Innehållsförteckning för Issue #112 från RUSSH

This issue is a stance. A rejection of seemingly endless commercialisation and what feels like the inescapable power of late-stage capitalism. ‘Do more. Sell more. Be more’ is the echo of our commoditised universe: an incessant and refined algorithm to monetise our attention and steal away our connection with ourselves as human beings. As we’ve hit peak homogenisation, where everything comes with a label, is shaped by convention, or needs to be clearly defined, sanitised and digested, we are driven – maybe by boredom and definitely out of necessity – to pioneer a resistance. These pages act as a kind of NO WAVE manifesto that goes something like this: Remember why we do it in the first place. Believe that ideas are lived and shared forever. Create for the sake…

Mia Kidis My name is … Mia Kidis. My pronouns are … She/Her. My occupation is … Artist. One item I never leave the house without … My keys? Right now, my creative muse is … Jan Bose Casson for style, Dina El-kaddoumi as my scream queen, Jack Mannix as himself, then Phoebe Martin and Sly Morikawa; my lifelong video chicks. My biggest priority when getting dressed each day is … I have no priorities. It’s just whatever I’m feeling… Lame but true. A project I can’t wait to bring to life is … To be sponsored by Polaroid and walk around the world like Araki. The one I’m most proud of so far is … The Jean Paul Gaultier campaign with the goats… Thank you to Omahyra Moto, Sharna Osbourne,…

When I woke to the news that David Lynch had died at 78 years old in January of this year, Los Angeles was on fire. My thoughts turned to the auteur’s weather reports. What began as a phone-in segment on an L.A. radio station in 2005 – the director would offer updates on Southern California’s weather – turned into a daily lockdown highlight when Lynch took his two-minute blasts to YouTube in 2020. “Today I’m thinking about trees and how beautiful they are and how important they are,” he said to camera in August of 2020. As the city turned into a tinderbox, I thought about how his films captured the underbelly that swept through L.A.’s dark canyons, whispered to its trees, wound along its highways, and lit up its…

There is a crispness to London in the spring. The kind of softness that feels cinematic if you catch it at the right time of morning – all light leaks and long shadows, the promise of possibility stitched into the air. Eliza Scanlen caught it. She rode her bike through the quiet streets of North London to a studio just blocks from home to shoot our latest digital cover story. It felt romantic, she says. Not in the prescribed, cinematic way, but in the kind that makes you linger in the moment, that makes you want to hold a frame a little longer – the kind that makes you talk about film projects mid-way through a costume change. We’re speaking just after that shoot. It was a soft-lit morning spent…

Every great movement begins with a story. A fragment of truth, a flash of imagination – passed from voice to voice, generation to generation. In a world that often demands urgency over reflection, storytelling remains our most powerful way of making sense of it all. At RUSSH, we believe in the force of original voices. We recognise that a flourishing creative culture depends on the contributions of women, First Nations writers, and other underrecognised storytellers to enrich our shared future. Yet while creativity abounds, pathways for exposure and sustainability remain limited. And in Australia, where two-thirds of published authors are women, fewer than one third earn a living wage from their craft. In response, and following the success of our inaugural 2024 edition, we are proud to present the second…

Sana and Tas have journeyed to the beach at sunrise every morning since Dad died in August. They swim for over an hour. You imagine Sana holds her fingers stiff and straight, cutting through the water like the bow of an arctic ship, and Tas dives occasionally, reaching forward with her hands cupped; relaxed, enjoying it all. It’s now late April, and the first new year without him. The water must be cold by now. You ask over dinner if they would consider buying wetsuits. “We relish the burn,” Sana said, “and besides, the salt cures us.” Tas nods along, her eyes bright and mouth full of pasta. They speak like it’s a religion, ocean swimming, and not an exercise in grief. Like, if they let enough water into the…

“Whatever you now find weird, ugly, uncomfortable and nasty about a new medium will surely become its signature. CD distortion, the jitteriness of digital video, the crap sound of 8-bit - all of these will be cherished and emulated as soon as they can be avoided. It’s the sound of failure: so much modern art is the sound of things going out of control, of a medium pushing to its limits and breaking apart. The distorted guitar sound is the sound of something too loud for the medium supposed to carry it. The blues singer with the cracked voice is the sound of an emotional cry too powerful for the throat that releases it. The excitement of grainy film, of bleached-out black and white, is the excitement of witnessing events…

Alys Hale Music editor, Rushing Into Tenderness One thing I never compromise on is … Cooking with butter. It is a love language and a lifestyle. My creative process starts with … It’s a varied approach. It can be research, awe, a kiss or a martini. The album/film that rewired my brain was … That is a cruel question to ask a music editor. So, I’ll say Miranda July’s film Me and You and Everyone We Know. My favourite zine is … Present company, naturally. Although I have collections of 90s Riot Grrl zines and a copy of Sex Press that I’m very fond of. A risk I took that paid off was … Waiting for love. Olivia Repaci Photographer, I Promise It Won’t Be Boring One thing I never…

Gigi Hadid’s relationship with Miu Miu has always been a dialogue between character and self. From her first campaigns with the House to her appearances on the runway – where she transformed classic silhouettes with her singular energy – Hadid has lived inside Miu Miu’s many worlds. And in Steven Meisel’s portraits for the House’s 2025 Leathergoods campaign, she’s a vision of cinematic nostalgia. In the hands of Miuccia Prada and collaborators like Meisel, Hadid’s image has evolved not through reinvention, but through an ongoing conversation: between woman and character, self and surface. “Miu Miu is about an attitude, about a feeling,” Hadid tells RUSSH. “And Miu Miu is about Miuccia Prada, about her viewpoint on fashion and on women, which is something I can relate to, something that inspires…

Nausea Jean-Paul Sartre (ÉDITIONS GALLIMARD, 1938) When I think of No Wave, a sea of rebellious works of art rage at me, and Jean-Paul Sartre front and centre with the ‘Antinovel’. Its purpose is to fragment and distort the experience of consuming a novel, breaking free from established forms and literary transitions to find something else entirely. Nausea, a north star in existential fiction, presents a series of diary entries found among the notebooks of the fictitious Historian Antoine Roquentin. We follow Antoine through his existential wanderings, and the nauseating angst he experiences through simply trying to be and simply trying to create. “I am writing to understand certain circumstances. I must beware of literature. I must let my pen run on, without searching for words.” Granted the novel is…

As a music writer, I can’t really say I’ve ever been to a press conference or junket before. It’s been phone calls or occasional meetings in bars or backstage, but the desire for Fontaines D.C. was so veracious that The Old Clare Hotel became the closest thing I could imagine to an old-fashioned junket. Podcasters, radio station hosts and journalists all posited in different parts of the bar room with different band members, some of whom looked like they might have liked a hair of the dog, desperately maximising their time with one of the most in-demand bands of recent years. For a second I felt something close to embarrassment just turning up in my suit with a notebook and my phone in a pint glass to record, but then…

In the last 10 years, skincare has hit an inflection point. Our routines are immersive, exhaustive and expertly curated. We have tools, topicals, multi-step systems that help us strive towards glassy perfection. And yet, sensitivity and its related symptoms — redness, warmth, irritation, chronic flare-ups — are more prevalent than ever. It correlates to skincare maximalism, increased screen time, urban living and chronic stress levels. But is it causational? And is there comfort to be found in modern science, ancient wisdom, or a bit of both? In a study conducted by The Journal of Women’s Health and Development of 20,000 females aged between 18 and 55, more than half claimed their skin was sensitive. “I see sensitive skin, or hear of sensitivity-related skin concerns, daily,” shares Clare McColl, a facialist…

“The June air is thick and balmy with a slight breeze. Sweat trails down my back, parallel to two, cape-like train strips billowing behind my shoulders, cascading over the manicured lawn.” Perched on the edge of white plastic deck chairs under the olive trees. I am not with my friends, but I can hear the soundtrack. Scenes, so familiar, so vivid, that they play like a projector propped up in my mind. Cloistered away from banshee shrieks in the distance. Splashing sounds, as skin smacks water. Choking, coughing fits, sputtering like vespa engines. Tilted heads, downing dangerous limoncello laybacks. Makeup-smudged faces. Glow in the dark tans. Gurgling jacuzzi spa bath bubbles. Clinking glasses, champagne foaming over the edges. Everything, everything, erupting. The wedding guests have floated from the long dinner…

At Watches & Wonders 2025, Hublot marked 20 years of the Big Bang not with nostalgia, but with momentum. The anniversary collection spanned bold ceramic editions, a celebration of sapphire, and daring highcomplication pieces, all orbiting around the same philosophy: pushing boundaries in colour, form, and material. Across the board, the Maison reaffirmed what it does best – taking horological tradition and turning it on its head. Among the highlights, two seasonal creations really had my heart. The Big Bang Unico 42mm and Big Bang One Click 33mm arrived dressed in Petrol Blue and Mint Green ceramic – both sharp evolutions of the Big Bang language. At a glance, they captured the essence of Hublot: fearless, technical, and irresistibly bold. The Big Bang Unico plays with depth and complexity. Its…

Lamia Lagha is a storyteller. A cinephile since early childhood, she first fell for world-building through the lens of others, losing herself in the wonder of Spielberg’s suburban dreamscapes, and later, the rebellious freedom of the French New Wave. Before launching her eponymous label earlier this year, the Tunisian-German designer spent 15 years constructing visual narratives of her own as a stylist, consultant and creative director in her adopted hometown of Paris. Her debut collection, presented at VIE Projects, doesn’t just take her name – it’s an intimate portrait of Lagha herself. Like its founder, the label moves through the in-between: across cultures, languages, aesthetics and identities. Lagha was born in Dortmund, a steel-grey city in northwest Germany, to Tunisian parents. Her childhood was shaped by contrasts: between her industrial…

There’s something wonderfully grounded about Luca Biggs. A Southeast London girl through and through, she has that magnetic kind of presence. Maybe it’s the Taurus in her – steady, soft, unwavering. On set, she’s effortless and unassuming – one of those people who makes you feel instantly at ease. That stubborn sweetness, the easy smile that tells you she’d rather be with her dog and a hot cup of coffee than anywhere else (except maybe the beach). She’s earnest. Funny without trying. Honest in that rare, refreshing way. And as for the future? She’s not in a rush to define it. She’s taking her time – and letting the good stuff arrive when it’s ready. My name is … Luca Biggs. But my friends call me … Biggsy. The first…

From the 1980s punk enclaves in Kreuzberg and the New Romantics storming the Blitz club in London, to Antwerp’s radical deconstructionists and the leather-clad provocation of Japan’s Biker gangs – fashion’s most enduring legacy is its ability to resist. In every era, against the tide of commodification, there have always remained those who refuse to be packaged up and sold. As algorithms tighten their grip on taste, there’s been a distinct flattening of individuality, and an emerging longing for something that resists easy consumption. You can see it in the rise of Punk and Hardcore movements in music, in our yearning for the handmade, the one-offs, in vintage finds and hand-me-downs. The cycle of consumption has reached a fever pitch, clothing stripped of all context in pursuit of aesthetics only…

There are few places that crystallise the notion of American leisure like the Hamptons. For Ralph Lauren, it has long been more than a weekend escape – it is an ethos, a geography of spirit, stitched into the very fabric of his vision. This season, the designer returns to these storied shores with Ralph’s Hamptons – the Spring 2025 campaign that feels less like a presentation and more like a homecoming. From the first crack of light over the ocean to the soft tilt of hydrangeas in salt-laden air, Ralph’s Hamptons is an immersion in coastal reverie. Three distinct chapters tell the story: the rugged elegance of equestrian heritage; the worn comfort of a Hamptons home; and the endless, shifting palette of sand, sea, and sky. Each vignette, composed like…

Keemon Williams still remembers the first time he saw Bogeyman by Archie Moore. It was 2017, during a university field trip at Brisbane’s Institute of Modern Art (IMA). A ghostly bedsheet, draped and delicate, both haunting and confronting. For Williams – still uncertain about his path as an artist – it was a moment of deep affirmation. A realisation that art could hold weight, humour, identity and defiance, all at once. And more importantly, that there was space for his voice within it. Raised in Meanjin (Brisbane) of Koa, Kuku Yalanji and Meriam Mir descent, Williams grew up in a house that brimmed with creativity. Both of his parents are artists, and drawing, making and imagining were part of his earliest vocabulary. Today, that instinct has evolved into a practice…

Can’t Stop It! Australian Post-Punk 1978-82 Various Artists (CHAPTER MUSIC) New Wave or No Wave? Post-punk embraces a certain diversity unlike other genres, where there is a unifying attitude to the genre rather than a series of straight 8s or chord progressions (even if they are actually within the song). The collection of tracks on this compilation are diverse and provide an insight into what makes the Australian Post-Punk scene so unique. The record acts as an introductory precursor to artists of future bands such as Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Einsturzende Neubauten, Dirty Three and The Go-Betweens that went on to define Australian music and creativity through the 80s, 90s and to now. 45 Pounds YHWH Nailgun (AD 93) Although some of the band have their origins in…

1. A linguist and activist once told me that the word “ingat” – take care – was truly etched into our tongues because of marital law during the first Marcos dictatorship. All those desparacidos, people who were ‘disappeared’. Absences punctuated by ransoms and threats, reports of detainment or death, or maybe worst, with no word at all. As if casting spells of safety through sheer will of words, people started hawking out the word like a talisman. A way to ward off the extrajudicial tortures, rapes, and massacres that wracked the country. Yet, like so many atrocities with sterile names and long shadows, the genesis of “ingat” has become part of our collective amnesia. As the manufactured forgetting set in, “ingat” became a throwaway phrase. A hidden ritual embedded in…

Time doesn’t tick here – it leans in slowly, like a whisper passed across a table. At Watches & Wonders 2025, Van Cleef & Arpels once again resisted the noise of the moment. No overt futurism, no declarations of progress for progress’ sake. Instead, the Maison invited us into its ongoing reverie: a love story set under a Parisian sky, where enamel softens metal and stars are tasked with keeping time. The Maison’s Poetic Complications are well known for this – blurring the line between horology and dream. But this year, the scene shifted. The lovers of the Pont des Amoureux, who once met only on a bridge, have stepped off it. In Lady Arpels Bal des Amoureux Automate, they dance now, in a guinguette on the Rue des Rosiers.…

At Watches & Wonders 2025, Chopard’s novelties felt like a conversation between past and future – between the art of jewellery and the emotion of watchmaking. The booth itself was a journey through the Maison’s storied history – displaying key, unforgettable collections throughout the years that contributed to its watchmaking legacy. For its 2025 releases, each piece offered not just a technical achievement, but an expression of feeling, of atmosphere, of beauty in motion. Leading the story was the L’Heure du Diamant Moonphase, where a miniature cosmos unfolded on a dial of midnight blue aventurine glass. For the first time, Chopard’s L’Heure du Diamant collection introduced a complication: a moonphase of astronomical precision, accurate for 122 years before requiring adjustment. Encircled by diamonds set using the Maison’s signature crown-setting technique,…

Traditionalelse patriomy not neinvented just lighter. softer Gold and platinum Made to breathe. you ful it more than you see it. At Watches & Wonders 2025, Vacheron Constantin showed that making a bold statement doesn’t have to come at the expense of refinement. Yes, the Maison unveiled the most complicated wristwatch ever made – the Les Cabinotiers Solaria Ultra Grand Complication – but just as impressive was how seamlessly it balanced this technical feat with a collection rooted in quiet, enduring elegance. The new Traditionnelle and Patrimony releases carried this philosophy forward. In a year where complications often leaned toward spectacle, Vacheron Constantin’s core collections felt measured and assured, introducing eight limited pieces within the collection to honour its 270th anniversary. The Traditionnelle line brings reincorporates design features that reinforce…

Tucked into the leafy folds of Sydney’s Darlington, artist Eliza Gosse and architect Benjamin Jay Shand have carved out a life defined by colour, form and careful composition. Gosse, known for her architectural paintings of post-war and mid-century design, and Shand, who leads Studio Shand with a focus on architecture and object design through considered essential materials and geometries, are partners not just in marriage but in creative life too. Together, they run Buon Gusto Studios – a transformed former pizzeria that now acts as a shared creative space, just a stone’s throw from their home. “We’ve lived here just over three years,” Gosse says of their brick apartment block, cut into the sandstone at the edge of the city. “It immediately felt like where we wanted to be,” Shand…