a critical fashion zine by Julia Därth
The fashion magazine industry is a multi-billion dollar business, primarily monopolized by fashion giants. The two cash cows exist of consumers as well as advertisers. When publishing-houses realized that advertisers saw fashion magazines as a parlor, it made them scrap the idea of making the fashion magazine into an inclusive item appealing to a mass-market. Instead, they focused exclusively on targeting the upper classes. This is also the industry that taught my sisters and me that females should first and foremost spend time and effort on appearance and to disvalue ourselves through being exposed to dehumanizing images of women that stem from a male gaze. The male gaze is described as the act of portraying females and society from a male, hetero viewpoint in which females are sexualized and objectified to satisfy the male gender. Hence, Rewrite stands for rewriting gender and fashion norms. And, is a response to the capitalist world view, which has, for centuries, decided who’s body is accepted or not, in this case, regarding the commercial sphere of fashion.
By shedding light upon people and initiatives who work towards breaking the perception of traditional fashion and the heteronormative understanding of genders, the mission is to add another voice to the already existing movement. I want for Rewrite to be a platform where new relationships and communities can be built. Therefore anyone is welcome to download the zine, read it, and spread it to your girlfriends, sisters, or mom/s.
The transparent effects throughout the zine resemble transparent papers that were used for the analog version.
Scroll through and read the zine
Design choices:
For me, it was essential to let Rewrite’s production process stay low-tech as an homage to the fanzine format. But also to show that you don’t need high-technological tools to get your message across. The purpose of the zine format is to create quick and home-made magazines that are accessible and useful within activism and politics, as well as music and pop culture. I printed Rewrite via my friend’s printer and later on, bound it with a stitching technique called Japanese bookbinding.
Rewrite includes transparent paper, to push for transparency and diversity within the production of high-end magazines. And, its typography and visual identity reference intersectional feminist magazines like Bang, Salty, Girls Like Us, Recens Paper and Sleek.
I chose to work with a colorful palette since I believe that many traditional fashion magazines often contain and work with white spreads. I wanted to move away from this since I think that the white color often tends to express connotations such as purity and “goodness” and has throughout history been used politically incorrect on numerous occasions. These connotations is not what I want my project to convey. Instead, Rewrite is a call for action. 
Fashion performs an essential role in the construction of identity. It is also one of the most noticeable markers of status and gender. – Diana Crane
Special thanks to:
Tomas, Sam, Ida, Hana, and Sara! I am so happy that you wanted to invest your time into my project. You have inspired me a lot throughout this time and will continue to do so. This whole experience and the making of Rewrite wouldn’t be equally as fun without you.
Check out their social media and work at:
Tomas Gunnarsson – @genusfotografen
Sam Nowell – @samnowellstudios @samnowell
Ida Klamborn – @idaklamborn
Hana Holquist – @hanaquist
Sara Kaaman – @sarakaaman @girlslikeusmagazine
download Rewrite here
