A note from the Director…

As women — the mothers, girls, daughters, and sisters — we know how hard it is to win with the limited cards the world allows us to receive. This is a game we can’t win. Endlessly shuffled behind the notion of “standards,” the winning hand will always be kept out of reach by the careful hands of a forever dealer. Now, older and aware the rules will never be changed for the sake of someone like me, I refuse to keep playing. I want traditional, unappealing female traits (fearful, misogyny-fueled stereotypes) to be revealed as moments of trueness. The power of femininity will always succumb to the ever-constant demands of patriarchal standards until WE, as women, stop discarding our strengths. To be emotional, rebellious, innocent, and mad… To be curious… These are to be a woman. I will steal the deck and change the game entirely.

Utilizing one of the most notable pop culture connections to female madness, Alice in Wonderland, feminine attributes typically marked as "unwanted" or “extreme” were reoriented in a more natural, positive, and empowering light. With Lily Farr as the bossy Red Queen, Elena Dickson as the promiscuous Cheshire Cat, Callie Adin as the ditzy White Rabbit, and Courtney LaRochelle as the hysterical Mad Hatter, this collection was composed to draw viewers with pessimistic norms and guide them to questioning. In realization of a rigged game, this editorial was conducted to reframe orthodox constructions of femininity, challenging current definitions and allowing individuals to make their own. With inspiration from the 2010 remake of "Alice in Wonderland" as well as the related music video, "Alice” by Avril Lavigne, an alternative, punk styling approach was taken to confront the restrictions that “lady-like” behavior entails. The movie portrays Alice successfully battling the struggles of girlhood, such as self-doubt, gaslighting, and loss of creativity for the sake of adapting to “the real world,” which was exactly what I wanted to draw attention to. Creative direction, styling, photography and editing were done by myself but completed with the help from my models, friends, and colleagues.