Photo by Hörður Ellert Ólafsson
When we were in Iceland shooting a party at Q-Bar we had the honor of meeting Kitty Von-Somtime. She even had us over for a wonderful supper and an impromptu costume party!
Kitty heads up the The Weird Girls of Reykjavik Collective which produces visual media (both moving image and stills) but the project focus is the event performance itself and how the girls themselves react and morph within costume. None of the girls in the collective are professional actresses or models and part of the inspiration is to get girls to step outside of themselves and gain confidence.
The Weird Girls just released Episode 6, the mermaid edition!
Kitty Von-Sometime on Episode 6:
I created The Weird Girls Project as a conceptual collection. It evolves episode by episode and the girls mix and I add new members with every event.
Each episode is planned three months in advance with the girls knowing almost nothing except there will be a photo shoot, are aware they will be filmed and know the date.
The rest is kept as quiet as possible except for a theme song which is given to them a week or two in advance and a request for measurements for the custom costumes.
The mermaids took place in early October at Hveragerði’s Sundlaugin Laugaskarði and has produced a music film to accompany Emiliana Torrini‘s single I Heard it All Before.
The inspiration for this episode was 1930s director Busby Berekley and was directed by Ali Taylor of Academy Films.
When the New York troublemakers came to town there was no way to escape bringing them into the Weird. I brought all the costumes out and played with the adorable puppets.
Concept: Kitty Von-Sometime
October 2008: Winter Mermaids
Video:
Director and general genius – Ali Taylor
Editor and 1st AD – Julia Knight
Cameraman – Kristjan Zaklynsky
Makeup – Helga Sjöfn Kjartansdóttir
Lighting – Asgrimur Gudbjartsson
Head Runner – FrÃða Einarsdóttir
Catering – SigrÃður Elva Vilhjálmsdóttir
Costumes:
Suits by Judy Wu
Customisation and collars by Karolina Daria Pawlik
Film song: Heard it All Before by Emiliana Torrini
Special thanks to Jóhanna Margrét Hjartardóttir and all the staff at Sundlaugin Laugaskarði and to Rough Trade and Emiliana.
Photography:
Official Gallery by Hörður Ellert ólafsson.
Official Behind the Scenes by Ben Mathis
Also Anna FrÃða Jonsdóttir