ロンドンの出版社兼書店「IDEA」の創設者の一人、イギリス人写真家アンジェラ・ヒル（Angela Hill）による作品集。ソニック・ユースのキム・ゴードンと、XLARGEのスタッフであったデイジー・ヴォン・ファースが立ち上げた「X-girl」。1994年、彼女たちはNYのソーホーで、プロデューサーにソフィア・コッポラやスパイク・ジョーンズを迎え、一度きりのゲリラファッションショーを敢行。アンジェラ・ヒルは、依頼されたわけでもなく、ただその場に居合わせ、歴史となるその光景をフィルムに収めています。その後プリントされることなく、30年間行方不明となっていたネガを2024年に発見。経年による劣化や色褪せすらも、その時代のロウな空気感を伝える生々しいテクスチャーとなっています。

本書では、当時モデルとして参加したクロエ・セヴィニーが序文を寄せ、キム・ゴードンの友人たちや、ブランドのフェイスロゴのモデルにもなったミシェル・ロックウッドなど、NYのダウンタウンのアイコンたちが自然発生的に集った歴史的瞬間の全貌を鮮やかに描き出します。90年代のインディペンデント・カルチャーそのものを写し取った、唯一無二のドキュメントブック。500部限定。

「春のはずなのに、凍てつくような寒さだった。ロマンスとハチャメチャなことへの愛で生まれた『X-girl』が見せた反体制的なファッションショーは、ストリートで、まさにその場で起きたのです。スパイク・ジョーンズは、『ソニック・ユース』のミュージックビデオ『100％』で共同監督を務め、ソフィア・コッポラと私は『Mildred Pierce』と『Sugar Kane』のビデオに出演していた。だから、私たちはみんな『ソニック・ユース』という軌道の上を回っていたのです。ソフィアとスパイクはその時いい感じの関係になりつつあったから、一緒に過ごす時間を増やすチャンスとしてこのショーを企画したというわけ。

（中略）ショーは数ブロック離れたマーサー・ストリートの歩道を少し高くした場所で行われた。「マーク・ジェイコブス（Marc Jacobs）」による最新コレクションのショーを終えて、リンダ・エヴァンジェリスタ（Linda Evangelista）、カイル・マクラクラン（Kyle MacLachlan）、ビル・カニンガム（Bill Cunningham）、プレスなどが出てくるタイミングに合わせて始まった。私たちはとっても高まったし、目が眩むようだった。アンジェラの写真に写し出された高揚感は、滅多に起こらないようなことに参加できたことで生まれたものが合わさっている。私たちは許可も認可も受けないで『ファッション』のルールも街のルールも破り、そしてお尻をカッチコチに凍らせたの。」

– クロエ・セヴィニー

A series of photographs shot on film in 1994 that document the now infamous moment in New York City when Daisy von Furth, Kim Gordon and Sofia Coppola staged the first show for their new X-GIRL label on the street in Manhattan.

Angela wasn't hired to shoot the show, she just shot it. Angela never made prints and the negatives from that day moved around flats and houses and would have been considered lost if anyone was looking for them. Angela found them again in 2024. They were stuck to their packets, damaged, the colours somewhat muted - we think you will love them!

Angela may have forgotten about the prints, but not about that time in NYC.

"It was my first time in New York. I was with my flat mate and we were publishing a magazine together back in London so we did this trip as research, linking up with NY artists and creatives. We went to great loft parties with John Currin and Rachel Feinstein, another with Bernadette Corporation's Bernadette Van Huy (the most stylish person I ever met). We went to the Jeffrey Deitch gallery too and got very drunk with Anthony Haden Guest one night; saw the amazing Richard Avedon EVIDENCE show at the Whitney. At the time, the A, B, C streets were still a dangerous place to go. We went to an underground club there one night; no drinks so everyone brought huge vats of cider in from the local mart that kept all the booze and fags behind wire cages...'

Chloë Sevigny modelled in that first show. She has written the introduction. It perfectly captures the spirit of the event... it is here to read.

It was supposed to be spring but it was freezing. Born out of romance and a love of hijinks, the X-girl renegade fashion show just happened right there on the street.

We were all spinning around Sonic Youth’s orbit; Spike Jonze having co-directed 100% and Sofia Coppola and myself starring in the Mildred Pierce and Sugar Kane videos. Sofia and Spike were courting and conceived the show as a chance to spend some time together, at least that was the rumor. Daisy von Furth, the co- designer and mastermind behind X-girl, was indie royalty; her sister Julie was of Pussy Galore and Free Kitten fame. Daisy was styling all the rockers and forging a new look that would come to epitomize the 90s indie aesthetic. Kim and Daisy’s combined love of the perfect A-line dress, a snug ringer shirt, and eye for great graphics, was a sure fire hit for making the girls happy. West Coast nepo babies met with NY indie kids to profess that streetwear also belonged to the girls. They weren’t necessarily interested in doing a ‘fashion show’ but the enthusiasm of the courting couple was contagious.

I had been working as the brand’s ‘fit model’ and had been crashing on Daisy’s couch since high school. That afternoon, all of us ‘models’ convened at Daisy’s loft on Crosby Street to get into our looks. No one quite remembers who added the baby barrettes, they were more Courtney Love’s thing. Sofia brought along Ione Skye, Zoe Cassavetes and Donovan Leitch, the most recent incarnation of a ‘brat pack’. Us NYers were mostly Kim Gordon’s pals and down for anything. Pumpkin Wentzel, Luisa Reichenheim, Michele Lockwood, Jutta Koether and other downtown personalities were recruited to ‘model’.

The show was staged a few blocks away on a slightly elevated strip of the sidewalk on Mercer Street. It was conveniently timed to begin as the Marc Jacobs crowd — Linda Evangelista and Kyle MacLachlan, Bill Cunningham and other press — were exiting his latest show. We were elated and giddy. The exuberance captured in Angela’s photos was a combination of being part of something that didn’t happen all too often. We did it without permits or permission, we broke the ‘fashion’ rules, a few city rules too, and we froze our asses off.
– Chloë Sevigny





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Pages: 80
Size: 215 x 265 mm
Hardcover
Color, black and white
limited edition of 500 copies

published by IDEA, 2025