If you ever thought you were full off #BlackGirlMagic, FKA Twigs has shown us that there is always room for more.
The songstress has announced a publication she has launched called AVANTgarden, dedicated to the beauty and complexities of black hair. The first issue, titled, “Roots. Shock. Beauty,” is coming at a much-needed time when black women are learning how to embrace, understand, and showcase their natural hair.
The ‘zine uses the swipe feature to go through the pages of the magazine, and the visuals are nothing short of breathtaking. In an interview with Dazed, Twigs definitely wrote about the act of community she hoped to bring to the table through this publication. “It was really fun to look at the heritage of braids because of course, different braids mean different things,” she told Dazed.
The images were “focusing on braided hairstyles […] animalistic, barbershop-inspired imagery, showing beautiful braid patterns curling around the scalps of her friends, with Ghana braids, durags and beads adorning their heads.”
Twigs shows us all that it’s all about embracing who you are and what you have. “I’m saying embrace your heritage, embrace your hair texture, embrace protective styles.”
And of course, the strength of turning to social media to do such a huge work begged the question, at least for me, of why. ” I’ve struggled to feel comfortable on social media as I’m a very private person and I find it hard to share the things I’m doing on an everyday level. It feels so intrusive and weird to me,” she told Dazed. “But, if it’s something I can put creativity into and I can have certain amount of imagination and control around it, it makes me feel much more comfortable. I thought it would be much more impactful to create something like this, rather than to put out a picture with some words underneath it, or retweet something. I thought it would spark a conversation. I think for me it’s my way of interacting with people that follow me in an honest way without me cringing at myself. Because it is cringe sometimes. Why not create something that can bring an artistic community together?”
“As far as I’m aware, no one’s done a monthly magazine with a beautiful layout and thought of it that way on Instagram.”
We can’t wait to see what else comes from FKA Twigs and how this manifestation of #BlackGirlMagic will continue. What do you guys think?
