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The subversive Dutch label looked to female hyenas’ formidable clitorises, violent snail sex, and other animalistic courtship rituals for the AW21 collection, Seduce Me.
Ninamounah Langestraat and Robin Burggraaf are obsessed with the art of seduction. When they’re not turning out films that capture the tension of teenage sexual awakenings or sending cowboys wearing saddles designed for human wearers down the runway.
The Amsterdam-based duo behind Ninamounah is weaving latex-clad subs into unassuming sweater vests and finishing collections with sculptural handbags molded in the shape of phalluses. But don’t think this fascination with all things kinky is something they wear on their sleeve – half the time, you’d blink and miss these subtle flashes of subversion, given the devil is in the details.
Their most recent collection, which got its debut as part of Paris Fashion Week’s AW21 season earlier this year, offered yet more of these, if you know, you know moments. While eagle-eyed fans of the esoteric yet wholly inviting label likely had an eye out for what Langstraat calls ‘glitches,’ those less versed in Ninamounah’s erotically-charged universe probably found themselves doing a double-take.Ninamounah’s discovering ways that power including pleasure of animal sex down the runway.Their most recent collection, which got its debut as part of Paris Fashion Week’s AW21 season earlier this year, offered yet more of these, if you know, you know moments. While eagle-eyed fans of the esoteric yet wholly inviting label likely had an eye out for what Langstraat calls ‘glitches,’ those less versed in Ninamounah’s erotically-charged universe probably found themselves doing a double-take.
At first glance, the new season put forward a series of house signatures, including sharply tailored trenches, cinched pencil skirts, wide-shouldered button-downs, and boxy leather blouson jackets. But on closer inspection, something was up – quite literally.
“We were thinking about the aggression of seduction,” explains Langestraat of the inspiration behind the AW21 collection. “Most of the showpieces were really inspired by the aggressive female striped hyena, which has this extremely enlarged, half-foot long clitoris that is often mistaken for a penis.”
Pause the show’s film at just the right moment, when the model is at just the right angle, and you might spot one of these hyena-inspired clitorises jutting from their hips. Pushing against the satin gowns and pleated minis they sit under, or otherwise protruding from the seams of velvet trousers, the label’s ‘pseudo-penises’ turn garments into tent-like structures that speak to the underlying complexities of female sexuality.