Where fashion, art, travelling and nightlife come together and have a kiki.










While walking one of the many busy streets of our lovely hometown Brussels yesterday, we passed by this fancy lady and snapped some street style pictures of her outfit. Enjoy!









    
Ella, 20
Student



Where are you from?
Dilbeek

What are you wearing?
A two piece by Pull&Bear, the bomber with foax fur lining is by Mexx, the shoes by New Balance, all of the jewellery is by I Am and the bag is Nike.

How would you describe your style in three or less words?
Feminine sporty.

What music do you listen to at the moment?
Old classics like  "The sweetest taboo" by Sade or "Groove with you" by The Isley Brothers.

Tell us something that most people wouldn't expect/think of you?

I can be a very spontaneous and open person, but actually  deep down I’m very shy and I blush easily. I tend to overthink situations very fast. I always say; I panic but in a super chill and casual way.







The essence of Coco Chanel, the mademoiselle who changed the closet of every woman, told through 12 chapters. A true MUST SEE.






























To start the weekend well, we decided to share some good music with you. Here's a pick of what has been on replay on my iTunes this week.





Bryson Tiller is an American singer-songwriter that is only 22 years old. He started receiving massicve internet attention from the music industry insiders with this breakout sinlge 'Don't', which he originally released on his Soundcloud page





Chevy Woods (Kevin Woods) is an American rapper, he is mostely know because he worked with Wiz Khalifa. His first major appearance was on Wiz Khalifa's song 'Taylor Gang'.





I dont think I need to say anyhting more about A$AP ROCKY or Rhianna, I mean if you dont know them do some google searching darling.





Honestly I am not a fan of Selena Gomez, the 23 years old disney star, but this song I just adore.
I am not ashamed for it, there is also a version of this song where A$AP ROCKY raps in it. Also really good!





Russ is an Atlanta based rapper, who makes melodic songs but they remain catchy and upbeat.
To be honest I haven't checked out any other songs of him beacuse I got smittin with this one.


Enjoy the music and your weekend. Feel free to give your opinions!









  

Over the last two years a bearded drag queen won and presented the Eurovision Song Contest. Olympic superstar Bruce Jenner became Caitlyn and appeared on the cover of Vanity Fair. Transgender Youtube sensation Gigi Lazzarato presented Miley Cyrus on the VMA stage. & Other Stories launched an advertising campaign shot by a 100% transgender team and starred only trans models. The list goes on and on.

When reading all of this, you could say that the past two years were quite good eventful for the transgender community. It seems that our has become a lot more accepting when it comes to genderbending, dressing ‘differently’ and being transgender. But has it really? Does a big ‘transgender’ billboard on Times Square mean that all of a sudden everyone in New York suddenly becomes acceptant towards trans people? Are we suddenly all drag queen lovers because we watched Conchita Wurst perform at the Eurovision Song Contest? We became a little more tolerant yes, but unfortunately we’re far from a world full of acceptance. Let’s compare it to our relationship with big hairy spiders. We tolerate their existence, because hey we can’t kill them all, but we absolutely don’t want them in our house. So yes, everyone gets a little more tolerant towards being transgender, androgynous or simply being ’different’, but this doesn’t mean they will accept these people in their community or their life.


Last week during an afternoon shopping spree in Brussels, a guy stopped me and told me he really liked my style. He then asked me where I got the sweater I was wearing that day, so without any shame I told him it was a Martin Margiela sweater, more precisely from the MM6 collection (which is their women collection). I swear I could see the guy’s face turn purple at that moment. Within seconds his friends all started laughing at him for liking/wanting that woman sweater.

The fact that about 60% of my wardrobe consists of women clothing has never bothered me, or anyone around me. Most of the time people don’t even realize I’m wearing a garment originally designed for women until I tell them myself, and even then it doesn’t bother them. It was the first time someone made such a scene when he realized I was wearing women’s clothing, and it really made me think.

Guy’s think it’s sexy when girls wear their shirts or boxers ‘the morning after’. They would spend almost half of their monthly pay to buy an Acne sweatshirt that says “Please call me girl”, but try dressing them in a women’s Martin Margiela shirt and you’ll get war.

When I wear my black Cheap Monday tshirt-dress over a skinny jeans to a party in Brussels, (drunk) straight guys and girls tend to play with it and think it’s awesome. Wearing this dress-over-a-jeans outfit as a boy in the city centre in the middle of the day inspires a whole other reaction. People stare or sometimes even comment on my ‘outrageous’ outfit.


For a while, I stopped wearing things like this when going shopping with friends or when getting my groceries because of people and their opinions. A few days ago, I was wearing my Cheap Monday tshirt-dress and when on my way to go get some drinks with a friend. A little boy came up to me in the streets and told me he liked my dress. The little guy looked about five years old so I didn’t really feel like I could start a whole conversation with him about boys wearing dresses etc. So I just thanked him and told him I really liked his shoes (to return the compliment). He then told me that at home he sometimes wears dresses too, and that he thinks that if the girls in his class can wear pants, he can wear dresses too.

Could it really be as simple as that? 80 years ago pants were reserved strictly to those who possess the XY chromosomes - aka men. But along came Coco Chanel who started wearing pants because she wanted to feel the same comfort men were able to feel in their breezy pants… So what if we all just start wearing whatever we feel like wearing? Just like Chanel did. On that moment of toddler wisdom, I decided to never restrict myself or my outfits to other people’s opinions again. I decided that if I want to wear a belted shirt-dress over my jeans, I will.


Long story short, we still have a long way to go before we will accomplish 100% of acceptance. Who knows if we ever will? But if we all just start doing a little more of what we want to do, wearing what we want to wear and forgetting about other people’s opinions on our personal matters, I’m pretty sure the road to success will feel a little less boring and will pass a little faster than it would if we all just keep coloring between the lines.

To celebrate this way of thinking, we decided to team up with the H&M Belgian team to do a photoshoot that questions the gender restrictions in fashion, and the ‘clothing’ rules society teaches us as kids. We hope you like it, enjoy!










PHOTOGRAPHY & ART DIRECTION - STUDIO LATCKERS CREATIVE STUDIO
STYLING - IRENE LATOUDIS & MELVIN JONCKERS
MAKE UP - STUDIO LATCKERS CREATIVE STUDIO

SPECIAL THANKS TO H&M FOR COLLABORATING WITH US ON THIS PROJECT



      

If you ever find yourself walking around in Brussels at 6 in the morning and you hear a heavenly underground sound coming out of an abandonned supermarket, don’t worry; it’s just a Catclub party.

All the way back in 2002 Jane Haesen, a belgian creative better known as Lady Jane, didn’t quite find her ‘thing’ in the Brussels’ nightlife scene. Instead of trying to fit in with the then mostly commercial crowd she decided to create her own party and gave birth to a concept that is now a well-known phenomenon in Brussels, Catclub.









Catclub started out as a gathering of friends in appartments and now grew out to a huge concept welcoming around a thousand of partygoers with every edition. The atmosphere is very unique: at Catclub you will find yourself surounded by life-loving, laidback and mostly creative people. The party is known for being a pioneer who invites emerging and up-and-coming artists before they get booked in bigger mainstream clubs. 





Over the past thirteen they managed to put various international talents such as Nicolas Jaar on their line-ups, who later became quite popular. Mix these talents with their resident DJ’s such as Fais Le Beau (or if you’re lucky Lady jane herself crawls behind the decks) and you’ve got one hell of a party. Not only the amazing music but also the fact that Catclub has no ‘fixed’ adress and travels from venue to venue makes it (one of) the best parties in Brussels. One weekend you find yourself dancing on a boat, a month later you’re smoking a cigarette to deep house music in what used to be the fruit and vegetable isle of a huge supermarket. Whatever occasion, wherever Catclub goes, they keep amazing. 

Because the idea of organising a party at the same location every time is quite boring, with every edition Catclub tries to bring something never seen before. By inviting several artists to take care of their venue decoration, they manage to WOW their public with every new concept. Going from a big pyramid to house the toilets, to huge walls made of cardboard boxes luminated by red neon lights to separate the dance floor from the chill-out zone, the creativity of the Catclub team knows no limits. It is therefor no surprise that the party is a gathering of mostly creative souls going from the age of 18 far up to the age of 55. Whatever your age, sexual orientation, job or skin color, as long as you've got an open mind and a love for a mix of deep house, minimal and new wave music you're more than welcome at Catclub.

You could say without a doubt that by hosting the first ever Catclub party in a friends appartment back in 2002, our Lady Jane saved Brussels’ nightlife scene. Imagine you had to dance to commercial music of the "Put your fucking hands up" Dan!eL ft. KBK every weekend, now that's a depressing thought right? Before going to bed tonight, let’s all thank god for giving us Lady Jane, the woman who created a home for crazy cats of all breeds; Catclub. 





To end this piece in an appropriate way, here’s a throwback to one of those rare moments Lady Jane herself made us dance the night away at the night of June 23 back in 2012.




First picture by Lara Gasparotto, all other pictures by Roman Hayat.



author
Melvin Jonckers and Irene Latoudis
Two Belgian youngsters living in the city of Brussels who have a mutual interest in all that is fashion, art, music, food, travelling and partying.