Breast Foot Forward: SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL GIRLGANG VIENNA at MQ Vienna Fashion Week. By Glenn Belverio

Dear Shaded Viewers,

Whenever I hear the term “girl gang” it reminds me of the time, years ago, when I was consulting on a manuscript for a book that my friend Ronnie Cutrone—an assistant to Andy Warhol who also had his own illustrious art career—was writing about his life. (Ronnie left this planet some years ago.) In his chapter about his teen years in the early 1960s, Ronnie recalled the girl gangs he hung out with in Brooklyn, street-smart toughs who hid razor blades in their beehive wigs as a form of weaponry.

The young women who make up SYLGV (Support Your Local Girlgang Vienna) are more likely to employ pincushions than razor blades, and are better described as tribes of fashion entrepreneurs who embody a version of 21st-century feminism that, thankfully, doesn’t clobber you over the head with hectoring ideology.

SYLGV is a collective comprised of fashion lines (Kamen, Amateur, Parkkenner and Auris Ku) and lifestyle brands (Mumury offers a game called Pussy Pairs which, “makes the topic ‘Vulva’ visible” and promotes a dialogue about how the female genital is perceived in society. Elsewhere, the brand Anna Riess produces handmade jewelry, soaps and ceramics, including a nipple-adorned “Titti Candle Holder”).

At MQ Vienna Fashion Week, the fashion brands of SYLGV presented some of their latest creations.

Founded by Katharina Amenitsch and Birgit Rampula, SYLGV actively supports women in the Viennese creative scene, from established to aspiring designers.