Hayley and Jared.
"I watched a lot of anime when I was younger and was exposed to all these colourful characters wearing weird clothing and that’s how I wanted to look!"
Hayley wears the CHEVRON DRESS. Jared wears the DYSTOPIA LOGO TEE and TERRA TROUSERS.
What do you guys do?
Hayley: Patternmaking and design. I graduated fashion school not too long ago so am picking up odd jobs here and there. I do occasional work with Jason Lingard.
Jared: I studied network engineering and am a certified ethical hacker.
How did you get into fashion? and how would you describe your aesthetic?
Hayley: Through my brother Jared actually, I saw all his friends dressed alternately and it looked really cool. He listened to a lot of Heavy Metal so I got into that as well. At the moment my style is kind of “Yami Kokki”, which is a Japanese movement all about mixing really cute things with awful things.
Jared: Haha, I’ve kinda modified myself to look like a ghoul. I have quite prominent cheekbones and then I went and tattooed my eyeballs black, ‘cause like Hayley I love Anime and particularly love this Anime called Tokyo Ghoul... and they dress quite darkly in it, quite alternative and the guys would also cross dress so they would wear dresses and really dark Gothic style clothing. I was totally into that look.
So Hayley you’re quite into that underground Japanese Harajuku-type aesthetic?
Hayley: Yeah definitely. I watched a lot of anime when I was younger and was exposed to all these colourful characters wearing weird clothing and that’s how I wanted to look! I think that's where my interest in Japan began. Then I went and lived in Osaka on exchange for 10 months.
Did that have much of an influence on your style or creativity?
Hayley: It kind of killed it really. It was horrible where I lived. It was really grey and depressing and I had some terrible experiences with host families. I guess I had this idealised version of Japanese culture in my head, so yeah it was a culture shock. However, I loved going to Shinsaibashi which is a really big shopping district in Osaka with loads of alternative fashion and second hands shops.
Jared wears the SURFACE DRESS.
Jared, is body modification quite an important part of your personal identity?
Jared: Not so much, I’ve never really been that into body mods except the basics of course like tattoos and piercings. I always just kind of saw myself as having black eyes… I’m not quite sure why. I think maybe it was because I had this nightmare where I was watching myself and I had black eyes. I was always completely terrified by this dream and became quite obsessed with it and started colouring eyes black in magazines.
Have you always been into tattoos and piercings?
Jared: You know what I think triggered it? Just normal youth rebellion. When I was like 10-years-old I had a strictly enforced bowl cut that my Mum gave me that I wasn’t allowed to deviate from. But I really wanted a side fringe that covered my eyes. So yeah it began with a haircut and that planted the seed that whatever Mum wanted I was probably going to do the opposite! I’ve always strongly believed that absolutely no one should dictate how you look. All this societal pressure to look a certain way is fucked.
So how old were you when emo was kind of a thing?
Jared: Sixteen.
So those were really your formative years…
Jared: Yeah. That's when my style changed I used to have long, blonde, curly bogan hair and then when Emo became really popular I got into bands … and really loved that the guys looked really pretty; could wear makeup and have really beautiful hair and I really wanted to emulate that.
Was it reassuring that there was a subculture that you had suddenly discovered that was encouraging your creativity or your fashion sense?
Yeah absolutely, that period coincided with the year I finished high school and as soon as I went into “adult life” I could have neon green hair or do whatever no one really cared.
Hayley wears the WITCH DRESS from SS18.
But you must get some looks sometimes?
Yeah, like the way Hayley and I dress... it turns people's heads when we walk down the street. I'm sure you know if you've got tattoos or wear anything a bit different, then people stare.
And how does that make you feel?
Honestly, I feel like a bit of a celebrity... haha actually I have to push myself to feel that way, you know, to be positive. It used to be pretty bad; people would throw bottles at me, abuse me in the street and try to beat me up. I must say times are changing... I’ve definitely noticed that these days people are a lot more accepting.
Hayley, do think creatively your brother has been a big inspiration for you?
Definitely. When I was little I was always drawing… I started drawing crazy characters that looked like Jared and his friends!
Jared wears the EON KILT + SURFACE DRESS.
Hayley wears the WITCH DRESS.
OK, I have to ask this… what do your parents think of your style?
Hayley: When I started to wear Goth clothing my Mum was kinda upset and was like: No way. You guys are hanging out with lowlifes and drug addicts. Just no. Eventually she came around and got used to it. She loves us and accepts us no matter what. I'm sure we stress her out though.
Jared: Haha, Hayley you transitioned Mum into it a more gently than I did! I just kinda came home one day with crazy hair and piercings and was like “Mum I look like this now” ...and every year its gotten a bit more intense. I think Hayley probably eased Mum into it because she saw how she reacted with me.
Hayley: Yeah Mum was pretty strict about my appearance because of you, like I really wanted to have “scene hair” cause that was really popular in 2008… but nope not allowed.
What’s “scene hair”? Is that an Emo thing?
Hayley: It’s these massive layers and layers of really long colourful hair–
Jared: Like razor cut with like racoon tails and colour bits clipped into it. “Scene” is sort of what developed after Emo… kinda when Emo music went more into electronic, so it was Emo combined with really bright colours.
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Photos: Sacha Stejko
Styling: Enisa Kartal
Models: @sour_doll_nz + @nz_ghoul