The grid: ‘It’s called ffasiwn, look it up!’

Children from the valleys of south Wales are not typically the subject of lauded high-fashion photo shoots – but thanks to the work of French photographer Clémentine Schneidermann and Welsh creative director Charlotte James, young people from Blaenau Gwent and Merthyr Tydfil have been models for partnerships over the past decade with labels that include Alexander McQueen.

Schneidermann and James met in 2015, and soon began running fashion-themed workshops for two youth groups in the area. The pair, who would go on to found Bleak Fabulous Studio, have been collaborating and working with these communities ever since, sharing their knowledge from working in the creative industries. They have encouraged participants to get involved in styling, sewing, set design, clothing customisation and photography, in turn sowing confidence and curiosity in young people who live in a region often mired in narratives of social deprivation.

It’s Called Ffasiwn gets its name from the meme-worthy response given by one of the participants to an amused onlooker unsure what to make of the group’s almost theatrical garb: “It’s called ffasiwn [the Welsh word for fashion], look it up!” Here, hope, creativity and defiance win out, in portraits with gorgeous clothes and immaculate expressions sometimes set against rapturous, rolling landscapes, and other times against muted terraced houses and former sites of industry.

For its 10th anniversary, the project is on display for the first time in its entirety at the National Museum Cardiff, with a Ffasiwn book set for release in October. According to Schneidermann, the series “started as a grassroots project and developed into an epic collaboration”.

Ffasiwn is at National Museum Cardiff until 4 April 2027