Our celebration of a better tomorrow in honour of 20 years of Ten continues with the third cover of Issue 64 in pure technicolour. It’s a simple question, but the answer reveals so much: what are your hopes for the future? As part of the issue, we asked powerful voices of the LGBTQIA+ community to tell us what the new decade promises for them. Shon Faye, Kai-Isaiah Jamal, Emily Crooked, Ziggy Ama, Olly Eley, Finn Buchanan, Lucia Blayke, Rubie Green, Josephine Jones and our cover star Frankie Desiderio all wear Alessandro Michele’s SS20 collection for Gucci, which looks to unapologetic self-expression. Photographed by a true legend Derek Ridgers and styled by our Editrix Sophia Neophitou, these unique personalities are everything the world of tomorrow should be about. Watch the video and scroll down to discover what they’re looking forward to…
Shon Faye; Writer & comedian
“For the next 20 years I think the biggest issue facing us all is the climate crisis. People often think that the climate crisis has nothing to do with social issues like women’s rights or LGBT rights, but actually, the level of catastrophe that we are facing means that there could be such a societal collapse it could rock these rights. These rights we have assumed will be permanent could be stripped away.”
Ziggy Ama; Model
“My hope for the future is just a world more human and more free. From my level, I think I can try to be humane with everyone I meet in my life and try to share love.”
Emily Crooked; Writer, model & activist
“I’m going to continue running Trans Pride with Lucia and keep thinking about ways we can better ourselves, be better and make our spaces safer and try to create our own safe spaces. But also try to make the spaces that aren’t safe safer, to try to make the streets a safer place for trans people and gender non-confirming people, so that it’s not a case of existing just in spaces we have created for ourselves, but so we can exist outside of that safely.”
Finn Buchanan; Model
“I’m going to be pushing for more diversity and good treatment of LGBTQIA+ models in fashion. My hopes for the future are that people like me don’t need to do this any more and we can just enjoy our jobs like everyone else does.”
Kai-Isaiah Jamal; Spoken word poet & model
“I’m a spoken-word poet, model and trans-visibility activist, and 2020 is very much focused on healing for me. I’m going through a big step in my transition and a big career shift, so I want to have moments where I’m just taking time for myself in order to operate for the rest of the year. My book is also coming out in 2020, and that’s a huge milestone – bringing trans visibility to the literature sphere will be a huge step in the right direction.”
Frankie Desiderio, Model & singer
“My hope for the future is that fashion specifically becomes a more inclusive place. I’ve always wanted to work towards this inclusivity, so that’s what I’m aiming for, no matter what industry it is. I think it’s very important to go beyond boundaries and see humans as humans.”
Lucia Blayke; Performer, activist & events organiser
“My hopes for the future are that our society continues to accept people of different genders and sexualities, and that we begin to expand how we think about gender, as there are more than two genders and there have been for thousands of years, across the world in different civilisations. I didn’t have anyone to look up to when I was a young child. I didn’t even know what trans was, so I will just be trying to exist and be happy, to show trans kids that there is a community out there and there is love, and you can have a good life and be trans.”
Olly Eley; Model
“I want to be creating space in the fashion industry for trans and non-binary people – a space in between where we haven’t fully created yet. So I want to use my body and my voice to create that space, to make that space and make people comfortable and push boundaries for as long as I can. I want trans people to be seen not as a commodity but as a normal part of everything, and for gender to be essentially eradicated in terms of who wears what and who should wear what.”
Rubie Green; Musician
“What I really want from the future is more togetherness, sisterhood and solidarity between people. I feel like I’ve spent a lot of the past 20 years as too much of an individualist, hauling off on my own to do things, and it’s only together that we have power, isn’t it?”
Josephine Jones; Multidisciplinary creative & model
“My hopes for the future are that we can continue amplifying queer voices and keep putting people in the places to be heard that they deserve and continue supporting and loving and nurturing each other, and that fashion is as fierce as it’s ever been. What will I be doing to make it even better? I’m going to be buying vintage. I’m also going to be buying to last and really good- quality pieces – pieces you can always wear and love so much.”
GUCCI: LOVE YOURSELF:
Photographer Derek Ridgers
Fashion Editor Sophia Neophitou
Hair Kim Rance using Bumble and bumble
Make-up Joey Choy using Nars
Models Frankie Desiderio at Anti-Agency, Olly Eley at Supa, Ziggy Ama at Nevs, Kai-Isaiah Jamal at AMCK, Finn Buchanan at The Squad, Josephine Jones at Elite, Shon Faye, Lucia Blayke, Rubie Green and Emily Crooked
Nail technician Jenni Draper at Premier Hair and Make-up using Morgan Taylor
Casting Alexandre Junior Cyprien at Creartvt
Photographer’s assistant Ioana Marinca
Fashion assistant Helena Fletcher
Hair assistants Carlyn Griscti and Nicole Lawrence
Make-up assistant Saori Tani
Nail technician’s assistant Rebecca Orme
