there. This is the magazine that publishes an annual list of people who “matter.” They don’t even pretend to cloak it in more observable metrics of wealth or power, just ranking humans on their intrinsic genetic worth (the top three are baby Prince George and his parents, naturally). The mag’s cover star is almost always an entirely unfamous child of a once-famous person, because all that matters in Tatler land is wealth, youth, and good stock.

And up till now, that's been more or less fine. Everyone knows Tatler's only read by rich wives in the waiting rooms of plastic surgery clinics or people who are actively looking to take the piss out of it. It hasn’t set out to corrupt new generations, just to entertain the already abominable.

But, a few months ago, Tatler launched Teen Tatler, a blog that even Gossip Girl would find annoyingly high society. Like adult Tatler, it’s written in an impenetrable language of double-barreled surnames and weird posh people in-jokes that you could only understand if you were born with a silver spoon both in your mouth and on your charm bracelet.

Let’s take a look at the guidance Teen Tatler gives to the young women of tomorrow.

WHERE TO SUMMER

Much of Teen Tatler is preoccupied with deciding where to vacay; for example, Aspen (“better service, better bragging rights”) or Verbier (“slick chalets, sick après”). This week, it's a toss up between Corfu or yachting in Croatia (including crucial factors to keep in mind, such as, “You're not old enough for Yacht Week yet, so persuade your parents to take you on a charter”).

The travel advice seems to center around which well-to-do and presumably inbred families will be where. This season is apparently all about Croatia because “Mummy's invited the Carrs and the Hilton Joneses,” whereas, in Corfu, you’re going to find “the A-level boarding-school crew
 and their siblings. Especially Radleians. The Rothschilds have been here forever.”

Who are these people? Are they actual families? If so, how can this information be meant for mass publication? Isn’t that like me writing an article for VICE called: “WHY YOU SHOULD INVITE MY MATE COLIN TO THE PUB TONIGHT”?

I’d imagine an Earl with his own personal table at Embargo could maybe answer these questions for me, but it's weird that Teen Tatler expects you to know where the heir of the Itsu fortune is summering before you've even bought your first push-up bra. 

HERITAGE

Almost no one featured in Teen Tatler is famous in the traditional sense. They are nearly all the children of vaguely high-society people. In Teen Tatler’s print supplement there are interviews with Tigerlily Taylor—“her father is in Queen and her mother had a very intense moment with a Cadbury’s flake”—and Raf Law, who (and this is a direct quote), “comes from the best gene pool EVER!”

But don't worry if your parents aren't famous, just merely very, very rich—Teen Tatler also gives you plebs an opportunity to impart information that has no relevance to anyone whatsoever. In one issue, for instance, there’s a full-page interview with someone from City of London School for Girls who happens to play for the school netball team. Not in the Olympics, not in a national competition, just for her school. It’s still hard work, though, which is why “to recuperate, she keeps weekends quiet, escaping to her family’s bolthole in the Cotswolds with a few girlfriends”.

FASHION

Well, I say fashion. Their street style (shot by Phoebe from Made In Chelsea, naturally) includes posts like the above.

Ignoring the bizarre subtitle about how the girl won't shop at New Look for a minute, this is basically posh-girl uniform: creepers, bad posture, something vaguely quilted (just in case you're called out on a hunt at short notice), sunglasses whatever the weather, and shit tons of hair. Of course, Miss Blurry Face won’t shop at New Look, but she’s happy to spend a few grand looking as though she did.

ETIQUETTE

The unnerving thing is that this blog is aimed at a similar market to those lurid magazines you see in grocery stores with One Direction and lots of Clip Art hearts on the cover. The ones that come with a free notebook and tips on what to do when your best friend kisses your crush. Magazines that are easy to poke fun at but do a decent job of gently gearing you up for relationships and pop culture and social dilemmas.

Teen Tatler knows what its readers are destined for: a cokey phase where they fuck a member of a dynasty pop-rock band, before a lifetime of medicated bliss on the arm of some kind of viscount. They’re preparing them with tidbits like “simply pulling a Chanel lipstick out of your bag will transform you into Grace Kelly” because in 2014, surely every tween dreams of emulating Grace Kelly.

It goes without saying that teenage posh girls smoke and drink more than 48-year-old street alcoholics. Teen Tatler are fairly brazen with this knowledge. Their holiday advice includes: “buy your fags in advance—there won't be a shop for miles,” and their history of the King's Road has a detailed list of which pubs served underage schoolgirls over the years. There’s a pretty laissez-faire attitude to shagging adults, too, with advice for a trip to Oman including “don’t get with the diving instructor on the first night.”

They also have those fun “What kind of girl are you?” quizzes, but their questions are a little tougher to answer:

Hope I nailed it!

THE TEEN TATLER BYSTANDER BALL

The pinnacle of the whole affair appears to be the Teen Tatler Bystander Ball. In the video of the event, you see the truth: Teen Tatler trying to force celebrity adulthood on a bunch of posh kids who just want to drink Schnapps and wear face paint. Teen Tatler isn’t a magazine for rich teens at all, it's a tool for their parents to start socializing them into the dreadful people they will one day have to become. The publishing equivalent of leaving diet pills and a dress two sizes too small at the end of your kid’s bed.

It's almost enough to make you feel kinda sorry for them. Honestly, someone should intervene and save these children from the generation of wealthy madmen currently giving them life advice.

Follow Sam on Twitter. 

Following the Euromaidan protests, Charlet heads to Kiev to see what Ukrainian Fashion Week has to offer. The capital is still reeling from months of revolutionary turmoil which has only started to die down days before the fashion week is scheduled to take place.

Ukraine's fashion industry has grown rapidly in recent years. Despite the seriously unstable security situation which means many high profile attendees have cancelled their visit, fashion week organizers insist on going ahead with a unique, post-apocalyptic event which simultaneously confronts and buries the troubles.

Often when I’m arranging to meet someone I know from online for the first time, there has to come some awkward exchange of personal physical traits, our blind date self-description (I’ll be the petite blonde in beige…). When I met up with Arabelle Sicardi and Tayler Smith no such words were necessary. The pair are unmistakable. Arabelle, a.k.a. Fashion Pirate, is short and wears her hair in a spectrum of blue-green tones, from teal to turquoise to grass and acid; Tayler, taller, is tangerine orange. Both dress like the Rookie demographic that Arabelle writes for; that is, with their insides on the outside. Their styles are each their own—Arabelle is sci-fi, punk, Japanophilic, and queer; Tayler is stately, 70s, floral, and femme—but also the same: equally colorful, intellectual, and clashing.

I wanted to meet the duo to discuss their collaborative photography project, Most Important Ugly, a portrait series designed to, “negotiate the sitter’s stories of alienation and presentation, memories and disremembering,” through makeup. The series consists of thirteen portraits of thirteen subjects—a diverse cast of Arabelle and Tayler's muses.

These are portraits of a process: immediately before each photoshoot, Arabelle and Tayler asked their chosen sitters to answer in talk a series of questions from a list Arabelle composed titled “Therapy Sessions at Sephora.” Questions like: Who taught you what pretty is? Have you ever had a nightmare about your looks? What do you hate about yourself when you look in the mirror? Arabelle used their answers to paint, in abstract makeup, a picture of their shame, pain, power, and beauty on their own face while Tayler staged the photographs. The intent was to reveal, “the monsters that are hidden inside of us when we're taught what we are is not enough, or is too much, or that it shouldn’t exist at all.”

They were on time and dressed to the nines, with faces painted like characters out of Derek Jarman’s Jubilee. They'd stayed up late at a sleepover the night before, and traveled in from New Jersey together. As we browsed the shimmery shelves of the makeup conglomerate, a half dozen black and red cloaked employees interrupted us with the same query: “Are you girls OK?” About a third of the display samples were missing—presumably in someone’s purse.

VICE: Do you guys come here often?
Arabelle: All the time. I love watching girls bond over make up—it makes me so happy! My favorite Sephora is the one at Union Square. I’ll literally sit down at one of those demonstration tables and people watch. It’s really creepy of me.

If I’m out of the house for a long time, I’ll come reapply makeup at Sephora. Do you think most of these makeup brands are made in the same place?
Tayler:Yeah, because a lot of them are owned by the same company, LVMH.

Arabelle: Sephora itself is owned by LVMH. It’s all very political, like what gets promoted first, what’s on the kiosk endcaps. There was a really good piece in Business of Fashion about their business strategy. I like being aware of corporate agendas so I'm able to apply appropriate skepticism to the latest brands and beauty trends. I especially like knowing what products, colors, and smells are most popular where so I can test them out before everyone else around me. I'm just really nosy.

How do you two know each other?
Tayler: The Internet.

Arabelle: Tumblr. I needed someone to help me take photos for my fashion blog after my old photographer moved to Japan. I saw that Tayler had really cool stuff on her website, so I was like asked her if she was interested in working on this project.

Did you meet most of your subjects for this project online too?
Arabelle: Some of them. Many are my readers. I did a open casting call on my site.

Tayler: A very small portion are people I go to school with. Kids I’d see around and thought would be amazing for the project. Then there are the muses.

Who are the muses?
Arabelle: Our main girl is Indigo. She’s the girl with the biggest photo in the show, she's on the show cards and everything too. I wanted her from the beginning and we're going to work on a lot of stuff together in the future. And there's Hari Nef. The first time we met was actually at that 285 Kent show I just told you about. There's Eri Wakiyama too. She was the ultimate Monster in the series. Doing her makeup was hard because she's already quite self-actualized into what we were trying to pull out of everyone else through questions. She wasn't afraid at all so there was little to make her anxious about. She is an end goal of identity because she's so free.

Tayler: Shooting Indigo was definitely the biggest moment for me. She's self-actualized as her own type of monster. When I was shooting her, Arabelle was standing really close to me, and when I got the picture, we both collapsed onto the floor.

Could you tell me a bit about the project’s process? Mainly about the questionnaire, “Therapy Sessions at Sephora,” that you gave each of your subjects...
Arabelle: I came up with the questions during a panic attack in Sephora a year ago, about. I was in a bad place and I wanted to ask myself how I got there and how I should get out. I started asking them to other people and it helped both of us figure out what we hated and needed to change about our lives.

I ask the same questions to everyone who sits for us. Obviously depending on how they answer one of them, we go on tangents, I ask them other things to personalize the experience. The questions are meant to get in your head and make you map out your body anxieties for me so we can pull them out, blow them up and make a tribute together. For some people it was really scary and they got visibly upset when I found their ultimate weak spot, but those people in particular loved the end result mostly because it made them face their fears. I mean, we're not trying to bully them for no reason. It's project is about accepting yourself, even the gruesome parts—especially the gruesome parts—and kissing your scars. I think they're the most interesting parts of our bodies. Why not treat them that way? At the very least, they show you survived.

Do you wear makeup everyday?
No, I think this is the first day I’ve worn makeup in a week. I have to be in a certain mindset to wear makeup but it gets my shit together, do you know what I mean?

Not really...
Makeup helps me get my shit together. It gives me purpose, a plan, and process. I’ll sit and listen to Missy Elliott and, like, get my paint on. I was listening to My Chemical Romance this morning and I think it shows in my makeup.

When you wear makeup do you always wear such bold colors? Your eyelids look like a watercolor, Tayler; it’s so pretty.
Tayler: Thank you! Color is my vice—hah! I feel the most confident and safe when I'm wearing bold colors.

Do you feel like bold makeup is a power?
Arabelle: Definitely. That’s the whole point of the project: to harness the power of monstrosity. I would say "feminine" monstrosity but this project isn't so much about being femme or being a girl as it is about something outside of gender. Actually, we purposely included trans and non-binary portraits and changed the original title, Girlmonsters, to Most Important Ugly. It fits into the narrative arc of how I came up with the idea in the first place, from something reactionary and resistant to something bigger. The first time I ever did resistance makeup in the way that the project uses it was after a show at 285 Kent. Traveling home from Brooklyn to where I live in Jersey is a nightmare: it’s a two hour commute at two in the morning, you’re alone, it's terrifying. Knowing I’d have this long way home, I put on big red eyeshadow for the show, messy red glitter, smudged purple lipstick that made my teeth yellow looking. And no one bothered me on the way home. It was great. They couldn't understand what I was doing with my face. I felt safe.

What's your "Most Important Beautiful"?
My friends! My chosen family. I don't care too much about my own body identity and disassociate from it a lot, ironically. But I focus on being supportive to my friends and their journeys. We have to take care of each other. Our stories and friends are what keep us afloat.

Tayler: My most important beautiful is not human.

William Wilde dress, vintage earrings, vintage pearl necklace from Mint, vintage belt worn as necklace from Beyond Retro

PHOTOS BY ALEX SEBLEY
STYLIST: SAM VOULTERS

Anglomania by Vivienne Westwood dress, American Apparel headband

Fred Perry shirt, Levi's jeans, Freedom earrings, necklace and bracelet, vintage belt from Beyond Retro

FANNY AND JESSY top, AG Jeans shorts, Prism glasses, Monki earrings, Freedom bracelet

James Long gilet, Bench skirt, Topshop bra, Claire's bracelet

Anglomania by Vivienne Westwood shirt, UNIQLO shorts, Claire's earrings

Urban Outfitters T-shirt (Inspiration)

STYLING: THOMAS RAMSHAW
Styling assistant: Parveen Narowalia
Hair and Make Up: Lydia Warhurst
Hair and Make Up Assistant: Esme Carpenter

Models: Ade Yusuf, Liam O'Sullivan, Grainne McLister, Omar Philips, Jo Wells, Parveen Narowalia, Aaron Lewis, Flynne Horne, Courtney Mullen, Topher Taylor, James Thomas

Click through for more.

Thomas: The Kooples jacket, COS T-shirt, Hall of Fame hat - Parveen: Rokit jacket , Topshop jeans, Dr Martens shoes (Inspiration)

Rokit jumper (Inspiration)

Swimsuit and necklace model's own (Inspiration)

(Inspiration)

Billionaire Boys Club hat and pants, Puma jacket (Inspiration)

Woolrich vest (Inspiration)

Albam jacket, Topman shirt, vintage T-shirt (Inspiration) 

Vintage top from Beyond Retro, John Lawrence Sullivan shorts, vintage jewelry; AllSaints shorts, Calvin Klein t-shirt, vintage jewelry  

Photos by Masha Mel
Styling by John William
Hair and Make-Up by Bea Sweet  

Rachel Cogley coat, vintage jewelry

Page Left: John Lawrence Sullivan jacket, AllSaints shirt, John Lawrence Sullivan tie, vintage earring. Page Right: Jeremy Scott for adidas ObyO trousers, vintage jewelry 

Sand coat, vintage jewelry

Vintage T-shirt from Beyond Retro,John Lawrence Sullivan shorts, vintage jewelry; vintage T-shirt from Beyond Retro, James Long trousers, vintage jewelry 

Page Left: AllSaints sweater, Rose Dent shorts, vintage Buffalo shoes, UNIQLO socks; AllSaints tracksuit, adidas shoes, Stone Island hat. Page Right: Vintage Nike sweater, Lacoste t-shirt, AllSaints shorts, vintage jewelry

Sneakerheads are among the most passionate collectors in the world. The price tag, limited availability, and beauty of sneakers have been linked to murders, riots, and people standing in line for absurd amounts of time since the 90s.

For some, this intense fanaticism has turned into a sexual fetishization called sneaker destruction. And apparently there's an infinite amount of ways you can destroy your ridiculously expensive shoes for sexual pleasure. 

In the sneaker destruction community exists a group of people who get off on videos of people popping the air pocket on their Air Max sneakers. The videos, which are mostly shared on YouTube, start in a variety of ways but always end with the same money shot—a sharp object puncturing the air bubble. The visual of a hunting knife, razor blade, or power drill being driven into the air bubble of sought-after sneakers makes for some weird, yet oddly satisfying, videos.

Popping the bubbles of Nike Air Maxes for sexual pleasure is a pretty small niche thing. When I brought the videos to three nationally renowned fetish experts none of them had even heard of the phenomenon before. 

Dr. Gloria Brame is an expert in anything kinky, and has been a private sex therapist for the last 14 years in one of the kinkiest cities in the world, San Francisco. She told me that "destruction of property doesn't even show up in the literature till later. Abusing footwear is really about the harm. It's thrilling, dangerous, and angry."

Image via YouTube user lovinsneax1

Brame says fetishes come and go based on the current culture. Back in the day, people used to fetishize bicorne hats (that's the kind Napoleon used to wear). Shoe destruction is a contemporary fetish that Brame says speaks to the fact that our culture has become more violent. Sharing the videos online makes it fun to be part of what Brame called a “fraternity of weirdness.”

As I dug deeper into the annals of message boards and video sites, shit got weird fairly quickly. So I decided to reach out to Ginnasio, a seasoned shoe destroyer, to see why he ruins kicks for kicks.

VICE: Can you explain in detail the feeling you get when you tear into a brand-new shoe with a knife?
Ginnasio: You can't explain the thrill. Sometimes I just can't resist the urge to do it, without any reason. That mostly happens with famous and trendy models of sneakers. I have met some people and let them try it out. Some appreciated it; others thought it was stupid.

When did you first realize you were attracted to destroying shoes? Are you sexually attracted to shoes in general or just to their destruction?
I was 13 or 14 the first time I modified my sneakers. I had fun, so I decided to continue. I like sneakers in general, but I only love them when they are trashed.

What is your favorite kind of shoe destruction?
I prefer to trash them to the level where they are still wearable—making holes and small cuts in the sneaker. I like swimming with them and walking in deep mud.

What does swimming and trekking have to do with shoe destruction?
I don't know why, but usually shoe destruction and bathing clothed are related. Most people engage in both.

Does destroying a more sought-after pair of sneakers increase the level of sexual pleasure you get?
Yeah, probably. Also, the ads from a big chain like Foot Locker represent kicks as a way of life. It's almost like they are part of the body. Converse advertisements always show dirty or trashed Chucks. They know the market and are targeting this important side of humanity.

How many shoes do you think you destroy a year? Is this hobby breaking the bank or what?
I trash about 8 to 10 pairs a year, but I usually wear them for months after they are trashed before I decide to destroy them completely. I spend about a $1,000 on shoes a year, but I get about a third of that money back from the website EverythingMustDie.com.

They pay you to destroy shoes?
They give me money for my videos and host them. Others pay them to watch.

Tell me about the shoe-destruction community on YouTube. Do you guys send one another shoes to destroy?
Yeah, sometimes. Some people have asked me to trash their shoes for them and vice versa. When I realized that all around the world there are really many people with the same hobby I was excited. I have always thought I was alone... But there are tons of "destroyers" in various countries. However, I have never met another shoe destroyer in person, though.

Have you ever had a sexual experience where you mix the shoe destruction in with the plain old intercourse?
I can say that I had a sexual experience just after a complete destruction of all my stuff, shoes included. I destroyed a bunch of stuff I had just bought: white jeans, tee, socks, underwear. 

Do you have any other interesting sexual tendencies? 
No. I'm single and hetero. If you count my fetish, then I've had some gay experiences as well.

I've heard this a predominately gay-male activity; is that true? 
Not at all. They're varied like anything else—straight, gay, and bi.

Does destroying shoes directly get you off? Like, is cutting into a shoe enough to make you ejaculate?
Yeah, sometimes.

What do you think of all the negative comments on YouTube?
They are a part of the game and I accept them so long as they contain any actual criticism, and not just insults (which happens sometimes). Moreover, the third-party site I publish my videos on gives a small part of its funds to charity.

What is something that people think about shoe destruction that isn't true?
That are spending habits are not validated. I have an absolutely normal life, as most of us do. Shoe destruction is a somewhat strange hobby, not a way of life.

Do you consider it a hobby or a fetish?
I am not really attracted by feet. Some other destroyers are, and they ask me to make videos barefoot. I only love to make my shoes trashed.

Do you think anything in your childhood lead to your attraction to shoes?
No. Just like many children, I loved to soak my shoes in a puddle or in mud. The only difference is that I still love to do it.

It's been one long-ass winter—filled with crusty lips, chapped butt cheeks, and snotty noses. But it finally looks like the cold is coming to an end, which means it's time to switch up the gear and put away the dark puffy clothes for more colorful, Miami-coke-kingpin-type shit. Luckily, Mishka has you covered with their summer 2014 collection. The vibe of their latest pieces harkens back to that classic quirky shit that is Mishka's bread and butter. The patterns are eccentric and subversive and have a chaotic vibe that captures the excitement of a sweltering summer in New York City.

The homies behind the ever-evolving streetwear brand have given VICE the pleasure of exclusively premiering the lookbook for their 2014 collection, which you can scroll through below. With glitchy GIFs and backgrounds that remind us of old-school pen-and-pixel art, the photos evoke the cut-and-paste pastiche that is defining cool shit right now. Enjoy! 

After you peep the collection, hop over to MishkaNYC.com to cop some weird, offbeat streetwear.

Franklin & Marshall tops

PHOTOGRAPHY BY MILLICENT HAILES
STYLING BY ANNA CURTEIS
Stylist Assistant: Thea McCarthy
Hair: Jake Gallagher
Makeup: Mona Leanne and Hollie Lewis
Models: Lola, Cici Cavanagh, and India from Profile, Mona Leanne, Grace Hunt

Beyond Retro top, jeans and shoes

American Apparel T-shirt, Izabel dress

Bjorn Borg bra, Fruit Of The Loom trousers

Beyond Retro top, Vintage Coach bag from Rokit
 

Beyond Retro bikini and bag

Motel top, F&F trousers; Beyond Retro T-shirt and trousers 

Beyond Retro top, Champion shorts, K-Swiss trainers

Photos by Kristina Podobed

Kiev is not a city you'd immediately associate with fashion—especially in these days of passive-aggressive war with Russia. Yet, the Ukrainian capital loves fashion enough to have two fashion weeks: Ukrainian Fashion Week (UFW) is one and Kiev Fashion Days (KFD) is the other.

The main difference between UFW and KFD is their age. Last March, UFW held its 34th season while at the same time KFD celebrated three and a half years of existence. At its conception, KFD was created in reaction to UFW. Back then, UFW was a rather kitschy event—full of glitter, pretentious luxury, and glamorous politicians’ wives in the frows.

Forever looking to the West, the organizers of KFD tried to set up an event of a more European level that would feature younger talent (in the end, that largely meant designers who were into minimalism). Their target audience was the fashion forward crowd, the hipsters and the so-called "creatives," while UFW was more for pop stars and rich men's wives.

Today, UFW is not as kitschy as it used to be and KFD is not as hipster. Both fashion weeks take place in decent venues, hold no less than 20 scheduled shows and presentations, attend to hundreds of guests, and include educational programming and design competitions. Hiccups usually have to do with planning, a lack of funds and the quality of certain designs—which is normal for a country so young, with no long-standing fashion industry.

Basically it's a little hard to tell if either event is better than the other, but the rivalry between organizers is still alive and well.

Not that it should make much difference, but these photos were taken during Mercedes-Benz Kiev Fashion Days this year. For a deeper look into the scary and exciting world of Ukrainian Fashion Week, watch Charlet Duboc in Fashion Week International: Ukraine here.

See more of Kristina's work here

Photo from Mike Mellia's portrait series Our Side of the Story: South Sudan

The April issue of VICE includes just one article in its 130 pages. The magazine's sole story, Saving South Sudan, by Robert Young Pelton, is a gonzo-style dive into the strife of the world’s newest nation, one that has faced perpetual war “with some sporadic days off” since 1955. In April, we received an invitation to a gallery exhibition by New York–based photographer Mike Mellia, whose project, Our Side of The Story: South Sudan, is a series of portraits of South Sudanese refugees turned artists. Subjects included supermodels who've walked for the likes of Louis Vuitton and appeared in Kanye West videos, an actor starring in an upcoming Reese Witherspoon movie, and a poet studying at Columbia University. Almost everyone in the series still has family in South Sudan, or a neighboring refugee camp, and many of the subjects' families don't know the extent of their current artistic lives.

We got in touch with several of the subjects of Our Side of The Story in hopes of giving them a platform to talk about their almost unbelievable voyages from Sudan to America, from refugee camps to runway shows and top-tier universities. VICE will be sharing one of their stories every day this week, starting with Mari "DJ Stiletto" Malek.

Mari Malek was born in Wau, South Sudan, into a family of roughly 20 children. Her father was a minister of finance in the government, and her mother was a nurse. As the war got worse, her mother turned the house into an open-door sanctuary for displaced people whose homes had been razed in the fighting. When the violence became more concentrated in the area, her mother swiftly and stealthily brought Mari and two sisters to a refugee camp in Egypt in hopes of getting them out of the continent.

She eventually emigrated to Newark, New Jersey, living in a low-income housing complex filled with drugs, violence, prostitutes, and other problems that made the transition feel "even scarier than our home in Sudan." After locating family in San Diego, Malek went to school in California and had a child at age 20. She eventually was asked to model and, on a whim, moved to New York to pursue fashion. She has since modeled for Lanvin, Vogue, and appeared in the videos for Kanye West’s “Power” and Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way,” and now she DJs at Manhattan mega-club Lavo under the name "DJ Stiletto." She spoke with us about working in a world as far removed from her childhood as humanly possible, why the impetus of the current civil war comes down to male egos, and how her nonprofit organization, Stand for Education, is working on boosting learning opportunities in South Sudan, which she believes is the only way to end the war. 

VICE: Where in South Sudan were you born? 
Mari Malek: I was born in Wau, South Sudan, during the Second Civil War. I come from an educated and working family. My family was also very large. I have about 20 sisters and brothers. Five of us belonged to my mom and dad, and the rest were my half sisters and brothers. My dad had four wives, and my mom was his third wife, the one who took care of all his children. 

At that time my mother was a nurse, and my father was working in the government as the minister of finance and was always traveling back and forth from South Sudan to the north. The south was becoming too dangerous for us to live in, so we moved to Khartoum (the capital of Sudan when it was still one country).

Since I grew up in a well-off family, I was going to school, had plenty of food, and was a happy child because I had my father, my mother, my family, and a home. Things got worse, and my family lost everything. I remember when I was like five years old a bunch of northern Arab soldiers raided our home and took everything from us and took our father away. A few weeks later my father returned home hurt and jobless. I was confused and did not know what was going on at the time (our parents did not express to us exactly what was going on). Little did I know, that was the last time that our family would be together.

My mother took care of us, as well as a bunch of displaced people who kept on coming to our home, escaping from the south because villages were being burned and people were being murdered. Our home became like a hospital filled with hurt and sick men, women, and children.

Four years later, my mother had made plans for us to escape Sudan. My father never wanted us to leave, so she took us secretly. She took my two sisters and me by surprise from our father, and off to Egypt we went to live as refugees waiting to be sponsored into the USA. My mother wanted to make sure we were protected and had a chance at living our lives in better circumstances. 

What is something about life in refugee camps that the average American wouldn’t know?
Living in Egypt, my mother had to start her life all over. We had to start our lives all over. Mom got a few jobs as a maid so that she could support us. She was working all the time. I had to take care of my younger sisters and become a mother to them at the age of 9, because my mother was busy making sure we could attend school, eat, and have a decent life.

Every morning when I woke up and got my sisters ready for school, I was praying for protection. When we walked the streets of Egypt, the Egyptians made fun of us, threw things at us, and spit on us. We took a 45-minute train to school, and from school and every single day we were mistreated and discriminated against. We had to fight!  We were all kids mostly under 12, fighting for our rights every day.

Can you describe a moment from your childhood in South Sudan that you hold dear? 
In Wau (the village I was born in), we had a lot of mango trees. I remember when my siblings and I would go pick mangoes from our backyard. We challenged one another about who could climb the mango trees the highest and pick out the best-tasting mangoes. After we picked the mangoes we washed them and cut them and sat under the shaded tree and had a mango picnic. I so miss that! Every time I think of that moment, it's like I just time-traveled. I am taken right back to that exact moment. I can hear the breeze, feel the shade, and taste the mangoes. I miss my home!

When did you move to America?
In 1997, we were finally sponsored by the Catholic Charities to come to the USA. Our sponsor lived in New Jersey. He was an Asian man. He picked us up from the Catholic Charities office and dropped us off to what was then our new home.

Our apartment was in Newark, New Jersey. It was a scary place, especially at that time. It seemed even scarier than our home in Sudan. The building we were put in was filled with drugs, violence, gunshots, prostitutes, and rats. We were very lonely and terrified. We spoke no English and knew no one. It was freezing-cold—the coldest we had ever experienced. We were kids, and at this time I was about 14 or 15 years old, and we had an innocent outlook on things. We really didn’t pay attention to all the bad things around us. We were just happy to have our mom and one another.

My mother, on the other hand, did not like our new living circumstances, and she obviously knew better than we did. As usual, she was already planning on moving forward to a different environment for our own safety. With a little help from an amazing person we met, we were able to locate some of our relatives in San Diego, California, and moved to connect with them. Our new life began there. We connected with our long-lost relatives, went to school, and started settling in the United States of America.

How did you end up modeling and DJing in New York? 
After leaving Sudan we basically lived the rest of our lives poor. I got my first job when I was 16 years old, to help my mother out. After all, she was a single mother, and none of the education and work she had completed in the past mattered here in America.

We found ourselves constantly having to start over all the time. It was challenging. I grew up fast. I worked, finished high school, went to college, met someone I fell in love with, and got pregnant at the age of 20. I gave birth to my beautiful angel, Malayka Malek. I ended up being a single mom, like my mother. I struggled between going to school, having a job, and being a single mom all at the same time. Although I was blessed with my baby girl, I felt empty and like a robot.

I finally decided to take a risk and follow my heart. I told mom that I was going to go check out NYC for some modeling opportunities and see where it could lead me. Every single day of my life since I came to America, I was getting approached to model, but I had no idea what that was, so I was a bit scared.

Now I am involved in the entertainment business. I started off as a model here in NYC, which led me into discovering that I can DJ, and now I play live under the name “DJ Stiletto," often at clubs like Lavo, in Manhattan. I am the first nationally and internationally known South Sudanese DJ, and I am looking to expand that into music production. I work with clients in the fashion and music industry, such Mercedes Benz Fashion Week, Rolls-Royce, Kenneth Cole, Indochine, Kanye West, Lady Gaga, Lacoste L!VE, and a Lanvin Paris ad campaign shot by the legendary photographer Steven Meisel. I am now becoming more established as a DJ, so I do not have to work a day job like I used to. 

Can you tell me anything you’ve heard or witnessed in South Sudan that illustrates how people are being hurt and need help? 
Well, since we became independent on July 9, 2011, Sudan is no longer just Sudan. The country is now divided into two different parts, Sudan and ROSS (which is the Republic Of South Sudan). The American media have been focusing a lot on the broad statistics, which I personally feel takes away the connection of this being a humanity issue and not just a South Sudanese issue. I want people to start really looking at us as a part of them. As one! As our country is not just a country somewhere out there, but an actual part of this planet.

What do you think is the source or root of all this violence in South Sudan? 
There are several sources for the violence happening in my country, but I think a major cause of all this violence in the region is a lack of education. Most of the country is illiterate. Only about 20 percent of the people are able to read and write, and only 1 percent of those who can read are women. Mind you, 64 percent of the country consist of women, who are not even allowed to speak or have any sort of a voice. Does that make any sense to you?

Like Nelson Mandela once said, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” How can we make any major political decisions when most of the people in the country cannot read or write? This is exactly why my nonprofit, Stand for Education, focuses on providing access to education. I want to shed light on this issue and bring opportunities to the children and women of South Sudan so that they can learn. I want to teach the younger generation that it doesn’t matter what tribe you are from.

The other root of the problem is “men with egos.” Our country is the youngest country in the world. Our leaders are inexperienced and running it. I feel like they are running it with their testosterone and egos. The current crisis in South Sudan has been exposed to the media and to the blind as a “tribal war,” when really it is a power struggle between two men who want power for themselves. These men are supposed to be our leaders and our protectors.

What upcoming projects are you working on?
Currently I am working on my nonprofit, Stand for Education, where we focus on providing access to education in South Sudan and empowering women/girls to discover their power and use it in the highest form possible. We need to protect children, nourish them, teach them, and give them structure so that they can have a bright future. A child in South Sudan has few choices as far as learning. These choices are under trees, in an overcrowded class with a teacher who has a sixth-grade-level education, or they have to go out of the country (and that is if their family can afford it, which is less likely to happen).

South Sudan currently has one of the lowest globally ranked levels of gender equality in the world. Women and girls are supposed to just get married, have children, and take care of a man. Most girls in South Sudan are used as a source of income. They are being sold. A girl can be used and married off at the age of 12 to an old rich man so that the family can get a dowry (which comes in a form of cattle or cash). They barely have a chance to attend school or live their childhood. If a girl gets a chance to go to school, she will most likely drop out due to early marriage and early pregnancy. That is why I am dedicating each and every chance I get to helping these children and women. 

Are you optimistic about the future of Sudan? What will it take to end the violence? 
I am very optimistic about the future of South Sudan. I believe in us. I believe we can rise above this. Sometimes it takes for things to fall apart so things can come back together. At some point we are all going to have to step back and look beyond our egos to fix this never-ending violence and negativity. 

Please visit Mari’s charity, Stand for Education, at www.stand4education.org. The organization aims to give less fortunate people access to educational opportunities and strives to help young women in particular. 

Find out more about Mike Mellia’s South Sudan–focused portrait series, Our Side of the Story, on his website.

Follow Zach Sokol on Twitter.