In 2020 Anastasiia Fedorova collaborated with London-based Finnish designer Ella Boucht on a text which outlined the significance of creating new kind of representation for queer body in fashion and visual culture. It explored the ways Boucht’s work strives to expand the boundaries of queerness and gender, while also tapping into the rich history of lesbian life and creative expression.

“One of Boucht’s primary design interests is tailoring, particularly in its potential as a radical technology through which to reimagine gender. Boucht’s work is a statement of visibility, which puts non-binary, trans and gender nonconforming bodies center-stage and creates a uniquely queer space within fashion’s largely heteronormative imaginary. It is clothes as armour, clothes as a sexual language, clothes as revived history, clothes as an act of fearless self-creation, clothes as a domain of dykes and lesbians, butches, femmes and studs, queer daddies and babies, enby beauties and transmasc stunners, T4T bois and girls, gender warriors and everyone who will be born into LGBTQI+ communities of the future. Boucht sees clothes as a gateway to a world where femininity is not determined by the male gaze, where queer masculinity is free from the toxic heritage of the patriarchy, and where gender is endlessly fluid and shapeshifting.

Boucht’s work is by no means limited to fashion – their key aim is to platform and support the contemporary lesbian and queer community, celebrate its history and fight for its future in an increasingly hostile political environment. From the very start, they have been interested in the history of taboo and censorship in relation to queer and female bodies and sexuality, and the way it has impacted our knowledge of ourselves and our history. From Donna Gottschalk’s photography, to Jack Halberstam’s writing, to Michelle Handelman’s documentation of the 1990s lesbian BDSM scene, to old issues of On Our Backs magazine — gems of lesbian culture are often hard to come by, and therefore cherished and shared around by those who discover them. An education we had to give ourselves because no one else would. Preserving and celebrating this radical spirit is crucial: in the Archive section of the website you can find visual and historical materials with links to the original sources. The archive explores the history, culture, fashion, imagery and writing from queer women, lesbian, trans and non-binary people throughout the decades”.

Read full text here.