Mortal Remains is the new zine giving a platform to queer youth

Despite being extremely underrepresented in fashion, the wider LGBTQIA+ community finally seems to be making its way to the forefront of the industry. If you needed proof of its wealth of diverse backgrounds, gender identities, or style, look no further than the spring 2019 issue of Dazed – which is themed around Infinite Identities.

Similarly celebrating the queer community is iconic hairstylist and Dazed contributing beauty editor Anthony Turner, who is launching a zine entitled Mortal Remains to spotlight up and coming LGBTQIA+ creatives from around the world.

After working on a shoot with friend and photographer Sarah Piantadosi and Dragula queen Vander von Odd, Turner was so inspired that he wanted to continue collaborating with the burgeoning queer creative scene in London and around the world. “It’s a celebration of kids now,” Turner explains of the result, Mortal Remains.

Over the course of six months, Turner and Piantadosi called on friends and scouted on Instagram, looking for young creatives to shoot as part of the zine. “It was just a case of looking for all these kids who truly believed in themselves,” the hairstylist says. “There was no stylist on the shoots, so what you see in the picture is how they turned up.” More than just a way to give the young talents a platform, Turner collaborated with each of them, creating a hair look that worked with their personal style for each.

Even after working in the industry for well over a decade, Turner still saw this project as a learning opportunity. “There were a lot of things in regards to gender fluidity I didn’t completely get, but I was very open and asked lots of questions,” he explains. “I wanted to be educated and understand, I didn’t just want to sit there and use the kids to come up with the pictures.”

“There’s no room to get away with not being representative and I think that’s why we’re seeing such a big push for inclusivity right now” – Anthony Turner 

The lessons learned are ones that the hairstylist hopes others – and the industry at large – will also take away from Mortal Remains. “Fashion created this illusion that it was this beautiful, glamorous world where everything goes when actually I don’t think it was,” Turner explains. “Things are getting better though and people are far more educated. There’s no room to get away with not being representative and I think that’s why we’re seeing such a big push for inclusivity right now.”

Set to launch over LFW with multiple debaucherous parties and illegal fly poster campaigning, Turner hopes Mortal Remains will be a project he can revisit again in the future. “I’m not sure if there will be another print version, I’m really interested in technology and VR – stuff that is more interactive,” he concludes. “We’re only starting to think about it now, but it’s something that’ll definitely come in the future. You have to keep moving forward so things are fresh and new.”

Mortal Remains launches on February 18 and is available to order here. 

@mortal__remains