In the world of blogging and online magazines there are so many new faces and old faces that are pretty much indistinguishable from each other, they copy paste press releases, start off with a flurry of dope content then produce nothing for weeks, but sometimes you can find a team that really like blogging and get creative with it in order to stand out. The Unisex Mode is a Streetwear/fashion blog that caters for both sexes when writing dope reviews, shooting their own editorials and visiting various fashion events. We invited the girls Jess Gavigan and Kitty Cowell in for a chat to talk unisex streetwear and blogging.
How and why did the Unisex Mode start?
To push the unheard voice of females in sneaker and streetwear culture and open up a voice for a unisex cultural belief. It doesn’t have to be male or female, we can come together and respect each other and make fashion, art and music for everyone. Kitty started blogging fashion outfits as she was endorsed by lots of brands as a musician, and Jess was a female sneaker head being gifted by brands because they liked her style. It made sense to do it together. Power in numbers and all!
What has the reception within the Streetwear fashion world been like for the blog?
It’s been received really well so far. 2015 was a great year for us and we leaped from brand to brand working with amazing people that we’d only dreamed of working with when we set out on our venture. 2016 has already been a great start for us too. It’s nice to be the go-to women in the unisex streetwear scene.
The two of you come from strikingly different backgrounds one a upcoming female rapper and the other a female sneakerhead, what brought you together to form the Unisex Mode?
Kitty had performed in London at Proud Galleries and one of my friends introduced me to a mutual friend of Jess’s. We always argue as to whether it was at a Crepe City event or not Either way we bonded over our love of sneakers, streetwear, and sushi haha!!
The Unisex Mode is unique to fashion start up blogs because of the editorials that you both do and style, how important is it for you guys to have creative control over the content that appears on the blog?
It’s super important to us because we felt like women weren’t being truly represented in streetwear and unisex fashion so that’s why we started shooting.
From the get-go we decided we wanted the blog to be a living, evolving diary of our daily lives. So naturally the next step would be to constantly create original content/our own editorials. We are making a statement, that you can be comfortable in baggy menswear and still look cool – creating original content means we are more relatable to people.
With sneakers being a big part of Jess’ life and also being a love for you Kitty give us 5 silhouettes or sneaker brands that ladies and guys should have in their closet if they want to call themselves streetwear fans?
Wow that’s so open to opinion but we would have to say:
A classic Air Max infrared – preferably pre 2010 if you can find a pair!
A pair of Jordan’s (Jess’s fave are 6’s and 7’s)
A Puma Disc Blaze
A Reebok Pump Fury
A pair of Nike tier Zeros’ this can be any silhouette but it’s one of the rarest types of releases Nike do. Jess has a pair of Air Maxims from the Camo Germany Pack.
Kitty you worked in PR recently with Shoreditch based Coffin on Cake what did working in this environment add to to your passion for streetwear and what advantages have you been able to take with you to the Unisex Mode?
Through my previous experience PR-ing myself as a musician and my contacts in fashion, I landed the job and I learnt so much about writing releases, managing social media, organising gifting lists. The main thing is that I understand how both sides work now and I have a mutual understanding with PR agencies. A lot of stylists and bloggers don’t understand the ins and outs and it makes them less aware of how to keep brands happy. I know what PR’s need from me as a blogger and why they need me just as much as I do them!
Jess Small Feet Big Kicks is the go to site for women’s sneakers and now The unisex Mode is becoming very influential in the streetwear world, do you start up these sites as hobbies or are they part of a master plan of taking over the media world?
SFBK did start as a way of just making a bit of extra money on the side… Then it quickly evolved into something that was a niche in the market. Now though, years on… being able to work with all the amazing brands i have done so far, its fast becoming a master plan to take over the world haha! Social media included!
Working on editorials and reviewing products brings you into direct content with brands and their PR reps how important are these relationships to blogging?
So so very important, those relationships are how blogging turns into a real job. That’s the difference between a serious blogger and someone just doing it for fun.
It allows you to turn a hobby into a fun full time job, whilst maintaining and establishing relationships with people who can put you forward for more work with other brands, as well as their own!
With Social Media being the first place todays generation look to for advice style tips and info, a lot of ordinary people with a genuine passion for sneakers and fashion are being labelled influencers and because of that have amassed huge social media followings. What in your opinion is a influencer and how important are they in 2015?
To be an influencer its not just about posting pretty pictures.. it’s about doing something that makes a difference, or makes people think, or inspires people. Influencers are important for many different reasons, but as I said for me, to ‘influence’ you have to be doing something outside of social media.
A number of followers isn’t all it takes, true influencers are standing individually for something different and in turn influencing a key audience. It’s not about the number of followers but the quality of those followers for sure!
What are your 3 favourite Fashion editorials that you have worked on?
From our blog it’s probably the first major one we did: “Lazy Oaf X Small Feet Big Kicks by The Unisex Mode”, as well as our AAPE shoot with Vicky Grout and alsoour PUMA x Bape video Editorial.
What can we look forward to from the Unisex Mode?
Collaborations videos, brand partnered lookbooks / editorials and more travel, fitness and lifestyle posts!
basically, fingers in all the pies haha WATCH THIS SPACE
Visit the Unisex Mode here and keep up with their journey on Instagram at @theunisexmode
