Inside the exhibition celebrating the subversive power of the knock-off

Growing up in 1990s Russia, curator and journalist Anastasiia Fedorova says her “first memories of fashion were knock-offs”. This early exposure to fake Versace jeans and market copies of Gucci belts ignited a life-long fascination with the power of the fake, ultimately leading her to curate an exhibition on that very subject. Fedorova’s exhibition The Real Thing, opening on 7 February at Fashion Space Gallery at the London College of Fashion, will reevaluate the cultural significance of bootleg as a creative practice on its own terms. Through photography, sculpture and art objects, the exhibition will look at how counterfeit has become a subversive visual language in the 21st century, one with the possibility to interrogate ideas around social hierarchy, class, and identity as well as referencing queer culture, immigration and kickstarting a conversation on sustainability. 

Among the pieces on display will be work by legendary bootleg pioneer Dapper Dan, who made his name as a Harlem haberdasher, bringing high fashion to New York’s hip hop communities in the ’80s and who now has found a whole new audience with the launch of fashion line with Gucci in 2017. Elsewhere, there is Instagram-favourite and Vogue darling Romanian designer Ancuta Sarca, who has found a following for her playful kitten heels that splice a dainty vintage style with the athletic brashness of Nike sneakers. There are images by Berlin-based, Albanian-born artist Anna Ehrenstein; a poignant sculpture of a Chanel handbag by May Hands and handmade DIY t-shirts by Citizens of Nowhere. Through it all, bootleg is set to emerge as complex visual and artistic exercise with the ability to incite questions on the nature of authenticity, luxury and aesthetics, and just how value and meaning is ascribed to arbitrary symbols and logos.

We caught up with Fedorova to hear about some of her favourite pieces from the exhibition:

Photograph of American rapper Rakim wearing custom Gucci jacket by Dapper Dan 

“This photo of rapper Rakim was taken by Drew Carolan in NYC in 1988 and is part of the cover shoot for Eric B. and Rakim’s album, Follow the Leader. It feels very special to be able to show five images from this shoot, because they capture one of the most iconic style moments of hip-hop history. This particular photograph is also a testament to the incredible artistry of Dapper Dan as a designer and his unique approach to working with monograms and branding. Dapper Dan’s state-of-the-art pieces created at the eponymous boutique in Harlem in the 1980s is a huge part of the cultural history of bootleg—although he prefers the term knock ups to emphasise authenticity and originality.”

Chanel Mini sculpture by May Hands

“This sculpture by May Hands from the series, Buy Me and Become Me was created by pouring a mixture of plaster, jesmonite, rose petals, natural debris and lavender into a Chanel shopping bag. In the exhibition, there are a few sculptures made in the similar technique using different luxury shopping bags. To me, they look almost like beautiful relics from dystopian future. May’s work is about sustainability, our consumer habits and reasons why we find certain things precious or beautiful – how a piece of paper becomes more valuable just because it has branding on it. All the bags and tags the artist uses are reclaimed rubbish, the remnants of desire evoked by luxury fashion.”

Citizens of Nowhere hand-embroidered “Gucci” tank top 

“I love Citizens of Nowhere pieces because I love the idea of handcrafted bootleg: all the garments are dyed and embroidered by hand. It promotes DIY mentality and sustainability – why buy branded clothes if you could make them yourself? Citizens of Nowhere is a project by Emma Louise Rixhon, which takes its name from a 2016 speech where Theresa May declared that, “if you believe you are a citizen of the world, you are a citizen of nowhere” – it positively reclaims this statement to promote diversity and freedom of movement. In the show, there are also four pieces from HYPEPEACE who use bootleg to promote immigration and refugee rights, and both are very close to my heart as an immigrant.”

Piece of Cake by Anna Ehrenstein 

“Berlin-based artist Anna Ehrenstein has an incredible body of work which interrogates branding, counterfeit culture and the cultural definitions of authenticity. Born with Albanian heritage in Germany and raised between the two societies, she looks into the dualities of East and West and high and low cultures. For the exhibition, Anna has created an installation which incorporates video, imagery and objects. My favourite is this image of “Burberry” cake from the series Tales of Lipstick and Virtue shot in Albania – it channels the over-the-top aesthetics but also acknowledges it as a part of the cultural dialogue. For the exhibition, we have printed this image on velvet. Velvet texture printed on velvet is just too good.”

NITE DYKEZ poster

“I really love posters and merch from NITE DYKEZ, East London party for LGBTQ+ womxn. It was created by a visual artist and illustrator Tamara-Jade Kaz, who explained that the logo is supposed to look “a bit like it had been scratched into a desk with a compass like you would do at school, and the brand reference is about embracing tomboyishness in dykes of all genders” ––I think it’s incredibly witty and subversive. While working on the show, I realised that there is a preconception that bootleg is a men’s game, which is completely not true. It is a great pleasure to showcase works and music both from NITE DYKEZ and B.O.S.S., the soundsystem created by and for queer people of colour, and a range of works with the BMW logo by Roxman Gatt. They all add a very interesting queer perspective to bootleg.”

The Real Thing curated by Anastasiia Fedorova opens on 7 February at Fashion Space Gallery at the London College of Fashion through to 2 May 2020.