On Wednesdays We Wear "Slutcore"
What’s your position at Miss Nothing?
I am the co-founder of Miss Nothing and I design it with a couple of my friends. It's more of a collective thing, but I'm the one behind the actual business plan.
I heard you want to stay anonymous. Why did you choose to not show your face or your name?
I think since Miss Nothing is a brand for people who go ahead with being reckless and doing whatever they want to do, it's a good move to not associate the brand with a single person. I think it's fun to have that sort of pod of mystery.
How many people are in the collective, then?
It's literally just my friends. The thing is, when I'm talking about the collective, I can go on a night out, and it could be 4 am, and I'm in the smoking area, and I speak to random people about dresses and stuff like that. I'm like: “Hey, do you like this?” and they respond with “Oh it needs to be shorter”. And I'm like, “great!” This is the collective - drunk ladies, gay guys, and anything in between.
It's always the case that you meet the best people in the smoking area.
Exactly.
How did you get the idea to launch Miss Nothing?
There was this one time when I went to Paris with my friends, and we were actually working on something completely different. We missed our Eurostar train and decided to just get drunk instead. This was by the way like 9:30 am. So we got really drunk, and we had all these suitcases with loads of designer clothes, like Prada and MiuMiu dresses. We decided to just to a random shoot, but the clothes were all very much Granny vibes — they were so fucking boring. Then we thought let's take the dresses in and let's clip up the back because we wanted them to look skimpier. I was wondering why none of the high fashion designers is making skimpy dresses anymore. I feel like you can only buy skimpy dresses on Pretty Little Things, Zara, or H&M. My idea for Miss Nothing was to make a brand that's somewhere in between luxury and high-street, where you can get an affordable dress that's mini and “slutty”.
Some of your dresses have “MySpace Whore” or “No Morals” printed on the front. What does a life without morals look like?
I think it's definitely still being a good person. I'm not trying to encourage any rude behavior. It's about doing whatever you want to do. If you're drunk at 3 am and you want to get more then, why don't you? If you see a hot guy, or hot girl in the club, just get on with them. Who cares if you have a boyfriend? Life is short so you might as well just go for it. I don't want people to wear those dresses to a club, I want them to wear those dresses to the office. That's what I’m trying to convey. Why should you have morals about what and where you wear what. You should just be free to do whatever you want.
So, do you just want to reinvent office wear then?
I mean, kind of. You know I will come in a mini skirt at 9 am, and everyone's staring at me like I had done something wrong. It's a normal thing. I'm just trying to normalize being a “slut”.
Do you think people in the UK are too conservative still?
I mean, yeah. I feel like the brand is basically LA-inspired. It's what people would wear by the pool. But like, why should they wear it at the pool? I do think that the UK is very conservative. It's not as conservative as some other countries, but people are boring here.
Can you draw a picture of the typical MNA girl?
I think that she is - you know that's actually a tricky question. The Miss Nothing girl is like any girl. Anyone could be a Miss Nothing girl, you know? I think it's more about buying into the concept of freedom and buying into the concept of you can do whatever you want to do whenever you want to do it. You just have to be reckless in order to be a Miss Nothing.
Why is the brand called Miss Nothing Apparel?
It's inspired by a song from Taylor Mommsen’s band The Pretty Reckless called Miss Nothing. She's played such a huge role in my life as little J in Gossip Girl. So, I just thought Miss Nothing IS the brand. She's definitely been a huge inspo for me and the brand.
I definitely see the parallels between peak little J and a reckless girl in an MNA dress. But do you think the urge to wear "slutty" dresses is also a response to being forced to wear sweatpants for almost two years?
I mean, kind of but not a conscious one. But I’m also tired of what's in the shops because every single high-fashion brand comes out with a sweatpants or hoodie collection. It's great to be comfortable but you can also be comfortable in a mini dress. So why choose sweatpants?
That's such an interesting take because people do not associate mini dresses as comfortable necessarily.
No, but aren't they?
Well, no pants are the best pants, I guess.
Exactly! There's nothing digging into you, there's nothing uncomfortable. You're just wearing a little bit of cotton with a flower. It's comfortable. Will you be cold? Probably. Just wear a jacket.
I mean, bitches never get cold.
Exactly.
That's such an interesting take because people do not associate mini dresses as comfortable necessarily.
No, but aren't they?
Well, no pants are the best pants, I guess.
Exactly! There's nothing digging into you, there's nothing uncomfortable. You're just wearing a little bit of cotton with a flower. It's comfortable. Will you be cold? Probably. Just wear a jacket.
I mean, bitches never get cold.
Exactly.
That's such an interesting take because people do not associate mini dresses as comfortable necessarily.
No, but aren't they?
Well, no pants are the best pants, I guess.
Exactly! There's nothing digging into you, there's nothing uncomfortable. You're just wearing a little bit of cotton with a flower. It's comfortable. Will you be cold? Probably. Just wear a jacket.
I mean, bitches never get cold.
Exactly.
Was there anything that impacted the collection in some way as in people, movies, eras, or subcultures?
It's mostly people and the type of person they are. When I was doing the whole thing and coming up with the concept, I was genuinely just thinking about myself being drunk and the choices I would make whilst being drunk. You know sometimes when you're sober, and you think "Am I gonna go for a black eyeliner? Hm, no." But I'm two margaritas down, and then, obviously I'm gonna go for black eyeliner. It's more about being inspired by people and their choices when they're drunk or people that I've met. Also, I listen to a lot of cunty music, so it's very much about the vibe that gives me, and I think about a person that would dance to this music wearing our clothes.
Your clothes cater right into the bimbo, hot delusional smart bitch scene. Is “slutcore” here to take down the patriarchy?
I mean, I hope so, but also, I'm making a dress at the end of the day. I'd say whatever happens happens. But yes.
In one of your images, a girl is sitting on some guy's shoulder, looking really fierce and seductively into the camera. Where does feminism overlap with being a "slut"?
It's all about the empowerment of women. That is kind of the whole point. You just wear what you want to wear, because you don't want to be affected by other people's opinions. Especially not by a man's opinion.
Was there anything that impacted the collection in some way as in people, movies, eras, or subcultures?
It's mostly people and the type of person they are. When I was doing the whole thing and coming up with the concept, I was genuinely just thinking about myself being drunk and the choices I would make whilst being drunk. You know sometimes when you're sober, and you think "Am I gonna go for a black eyeliner? Hm, no." But I'm two margaritas down, and then, obviously I'm gonna go for black eyeliner. It's more about being inspired by people and their choices when they're drunk or people that I've met. Also, I listen to a lot of cunty music, so it's very much about the vibe that gives me, and I think about a person that would dance to this music wearing our clothes.
Your clothes cater right into the bimbo, hot delusional smart bitch scene. Is “slutcore” here to take down the patriarchy?
I mean, I hope so, but also, I'm making a dress at the end of the day. I'd say whatever happens happens. But yes.
In one of your images, a girl is sitting on some guy's shoulder, looking really fierce and seductively into the camera. Where does feminism overlap with being a "slut"?
It's all about the empowerment of women. That is kind of the whole point. You just wear what you want to wear, because you don't want to be affected by other people's opinions. Especially not by a man's opinion.
