Ione Gamble takes us through her highlights of Polyester's latest issue

Polyester zine has always been full of page-turners. With Ione Gamble at its helm as founder and editor, issues of the zine jump from editorials, insanely impressive shoots, fiction and poetry through to illustration, just from one page to the next. What’s guaranteed across Polyester’s many verticals is a refreshingly honest point of view, and subjects chosen carefully because of genuine interest in what people have to say, before translating what they’ve said into an aptly art directed dream.

Its eighth issue is no different, featuring a dual cover staring illustrator Polly Nor and CupcakKe as its stars. But within the issue is a whole load of gems to uncover, from a pool of brilliant collaborators. Below, Ione takes us through five of her highlights of the issue you should look out for. The new issue of Polyester is also available here!

A poem and illustration on Britney Spears

Ione Gamble: Lauren O’Neill’s poetry always gets me right in the gut, but her contribution for this issue is perfect. What’s better than poetry about Britney Spears! I asked Rachel Hodgson, who is one of my favourite artists, to provide imagery for the piece and it turns out it was somewhat a meeting of minds. The poem outlines Lauren experiencing a spider infestation in her house — something Rachel also experienced earlier this year, which traumatised them both somewhat. It’s a piece of work that’s funny, #relatable, sad, consuming and amazing all at once and I want Rachel’s giant pink spider illustration hung above my bed.

Polly Nor photographed by Camille Mariet

IG: I think Polly Nor is the most Polyester cover girl we could of ever had. Her and CupcakKe, who was our other cover star for the issue are literally the dream two!

Pairing Polly with Camille Mariet to shoot together was really fun – Camille played on the fact that not many people know what Polly looks like to create different characters, accompanied by Polly’s illustration in print. Getting to know Polly through profiling her for the accompanying cover feature was a really valuable experience for me — her insight and influence on illustration, creativity, and navigating her career while bringing to light issues such as mental health and female sexuality really inspired me when I was putting the issue together.

Misha Min’s sad boy beauty tutorials

IG: Misha Min’s work for this issue combines photography with creative writing to create a satirised take on makeup tutorials. Misha’s writing is dramatic while remaining hilarious and I’m really pleased to be able to platform work that embraces the power of beauty in a tongue-in-cheek and original way.

Mila van der Linden’s Bunny Boilers editorial

IG: Mila’s surrealist take on old Playboy editorial filtered through the female gaze, and representing a diverse scope of women, was such a fun day on set. I think the best editorial for the zine comes from a group of women all uplifting each other and creating imagery that will hopefully resonate positively with those who view it. It took me and Mila weeks to come up with a title for the series, but Bunny Boilers seems perfect — reclaiming a phrase previously used to undermine women and turning that on it’s head to represent a group of people in control of their own sensuality.

The Slumflower shot by Chloe Sheppard

I’ve been an admirer of The Slumflower’s work for such a long time, and working with Chidera on the creative brief for this shoot was a really fun process. Inspired by Eartha Kitt and Josephine Baker, and shot by Chloe Sheppard, we spent the day accidentally setting off the smoke alarm in my studio building and playing with the pieces that stylist Danielle Goldman brought in to help Chidera channel these icons. The headpiece in this image is iconic!