FKA twigs wears celebrities’ rubbish on her face in latest issue of AvantGarden

FKA twigs has unveiled the first set of images from issue seven of AvantGarden, her digital zine project that sees her collaborate with a broad range of creatives. This issue sees her work with Dazed Beauty and sculptor Lyle XOX, who has appropriated discarded items from the likes of Fleabag’s Phoebe Waller-Bridge, musician Courtney Love, and artist Claire Barrow to make facial adornments worn by FKA twigs in portraits shot by Nhu Xuan Hua.

“Being able to collaborate is some of the great joys of being a human,” says FKA twigs in a statement. “This project is about the beauty of the discarded. It’s about how often we as humans get it wrong.” By looking at topics of sustainability, upcycling and consumption, this is a unique collaboration set to raise awareness around climate change and waste. “We’ve discarded how we’re supposed to live as humans,” she continues in the release, “and now we’re realising there are more simple ways to exist and the closer we are to the earth, the closer we are to the truth.”

Further donations have come from designers Christopher Kane and Ed Marler, musician Benny Blanco and Extinction Rebellion’s Daze Aghaji. Additionally, the AvantGarden family were invited to donate their recycled garbage as found objects.

Titled Beauty of The Discarded, the latest issue features a cover of FKA twigs wearing a face mask constructed from a bra, as well as a hat upcycled from a Christopher Kane shopping bag. It’s important to note that this collaboration was conceived before COVID-19, which makes the issue even more relevant to the current climate that we’re in. “It’s about how we decide what’s rubbish, or trash, or garbage, and why those words often have such negative connotations,” says Lyle XOX. “When you put the word ‘beauty’ next to an item that has been discarded, or that has been taken from the trash, you’re bringing those worlds together and giving them a new life.”

Bunny Kinney, editor-in-chief of Dazed Beauty, states in the release: “At Dazed Beauty we believe that the future of beauty rests in its reduced environmental impact. So when twigs had the idea to shoot portraits of herself modelling masks made of found materials, created by Lyle XOX, a mixed-media and make-up artist who she discovered on Instagram, we thought the message and methodology was spot on for today’s mood.”

In a q&a with Lyle XOX, FKA twigs adds on the new issue: “This is a beautiful way for people to be inspired and find things in their house and stick objects and materials to their faces. I want to get tagged in loads of pictures of people repurposing things from their homes, and pinning things to their heads.”

“I want Lyle and I to be tagged in lots of different pictures form sculptural personalities. It’s about community, it’s about collaboration, it’s about inspiration, it’s about building a place on the internet where we can feel a real sense of being a collective. That’s what I’m hoping for.”