The creative design duo behind Instagram account @portrait_s bonded over a mutual love of the same references while studying fashion at Paris’s Studio Berçot together. “It’s a world influenced by the things we identify with – moods, characters and the attitude that goes with it,” explain Diane and Anne, who started the page as a way to organise their extensive catalogue of references. They describe their account as Edith Bouvier Beale – the first cousin of Jackie Kennedy, who started her life a socialite and ended it in a spiral of decay (as immortalised in Grey Gardens) – meets Alfred Hitchcock’s Marnie, the lead protagonist in the film of the same name.

Each image is either a portrait of a person that the duo admire or one taken by someone whose work they have an interest in. But it’s the story behind the image – whether that be the one of the subject or the photographer, their clothes or their chemistry – that interest Diane and Anne most. Expect stills from Gus Van Sant, Sofia Coppola and Nina Companeez movies, 90s photos of Winona Ryder, Chloë Sevigny and Christina Ricci, Juergen Teller’s archive go-sees and Elaine Constantine’s colourful portraits of British youth. We caught up with the pair to hear more about @portrait_s.

How would you describe your account?

@portrait_s: Quiet, not-so-angelic, insincerely disciplined girls growing into teenage angst-ridden girls with guitars, and quirky cat-loving ladies in suits.

What’s the criteria for a @portrait_s post?

@portrait_s: They have to be portraits of people we admire or whose work we are fond of. Mostly because behind each portrait there is a story: the story of the person portrayed, the eye of the photographer/artist, the room, the clothes, the anecdotes, the chemistry. Somehow it all must fall somewhere in our spectrum.

What's your main objective?

@portrait_s: Sharing part of our findings/obsessions and creating a visual library of all the things that stimulate us in a particular moment.         

Where do you source your content?

@portrait_s: Rummaging through books, archive fashion magazines, music magazines, the internet, movies and so on… going on library crawls, too.

What do your references reveal about you?

@portrait_s: It may reveal the curiosity of putting together references that are ultimately conflicting. It also shows our affection for bands, guitars, flowers, cats and women characters in film, art, music and fashion.

Who are your favourite designers?

@portrait_s: Yohji Yamamoto, Vivienne Westwood, Martine Sitbon, John Galliano, Jun Takahashi, Marc Jacobs, Miuccia Prada, Rei Kawakubo, Gianni Versace, Meadham Kirchhoff, and Demna Gvasalia.

And photographers?

@portrait_s: Cindy Sherman, Vivian Maier, Julia Margaret Cameron, Claude Cahun, and Diane Arbus, to name but a few. And some of our favourite filmmakers include Wong Kar Wai, Sergei Parajanov, Wes Anderson, Jane Campion, Sofia Coppola, and Jim Jarmusch.

What are your favourite archive fashion moments?

@portrait_s: Comme Des Garçons AW05, Undercover SS04, Cindy Sherman’s Bus Riders and Murder Mystery People series. And really, 90s PJ Harvey stands out too, with her dazzling clothes, make-up and performances.

Who do you love to follow on Instagram?

@portrait_s: @camillebwaddington, @everyday_is_like_sunday_ ,@lottavolkova, @marcascoli, @sceneinbetween, @unskilledworker, @womenofrockohp, @godimsuchadyke and @cats_of_instagram.