Feature: Izta

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Vampirefreaks

	Chest	Waist	Corset	Hips	Height	Weight
Imperial	30"	24"	19"	30"	5"5'	99lb
Metric	76cm	63cm	48cm	76cm	165cm	45kg

GGotW: What styles influence you?
Izta: In my childhood, like most children, I used to have a great interest in fantasy stories, but especially the horror genre. I used to read a lot of horror novels and as a teenager this interest started to turn more in the direction of movies, music and the Gothic subculture. Over the years the macabre has kept its central place among my influences, alongside other subcultural genres such as punk and deathrock because it matches my aesthetic ideals about beauty and destruction. For me beauty can only reach perfection when it has an element of destruction in it. Run down buildings and people with scars fit in this category for instance. Japanese Guro drawings have also given me a lot of inspiration because it combines the beauty of idealized human beings with all kinds of destruction to their physical appearance. One last influence that reached me mostly through movies and video games is cyberpunk and the post-apocalyptic theme in general, because destruction to a whole society is my utopic ideal.

GGotW: What have those influences done for you?
Izta: All those influences have helped me in developing an aesthetic ideal I like to express in art and my way of living at the same time. For this reason I started to design clothes and accessories in which I try to combine different styles in order to adjust the end product even more to my specific taste. Most of the clothes I model, I wear in real life as well. I refuse to change my appearance as a result of social pressure, because I like to surround myself with beauty all the time. My room is filled with both creepy and colourful decorations, and I'm looking forward to having a whole apartment to decorate:)

GGotW: How long have you been making your own clothes?
Izta: I have been very much into creative projects for as long as I can remember. In my early teens I started to make mostly goth clothing, because I didn't have the money for the stuff that was being sold in shops. My relationship with Raza, which started years later in 2006, put this creative process on the fast track. We discovered that our aesthetic ideals and purposes were very similar and together we developed a lot of ideas to express this. For the first time we started to make complete outfits, which also involved different hairstyles, jewelery and makeup. In this period I also started to model from time to time to show off every completed look, with Raza as my photographer.

GGotW: Have you worked with any other photographers, other than Raza?
Izta: I've worked with a few other photographers, but never with such satisfying results. Their goals and aesthetics are usually different from mine so the pictures don't benefit me much. This doesn't mean I'm not available or interested in other shoots, I just think it's important to share some ideas first to see if you have enough common ground.

GGotW: Have you worked with other models?
Izta: Yes, I've worked with other models on some horror themed shoots. It was a lot of fun to do, but never my own initiative so the styling didn't quite live up to my ideals. It would be interesting though to occasionally include other models in my own projects. It would would have been awesome for instance if I'd had a pretty looking girl model as a dead body to re-animate in my last nurse shoot. It just takes a lot more styling and organizing to include more than one person in a picture.

GGotW: Where do you see your clothing and accessories going?
Izta: In the beginning, making a piece of clothing was mostly modifying an existing item by adding decorations to it. I collect second hand clothes and objects I can use as decoration at flea-markets, to spend as little money as possible, but mostly because of the great variety of things you can find there. Gradually this designing process has become more advanced, as both me and Raza developed more technical skills. My ideal is to develop as many creative skills as possible, so I hardly have to depend on the services of people with different aesthetic views. With this in mind I think I can keep improving my designs and pictures, by adding and combining more styles as well as giving more attention to detail, which is crucial in making interesting pictures. I would like to spend more time looking for nice photo-shoot locations for instance and making back, and foreground props to improve the theme and sphere of my photo's.

GGotW: How do you describe your products to customers?
Izta: I've never made anything with the purpose of selling it. Every item is unique and not easy to reproduce, because I buy so many materials at flea markets and second hand stores. Gathering interesting materials takes so much time that I would have to ask unreasonable amounts of money for one item and I would hate to rip people off. On top of that, I think creating beauty is a much higher purpose than making money:)

GGotW: How has the clothing effected your modeling?
Izta: Gradually the making of clothing has become more important than modeling. I see the pictures usually as the end product of a clothing project and I don't really do shoots anymore when I don't have a new outfit and theme ready. Of course it's very tempting to keep producing pictures at a rapid pace, but doing too much of the same thing would only compromise the quality. A lot of people seem to think looking pretty is the only important thing in modeling, but for me pictures have to look interesting on more than just one level.

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Feature: Felina Fetishdoll

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	Chest	Waist	Hips	Height
Imperial	39"	27"	39"	5"6'
Metric	100cm	70cm	100cm	168cm

GGotW: What is the scene like in The Netherlands?
FFd: I’m not participating a lot in the Dutch gothic scene. I usually go to fetish parties and sometimes there are gothic parties like Bal du Masque, Tokio Decadence or Midnight Sin that attract people from the fetish scene too. Recently I was at the Elf Fantasy Fair, a huge fantasy event being held in the gardens of a Dutch castle where a lot of different Gothic and fantasy styles meet each other.

GGotW: Do you travel a lot for your photo shoots?
FFd: Yes, I’m planning a couple of shoots in Belgium and Germany and I recently modeled at the Fetish Evolution Weekend, a big fetish event in Essen, Germany.

GGotW: Is there much work near you?
FFd: There are always lots of photographers asking for TFCD shoots, but there’s not a lot of paid work. I’ve recently done a shoot for the flyer of the November edition of Dominatrix, a Dutch fetish party, and I’m going to model for Laced-Up, a fetish-wear boutique in Utrecht.

GGotW: What labels have you worked with?
FFd: At Fetish Evolution I’ve walked a catwalk show for Brigitte More, a Dutch fetish designer and I’ve been on the cover of the Elf Fantasy Guide.

GGotW: What Photographers have you worked with?
FFd: I started last year with a shoot with Carlos da Cruz, a friend of mine. Then I did a whole series of shoots with Burt Lloyd and more recently I worked with Lexie Molotoff, a famous Dutch fetish photographer and with Onderkrocht Fotografie, Lifeware, Wim Verrijp and Duko Stolwijk.

GGotW: Do you always do your own make-up?
FFd: Yes, until now I’ve always done my own make-up. I started with almost no experience, but piece by piece I discovered a lot of interesting things I could do, like using fun lenses and fake lashes. I’m even thinking of taking make-up lessons to become a professional make-up artist. But first I’m going to finish my literature studies and my yoga teachers course.

GGotW: What has been your funnest experience?
FFd: I don’t remember one special occasion, but creating my different characters and settings is a lot of fun. I usually do a lot of shoots at home and during the photo shoot we often think of new things and we expand the settings with al kinds of crazy stuff. I often try to look like a doll and I like to put that doll in very strange, surreal and playful situations. In any case I hope my future shoots will bring me as much fun as the previous ones did.

GGotW: What started you off as a model?
FFd: Well.. In February 2008 I started going to fetish parties and I noticed that I could never be overdressed there. I got lot of enthusiastic comments on my outfits, which stimulated me to dress up even more detailed each time. Little by little I added more accessories to my outfits and I ended up with a set formula, on which I vary all the time. I got to know lots of people in a very short time and many wanted to take my picture. I found out that I liked being photographed and in September I subscribed to several modeling sites. I happened to quickly bump into a very good photographer and in no time I had put together an extensive portfolio. I was also asked by two party organizers to pose for their party flyers. The flyer for Dominatrix is being spread right now.

GGotW: What styles do you work in?
FFd: Actually I mix a lot of different styles and I combine them into my own style. My outfits are based on fetish and Gothic, but each time they tend to a different style. Like for example cybergothic, manga, lolita, Victorian, burlesque, pin-up etcetera. A great source of inspiration for me is the Japanese Gothic-style “harajuku”. Harajuku is a Japanese quarter in Tokyo, where each Sunday all sorts of different goths flock together, one even more outrageous than the other. Usually my goal is to look like a doll, hence my name ‘Felina Fetishdoll’.

GGotW: Is there a style you would like to do but haven't?
FFd: I like the old-fashioned pin-up style a lot and I would definitely love to explore it, but until now I’ve done only one shoot (at Christmas) that was a little bit in that direction. In any case, first I have to find the right clothes and, as I am a perfectionist, that will take a while. I'd also like to try a more burlesque, Dita-like style too.

GGotW: Who would you like to work with?
FFd: I'm a huge fan of Jeffrey Scott, whose work could be admired on several Dutch fetish flyers. I really love his highly imaginative, surrealistic settings and a brilliant exposure. And one day I would love to shoot with Erwin Olaf, who created some of the Wasteland flyers. I adore his colourful, extremely detailed and to surrealism tending settings.

GGotW: You do Yoga, does it help you with your poses?
FFd: Yes, yoga helps me for sure! To start with it helps me breathing in my very tight-laced corsets. I always wear them as tight as possible. Furthermore it makes me more flexible, even when wearing a corset. Sometimes I even do a yoga-pose in a picture, like the ‘dancer’ - a balancing pose - or a leg split pose. And last but not least it also helps me staying calm in case of a stressful shoot or when I have to do a runway show.

GGotW: What suggestions could you give to new models?
FFd: I’d suggest them to subscribe to a couple of modeling sites and to be very picky about whom they work with. High quality portfolio pictures attract better photographers and increase the chance that you’ll be asked for paid shoots. At most modeling sites you can also see who a photographer worked with and you can even ask other models what it was like working with someone. If you doubt about his or her trustability, then don’t shoot or take someone with you to the appointment.


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Feature: Leyla

Leyla`s Site
Gothic Lolita
Live Journal

	Chest	Waist	Hips	Height	Weight
Imperial	34"	24"	??"	5"8'	124lb
Metric	88cm	74cm	? cm	164cm	53kg

GGotW: How long have you been modeling?
L: Since I was little, my mother used to bring me to photoshoots.

GGotW: Is your mother a model or a photographer? Have you appeared in any shoot with her?
L: My mother was a model and a singer, so yes when I was about 7 years old we also had mother/daughter advertising shoots for magazines, like selling perfume haha..

How do you define your style?
L: Victorian and gothic lolita

What got you started in the Gothic Lolita style?
L: A few years back I saw it on the internet, at that moment I dressed alternative and goth and I fell in love with the pretty more colorful lolita style.

Can you explain to our readers a little about the Gothic Lolita style? What defines it?
L: Gothic lolita is inspired on the Victorian era, with the petticoats and female shapes, at the waist.
Also all the ruffles and nice lace makes it lolita.
It is all about quality clothings and looking and feeling beautiful.
But there are rules! Like skirt that are shorter then just above the knee, lolita should be about prettyness, not sexy in anyway. To much skin showing is not done.

Where do you live?
L: The Netherlands

What got you started in modeling?
L: I started again to show of the clothing style I love: Gothic lolita
and also for my own shop where I sell the clothings, www.mfashion.eu

What is your favorite image to date?
L: from my self? It would be (The image to the left) I love nature ;)

What advice would you give to someone who wishes to follow in you footsteps?
L: Dress they way you love so you really can be you're self in the shoots, photographers will appreciate that!

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