Twin Issue XX

20.03.2019 | Blog , Twin Book | BY: Francesca Gavin

Issue 20 celebrates a landmark in Twin’s history: 10 years of championing women and emerging creativity. Fittingly, this issue is packed with interviews and contributors that embody our independent and boundary pushing spirit. Who more emblematic of that ethos than Katharine Hamnett? Her radical vision has consistently held power to account and advocated for sustainable values and the power of education. Or boxer Ramla Ali, who knocked out the idea that ‘women don’t box’ and became a champion – inside and outside of the ring. Both women shattered existing expectations to establish new rules of their own. Also in this issue, filmmaker Fenn O’Meally and poet Debris Stevenson talk feminism, community and creativity, dismantling the system one punchy takedown at a time. You’ll want to read this interview twice. These are the influencers of our times, but we’ve also asked leading creatives to talk about the icons who came before. Designers Michael Halpern, Mimi Wade and Art School’s Tom Barratt contribute loving family portraits of the women who originally inspired them.

This anniversary, community is key. In ‘Queens of Scampia’, photographer Jess Kohl offers an intimate portrait of the trans women in northern Naples, while Lotte van Raelte’s discusses her open, natural portraits of women’s bodies in all their unique wonder. Francesca Allen’s ‘Tokyo Girls’ is a love letter to women and the city, while back in Britain, artists Jeremy Deller talks Stonehenge and his collaboration with Aries. And with a similar nod to the pagan, photographer Steph Wilson’s ‘White Nightmare’ conjures surreal and weird world where the white male has been overpowered and the freakish and strange rule. Looking back to look forward, Philomena Epps reflects on the original contributed for our first issue, in the context of where we are now. “The Age of Aquarius will last for another 2000 years”, she says, “but will we?”

Given the innovative creatives that have helped to promote original thinking over Twin’s last 10 years, the answer is probably, yes. The range of talent that has helped to establish the magazine’s pioneering voice is a reason to be optimistic about the future. Here’s to a bright, bold and disruptive decade ahead.