yamunaforzani_93795353_282608626083692_3400391217417519076_n.jpg

There is something undeniably optimistic about Yamuna Forzani. From her brightly coloured, extravagant designs to the Utopia Ball she organises, it’s all motivated by her desire to create a better world. Queer activism is intricately knitted into her creations, which are religiously shown off by the diverse, empowered members of the ballroom community. Not only is this community - with its campness, opulence and confidence - Yamuna’s biggest inspiration, but as a member of The House of Comme Des Garcons and The Kiki House of Angels, she’s a celebratory part of it herself. Although her designs don’t care about the gender of their wearer, they’re filled with playful notions of femininity and masculinity - glitched together, turned upside down and parodied. We caught up with Yamuna to discuss ballroom’s pop culture popularity, making the best of a crisis and a jacquard circular knitting machine that resembles a spaceship.

Where other designers choose to show their collection by hosting shows during fashion week, your creations can be admired on the kings, queens and beautiful beings of the ballroom scene. How did you get involved in ballroom culture?

I discovered the ballroom scene back in 2016 when a member of the Kiki House of Angels came to a video casting and started voguing. I was so excited and shocked because I was obsessed with the film 'Paris is Burning' as a kid, but I didn't know that the ballroom scene existed in Europe or even The Netherlands. After that moment, I was hooked!

The first ball I ever attended was in 2016 in Rotterdam. I was sweating the whole time, having realised that this was the thing I’d been looking for my entire life. The room was so full of love, which was incredibly inspiring. It moved me deeply to see all these bodies in different shapes, sizes, sexualities, genders and ethnicities being celebrated and empowered. From then on, I started training and connecting with the scene, I walked my first ball in 2017 in Paris and am now a member of the House of Comme Des Garcons and The Kiki House of Angels.

And how has your involvement with the ballroom scene influenced your designs? I noticed you’re also responsible for organising Utopia Ball, doubling as a fashion show.

Every person who has the courage to walk a ball inspires me. The scene is my number one influence - the drama, the campness, the extravagance, the opulence but most importantly; the confidence and empowerment that people radiate. This inspires me to create because I want to dress every single person in the scene.

The Utopia Ball x Fashion show is an event platform I created after realising I’ve never seen the combination of a fashion show and a ball before. Yet, it makes so much sense to me, seeing there are countless designers in the scene who deserve to be in the spotlight. I titled the platform the Utopia Ball because the idea of ‘Utopia’ and creating a better world is the biggest motivation in my practice. So far the ball is annual but we have had to postpone the Utopia Ball 2020 due to the virus. We are hoping to have it in September but let’s see...

It’s always been happening on and off, but lately, there’s a lot of attention on ballroom culture. From the popularity of Netflix’s Pose to words like queen and realness making it into mainstream vocabulary - ballroom culture is becoming a trend. What do you think of this phenomenon?

I think shows like Pose have helped a lot, as they’re representing the scene in an authentic way by involving, hiring and consulting with members of the community. When telling a story about a certain group of people, I believe it’s important to involve those people in the production. My house mother, Twiggy Pucci Garcon is one of the choreographers of Pose! A lot of people in the scene are hired as extras on the show and have their moments to shine, which I love. No matter what happens in pop culture, the ballroom scene will always exist as there is such an urgent need for it. The importance of community and unity overrules the hype, it goes deep.

Although your designs clearly aren’t restricted to wearers of one gender, I can see certain playfulness with notions of femininity and masculinity; for example in your chaps or the “boobs for all” top. Was this gender-extravagant fluidity a conscious choice, or did it happen more innately?

Definitely conscious! I love playing with the notions of gender - after all, the ballroom scene is all about performing gender roles and playing with those binaries. Take the category ‘Realness’, where for example a ‘butch queen’ (aka a gay man) will perform the role of a straight man, trying to convince the judges that he is ‘real’ (aka a straight cis male). This category fascinates me because it’s all about the subtleties of movement and expression of how a ‘straight man in society’ would behave. I like to have fun with stereotypes and give them a twist. I feel very free in my design process.

Are there specific design elements you consider to be either feminine or masculine?

I love working with cliches, looking at different subcultures or stereotypes and just mashing them all together and turning them on their head. Colour is a great way to play with elements of masculinity and femininity, but I play with a lot of these elements in the patterns of my knits as well. Stereotypically feminine elements are more soft, light and fluffy whereas masculine elements are darker, bold, heavy and more inspired by architecture.

Do you design for people’s physique or rather their personalities?

I design for people's personalities, I strongly believe that it doesn’t matter what physique you have - if you want to wear something and you feel good in it, then wear it! it's that simple. I really hate all the rules and shaming that goes on in the fashion industry. At the end of the day it's your body, just wear what makes you happy!

How does a knit journey from your mind into one of your garments?

I take a lot of photos, make a lot of drawing and collages and then put everything together in Photoshop, playing around with gradients and typography. My design process is very free and intuitive, I like to think of myself as an ‘outsider graphic designer’ seeing I’ve never had professional training in graphic design nor Photoshop. I don’t really know any of the rules! After making the pattern, I go to Tilburg and knit on this insanely massive knitting machine resembling a spaceship. I’m using biological yarns dyed in Italy, the whole process is incredibly expensive and time-consuming but for now, nobody is doing what I’m doing, which is pretty cool.

What’s next for you? I saw you’ve been brightening up this crisis with some colourful face masks.

Like a lot of artists, I sadly lost all my jobs. So, I started making masks. First, just for my friends but after posting them on my Instagram story it kind of blew up which is why I’m selling them on Depop now. At this moment of such uncertainty, I’m really grateful that people have been going wild for the masks. I’m also working on my webshop and making custom tracksuits for people. Altogether, I’m trying to make the best out of this situation and keep busy.